The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Starsight

Series: Skyward #2

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Rating: 4.75 stars

Review:

All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she’s a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing.

Spensa is sure there’s more to the story. And she’s sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars–and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.

But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself–and she’ll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to. – summary from Goodreads

Starsight is a phenomenal sequel to Skyward with an expanding world, espionage, and character growth!

Spensa is the best! I love her so much! She is so determined and strong. Usually this is something that bothers me a little, but it was really well done and balanced. I think what bothers me in other books is that the strong female character is so strong they lose other characteristics. Spensa is well rounded and has a deep character. I loved her character development in this book. She was starting to realize that her enemies were people too, and that they might not be her enemies as a whole, but it was the people in power that she was fighting. I thought that was a lovely theme to have in this book, especially for our most warrior minded character.

There were so many different cultures in the book, too. In the previous book we just had the human culture of Detritus and a little bit of the Krell culture. In this book we have the human culture, but we are also shown new cultures, such as the diones, the kitsen, and more of the Krell. We were also shown just what the Superiority does and their culture. These different cultures deepened the story and the world, so much. I loved these different cultures and characters.

Hesho was one of the new characters and he was fabulous! He reminded me a lot of Spensa, but he showed a new side of this world than we have seen. Morriumur was also a fascinating character. He was more ingrained in the Superiority mindset, so we got to see that side of this story, while Hesho was on the outside of the Superiority mindset. Honestly, the Superiority mindset is very fascinating. The Superiority believes in being peaceful and if a people aren’t peaceful they are “lesser” species and aren’t welcomed into the Superiority. They can be welcomed into the Superiority if they change their ways, though.

Humans are public enemy number one to the Superiority. This was very interesting and I enjoyed learning more about the human history in this universe. It was especially interesting pertaining to Brade, who is a human raised by the Superiority. Her story is really sad and I spent most of the book rooting for her to join with Spensa. Hopefully, her mindset changes in the next books.

The Skyward Flight isn’t really in this book as much. They are in the beginning, but not so much in the later ninety percent of the book. I did love the moments with Jorgen. He is my absolute favorite character, and I think he is just the best. I also love the burgeoning romance between Spensa and Jorgen. They balance each other so well and I just love them together. I’m excited to see more of their relationship in the future. Spensa did think about her flight often, though. I also hope to see more of the Skyward Flight together, especially since there are three new members, but I think we may have to wait for them all to be reunited.

There was also a lot of espionage in this book! Spensa took the place of an alien and infiltrated the Superiority and their military. This caused a lot of misunderstandings on Spensa’s part, which allowed for some fun moments. The espionage was an engrossing aspect of the story that I really enjoyed.

Starsight was an amazing sequel to an intriguing series with espionage, incredible characters, character development, and a deepening world!