“All right, M-Bot,” I said. “We have a problem. We might need to hijack that entire carrier ship.”
“Excellent,” M-Bot said. “Would you like your corpse cremated or ejected into space?”

I just couldn’t wait and picked up this sequel right after finishing Skyward! I was slightly hesitant going into the second novel, because I had heard some mixed reviews about it. And while it was not quite what I was expecting, it was still a great installment into the series. 4 stars!

This book has a slight time jump, starting off about 6 months after the events in Skyward. The beginning gets right back into the action with Spensa and M-Bot patrolling the skies above her planet. I loved seeing how the characters from her flight school have progressed into real pilots and how the DDF organization has changed, as well. They have taken control of some of the defense platforms that orbit their planet and moved the established pilots to a base up there. Right away, we see some payoff regarding the mysterious “star song” and eyes that Spensa sees sometimes. They turn out to be a not-so-nice entity that was the cause of the planet’s destruction and current state.

The best part about this book was learning more about the world and the other species within it, expanding the universe and gaining more insight on historical events, too. The worst part about the book was the fact that Spensa and M-Bot had to leave the existing cast of characters to do so. I think that is what has thrown people off so much about it and why some readers do not like this one as much as the first novel. It is very abrupt, as it happens very quickly and without warning, but suddenly Spensa leaves her planet (disguised as a different person) to go to one of the main trading planets in the universe, Starsight.

Because it is early on in the novel and happens so quickly, we don’t really get to see much of the characters we have grown attached to from book one. We barely see Jorgen, Kimmalyn, Cobb, Rig, etc. There is a brief moment between Jorgen and Spensa right before she leaves that teases the reader about their relationship, but doesn’t give you any satisfaction really. So for 90% of the book, we are meeting new characters and do not see any interaction between Spensa and her friends, which is kind of a bummer.

That being said, the new characters on Starsight are also pretty good. Definitely not as good as the original crew, but very interesting nonetheless. As I said, the best part about this entire middle section of the book is the continued world building. We do learn a ton more about the universe and what happened to the humans in the previous wars and how the laws are set up and about different species, etc. It is all very interesting. So once you kind of get used to the new setting and the new characters, it is a good time with a lot of new, important information. And again, the writing, dialogue, action, and plot were very well done. This one was a bit more serious, however, less jokes it seemed. Personally, though, I too enjoyed Skyward a bit more. There was just something about that one that came together to make a truly captivating novel! Hard to beat.

The book ends on a definite cliffhanger, after some top notch action once again. And I’m sad now because I have to wait until next year to read the next book in the series like everyone else!! 😭 I can’t wait to see what happens next and where Sanderson takes the plot. I love that you don’t really know with him! He is a masterful storyteller and could be plotting anything really. I trust him though! This is such a fantastic series.

P.S. Why the heck did Sanderson write ” she let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding?” Does he not know that is a total joke these days?? Is it because he doesn’t usually write YA?? Was it done on purpose so readers would notice and laugh?? I was confused haha. AND the book I am currently reading just had it written as well! Two in a row wow.

Thanks for reading, pals!

Title: Starsight (Skyward #1)
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Science Fiction| Sci-Fi | Young Adult | Adventure | Action | Space | Futuristic | Space Opera | Aliens
Publication Date: November 26th, 2019
Page Count: 461 pages
Buy It: Wordery | Book Depository