Mini Book Reviews #3: Sky in the Deep, The Murders of Molly Southbourne, Sour Candy

✨ Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young (Vikings, YA, Fantasy)

Summary: Marketed as being part Wonder Woman, part ‘Vikings’, Sky in the Deep is about seventeen-year-old Eelyn, a fierce warrior and member of the Aska tribe. She has a deep sense of honor and pride, and most of her actions and thoughts are fueled by these things. The Aska are in a long standing war against another clan called the Riki, and during one particular battle, Eelyn sees something impossible – her dead brother, fighting alongside her enemy.

A lot of this book was action packed, but I will admit that it slowed down somewhat in the middle. Despite that, I enjoyed it a lot – Eelyn’s character was as brutal as she should have been considering her circumstances, and I loved the familial bond between not just Eelyn and her father/brother, but between Iri and his ‘new family’ as well. The supporting Riki characters (Inge, Halvard) were really endearing, and gave me something to be invested in other than Eelyn herself.

I tend to sometimes struggle with YA because of how heavily it focuses on the romance – even in YA fantasy, sci-fi, horror (places you wouldn’t necessarily expect an ENORMOUS focus on long, slow, lingering looks, etc) – and I was really pleased that I managed to get through just over half of this one without a hint of teenage love. Eelyn is a warrior, and when romance does start to enter the picture, it isn’t done in a way that cheapens how fierce she is. Nicely done!

✨ The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson (Thriller, Horror, YA)

Summary: Molly Southbourne is a girl born with a unique… impairment. Every drop of blood she loses turns into a clone, intent only on the destruction of Molly herself. From the age of a young child, Molly’s parents teach her how to get rid of the mollys – but she can’t feasibly keep killing herself forever, can she?

I absolutely loved this novella – way more than I expected to! The story isn’t very long – around 120 pages total – but it packs a pretty good punch. I loved how intelligent Molly is, how strong her voice was. The juxtaposition of the gore and violence against Molly’s intellect was at times jarring – but in a good way! I would have loved more information on Molly’s parents – especially her mother, who was such an interesting character with a really cool backstory that was unfortunately summarized without enough detail in a letter toward the end of the book (and left me wanting more). I’m looking forward to the next one in the series once it comes out!

✨ Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke (Horror, Novella, Sci-Fi)

Summary: To everyone on the outside, Phil and his son Adam are a normal father-son duo. They bond during walks to the park and on trips to the museum. While Phil may seem to have some health problems, Adam is a glowing and happy boy.

To anyone that knows the truth – which seems to only be the father and son themselves – Phil had never seen Adam prior to a few weeks ago, and he’s pretty sure that Adam is killing him.

I had never read anything by Kealan Patrick Burke going into this, but I was blown away by his writing and his ability to pack something so memorable in such a short amount of pages. Horror novellas are my absolute favorite, but only when they’re done well – and Burke nailed it so thoroughly that I immediately went onto Amazon and bought 3 more of his books for my Kindle (and will likely grab physical copies eventually, too, because the covers are stellar!).

I didn’t know what to expect from this – ghosts, possession, demons? It kept me on my toes all the way to the end, and I loved every bit of it.

Have you read anything good lately? Suggest something and maybe I’ll include it in one of my recaps! 😀