Review: Let The Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Title: Let The Sky Fall

Series: Let The Sky Fall #1

Author: Shannon Messenger

Publication Date: March 5, 2013

Rating: 4.5 Stars
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Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

My Thoughts

This book has soo much going for it. I'll start by saying, it may be part of a series but it does not end in a cliff-hanger like so many books that have come out lately. Two, it doesn't have a love triangle. YAY! And from the way the book is set up there is no way in hell there will be a 3rd wheel in there.

I really loved this book. I went in with high expectations because it was dealing with a new creature that is barely ever mentioned and in this case made it the main character. The author was able to explain sylphs, their dual natures and how their powers work in a way that wasn't overwhelming. We are learning right along with Vane who is a great narrator btw, loved his commentary. There are still a few things in regards to their powers that I'm not entirely clear about but I'm hoping it gets dealt with later on.

Even though we learn about sylphs and their powers I felt like there wasn't quite enough about their society as a whole. Yeah we are told they have/had a King and Queen and they are divided in their 4 winds and such but I wanted to know more about the intricacies of the society, how they all work together. We only learned about Audra and Vane's family, which wasn't nearly enough.

Character wise I loveddd both of the main characters. This book is told in the alternating PoVs of Audra and Vane. You could tell right away who was who even if you didn't read the title of the chapter. They both had very unique voices. As I mentioned before I really liked Vane's commentary. He was such a guy. They'd be having a conversation and he would be fantasizing in his own world and not paying attention at all. He started out as your common lazy teenager, but he really grows. He gets serious and starts getting things done and when the time came he totally kicked ass even if he is a Westerly. That part with the pills was genius.

Audra was so honorable and noble. Usually you see these traits on the heroes, but in this case it was all on the heroine. I really liked how she did what was asked of her and even though she had to deal with a huge burden she would always pull herself together and get things done. She was never over the top whiny/bitter/angry and I really admired that.

Plot wise, I had a few issues at the start with the role that was given to Vane by the Gale, but Vane straightened that out at the end. I actually didn't see that big reveal at the end coming. I knew things weren't really adding up but I still hadn't been expecting it to be like that. The pace was just right, it kept the story flowing very nicely. There was never a dull moment.

All in all this was a splendid start to a new series and I can't wait to see what comes next!

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