The Sky is Yours by Chandler Klang Smith (Spoiler-Free Review)

The Sky is Yours by Chandler Klang Smith

Crown Publishing
Available January 23rd, 2018

From Goodreads:

In the burned-out, futuristic city of Empire Island, three young people navigate a crumbling metropolis constantly under threat from a pair of dragons that circle the skies. When violence strikes, reality star Duncan Humphrey Ripple V, the spoiled scion of the metropolis’ last dynasty; Baroness Swan Lenore Dahlberg, his tempestuous, death-obsessed betrothed; and Abby, a feral beauty he discovered tossed out with the trash; are forced to flee everything they’ve ever known. As they wander toward the scalded heart of the city, they face fire, conspiracy, mayhem, unholy drugs, dragon-worshippers, and the monsters lurking inside themselves.

Thank you to Crown Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with a digital copy of The Sky is Yours in exchange for an honest review.

Sometime in the future, the world is destroyed by a pair of fire-breathing dragons. There was probably more, but that was all I needed to decide I wanted to read The Sky is Yours. I wish the ending had excited me as much as the premise.

The first thing I’ll say is that this book was too long for my liking. Nothing much happens in the first act. Maybe it’s because I entered into this book thinking it was about dragons. But truthfully, the dragons have as much impact on the story as sporadic rain showers.

This first act has a ton of character building. It’s done well, but I think it would have been better if we were dropped in at the end of the first act, and the same character development spread over the remainder of the book.

It’s at that point (the end of the first act) that the book gets going. And really, it becomes pretty interesting pretty quickly. Each of our main characters heads off in a different and exciting direction. These kids, who didn’t seem capable of much of anything, are suddenly showing that they can be survivors.

Unfortunately, as each of these threads reaches its height, they’re snipped off. The choices they’ve been making, the direction they’ve been going, is almost completely wiped away. If I’m honest with myself, it’s not a terrible ending. It just wasn’t the ending I was hoping for. I personally didn’t find satisfaction in any of the resolutions.

The characters are the saving grace of this book. Each character is as deep as an ocean. Independent, developed, and so ridiculously real that it’s easy to forget you’re reading fiction. You’ll feel like you know each character’s extensive history as well as friends you’ve had for decades.

If you’re the type of reader that loves nothing more than character development, this is definitely one to check out.

Fun fact NOT about this post: Watermelons are technically berries, and strawberries are not.