The Endless Skies by Shannon Price has a slow and predictable start that eventually improves to create a decent story. Ms. Price uses too many YA tropes for the story to be unique or refreshing. Plus, I find it very odd that this is the second book released in two months that has a floating island above a greater landmass that used to be part of that same landmass. I will say that I did find myself invested in Rowan’s plight even while the magic made me roll my eyes. Overall, I can’t say I’m too impressed. ( )

There's more than I expected in this story. It's a blend of fantasy and adventure, with a whiff of political tension and these elements work well. Add in multiple dilemmas Rowan finds herself in-who she loves, what to believe, whether to obey orders, coupled with battles and numerous scrapes she and the others on a quest to save sick children encounter. It all fits nicely, offering readers a fascinating escape into a new world. ( )

Literary Merit: Okay
Characterization: Okay
Recommended: No
Level: High School/Late Middle School

This book was... disappointing. When I first read the synopsis, I was intrigued by the world and premise, but the actual narrative is handled rather poorly. The author uses a lot of tired YA tropes that I've seen a million times, and doesn't really do anything to put her own spin on them. This was yet another unfortunate case of a YA fantasy novel having a fantastic setup with poor execution. I can perhaps blame the fact that I read way too much YA for this, and have seen pretty much everything at this point. That being said, this book really didn't do much for me, and could've used a lot more fleshing out before being published.

The Endless Skies follows the story of three characters, each citizens of a magical city known as Heliana. Unlike regular humans, the denizens of this city are winged-lion shapeshifters known as Leonodai. Rowan is only one day away from being sworn in as a warrior - something she has trained for her entire life - when a deadly illness strikes Heliana's children. Though there is a cure to this illness, it resides in the human lands where Leonodai are far from welcome. Because of this, small groups of warriors are sent on a mission to retrieve the cure, including Rowan's childhood best friend Callen. Meanwhile, Rowan's sister Shirene has been tasked with a very important duty as the "King's Voice," allowing her intimate access to Heliana's royal family. The sisters soon learn, however, that not everything is as it seems, and it will take a great act of courage and rebellion to set things right and save the city's children.

As I said before, the premise of this book is really cool. I loved the idea of a floating city full of winged-lion shapeshifters, and I also loved the initial setup of a mysterious illness and a potential war with humans. I was immediately turned off by the simplistic writing style, however, as well as how insanely generic the narrative was. The story follows Rowan, Callen, and Shirene, alternating between three points of view. This already felt a little sloppy, and I think the narrative would have been a lot stronger if the author had stuck to one character. Almost immediately, the reader is introduced to a very stereotypical love triangle, with Rowan being forced to choose between her childhood friend Callen and her new crush Ox. While I don't abjectly hate love triangles on principle, they need to be done interestingly for me to get invested. This was a very generic love triangle, and I didn't really care enough about any of these characters to be invested in who Rowan would end up with.

In addition to the eyeroll-worthy romance, I also thought Shirene's potential was wasted in this book. Shirene is introduced as a fully established character from the beginning; she has a dedicated partner named Seth and an incredibly important position within her society. The novel even begins from her point of view, immediately making the reader think that this story will focus on her in some way. Instead, the real protagonist is Rowan, who we meet a chapter later and follow through most of the story. While the love triangle is bland and predictable, the plot of this book would have been a lot cleaner if the author had chosen to focus only on Rowan's story.

Shirene's role in the narrative doesn't really go anywhere as the story progresses. She learns that the Sentinels have been lied to about the source of their information and the conflict with the humans, but chooses to follow her duties anyways without dissent. She has no real character arc, and is unceremoniously killed at the end for no reason. The saddest thing about her death is I didn't even care as the reader, as I'd never been given a reason to emotionally connect to her. Because of this, I think the story would have been stronger if it had focused solely on Rowan and her discovery of the deception, as Rowan actively chooses to ignore her orders and do something about the information she has learned. Even the relationship between the sisters is under-developed, with just one scene where they interact. The author tries to establish background between the two, but it's so rushed and under-developed that it falls flat.

Speaking of under-developed, a lot of this plot fell flat to me. Everything feels rushed, as if the author was ticking off necessary plot points to get to the end. While the stakes of this mission are high, the reader is never given the time or reason to care about characters before they are killed, and the author does a lot of "telling" instead of "showing." Instead of showing us how much the characters care about one another, we are simply told that they do and expected to feel this unestablished bond. Not one of the losses in this book stuck with me, as none of the characters were established enough for me to care about them.

Similarly, plot points are introduced and resolved quickly, and there are many scenes that could have been cut to make room for more time spent on other plot points. For example, Rowan is betrayed by a Leonodai woman attempting to protect her half-Leonodai daughter from the humans, but we never see what happens to her or get any kind of resolution outside of a quick mention at the very end. This is time that could have been devoted to fleshing out the love triangle or following Shirene's story, but instead adds unnecessary conflict to a plot that already had a clear and established conflict to begin with. In addition, every character makes a huge deal about the prince, knowing that his death will result in the total collapse of their society. He dies near the very end, however, and the Leonodai magic remains. This is never explained, and the book ends far too abruptly for loose ends like this to be tied up.

If I were to rewrite this book, I would focus solely on Rowan's story and relegate Shirene to the sidelines. Shirene would exist as a narrative foil to Rowan; disciplined and unwilling to bend rules to do what is right. Rowan would perhaps be jealous of her sister's apparent perfection, and be outraged to learn that the Sentinels (including Shirene) have been lying to everyone about a multitude of things. I would have cut out the love triangle entirely and had Rowan grappling with her new-found feelings for her childhood friend, and had her slowly realize how important he was to her as she broke the rules to follow him on his mission.

Here, I would have made sure readers had a chance to get to know each of the characters on the mission through quiet scenes spent with them before immediately killing anyone off, adding more weight to their eventual deaths. The rest of the narrative could remain unchanged, but I would spend a lot more time establishing this world and these characters soo that the reader would be invested in the very high stakes of the mission. I would likely also have cut the other shape-shifting societies out of the narrative entirely, as they really don't serve a purpose outside of adding unnecessary world-building to a standalone novel. If this had been a planned series, it would make absolute sense to introduce the horse people, bear people, and merfolk, but as it stands they are given almost nothing to do within the confines of this Leonodai-focused narrative.

As always, I really hate tearing apart a piece of art that someone has poured their blood, sweat, and tears into, but there were honestly just too many problems with this book for me to be invested. While the premise is really interesting, the writing and characters are just painfully bland, and it feels as if the narrative has no real structure. The plot meanders along, resolving quickly and without really earning the "happy ending." Characters are introduced and killed off with little warning, never giving the reader enough time to care about any of them. The hardest part about reading this book is that I really wanted to like it, but I've read so much fantasy at this point that I've seen every single aspect of this book done better elsewhere.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'd recommend this book to anyone, as there is SO MUCH good fantasy out there that this book would honestly just be a waste of reading time and shelf space. I wish the author the best of luck in the future, and hope she continues to hone her skills and improve with every work she writes. I might not have enjoyed this book, but that doesn't mean I won't enjoy her next work! Until then, I will be very happy to leave this particular work of fantasy far behind me. ( )