From the Shadows I Review: ***Review*** Not of Our Sky (Sky Song Trilogy #3) by Sharon Sant

Jacob fights for his life and Ellen faces her toughest decision yet: whether to finally reveal his true identity to his parents. For Jacob is one of the Watchers of Astrae, a race of beings with extraordinary powers, and sworn to protect the natural order of the universe. But Jacob has broken one of Astrae’s oldest laws and chaos threatens to cover the Earth.

Alex faces the fall into darkness that has long been prophesised. Her only ally is Makash, their bitter and twisted uncle, and Jacob has already succumbed to the shadows. Who will be there to catch her?

With the first part of the ancient prophecy already coming to pass, it seems their only hope lies in the second part – the riddle of the star that will bring them back to the light. But what does it mean? And why do Jacob, Alex and Ellen all dream of the same lighthouse, night after night?

I’m choosing this because:

The final instalment of the Sky Song trilogy. I think that tells you everything you need to know. Oh. You want more? I can do that. I will admit Sharon asked me to read this and that I leapt at the chance like an over excited puppy. We all know how much I adored ‘Sky Song’ and ‘The Young Moon’ and I really needed to see not only how the trilogy ended but how on Earth we were going to get past THAT cliffhanger. So here I am. Telling you that I’m going to read this because I NEED TO. Not WANT, NEED.

Judging a book by its cover:

So much beautiful purple. It fits perfectly with the other covers in the series (Don’t you hate when the covers change half way through?) and I must say I fangirl the simpleness. It works in favour of the series, offering up intrigue and so much purple. Have I mentioned that I like purple?

Pricing the (possible) awesomeness:

So like its predecessors ‘Not of Our Sky’ is £1.59 for your Kindle on Amazon. It’s a definite steal!!

I adored this. Every instalment of the series has raised the bar and left me thinking where does Sharon Sant go from here. I like to think that she’s got a lot more potential and a massive bag of tricks waiting for me to review (no seriously, I want to review all of her books forever). Any way... I seem to be avoiding actual reviewing of story here, give me this to try and get back in my stride.

I will start by saying that I love how we get the build up of the action and events falling into place without our hero knowing. The cliffhanger at the end of ‘The Young Moon’ could’ve easily led to the beginning of ‘Not Of Our Sky’ being a complete disaster. It was a bold decision from the author and I commend it. It works well not only for world building but for character development as well.

I have to admit that I adore how ‘Sky Song’ was Jacob’s book, ‘The Young Moon’ was Luca’s book (Luca... *swoon*... more on him later) and how ‘Not Of Our Sky’ is Ellen’s book. Each of the 3 mains having a book of their own is refreshing and yet for it to all still tie together in a way that makes sense to the overall story. I will admit I saw where part of the climax was going but the other part... I was like “WHOA!... WHA-!... WAIT A MINUTE!!” and had issues calming down my excitement.

I was going to write something here but I got distracted by Mischief the cat. Gimme a minute to think... Hmmm... BINGO! I loved the epilogue, it gives the reader a glimpse of what the whole of Jacob’s journey has achieved for everyone. While I didn’t feel that it was strictly necessary I feel that for this trilogy it was the perfect end. Even then the epilogue had a nice open ending and I like to think that there’s a few more adventures to be had there... Now on to the characters.

Jacob – Aaaaah... Captain douchebag!! (I had to get it in there. How could I not?) He’s actually really good in this one to be fair... probably due to cliff hanger ending but it was a definite improvement. I did like him even after he’d recovered and all I wanted was for him to be with Ellen. They have such a strong bond and I just sat there reading thinking “I want that.”

Ellen – As I said earlier in the review this feels like her story. This is where we get to see Ellen for all that she is and all that she’ll become. Ellen is one of the best YA heroines in my opinion, she’s strong and even though she loves Jacob she can and will stand on her own two feet. Throughout the trilogy she’s grown and with all that she’s had to cope with in her life she deserves to be happy and I genuinely love her.

Alex – Previously known as “Successor number 2”. I put that because I didn’t want to give the gave away. I thought it was an immensely clever twist by Sharon Sant and one that I appreciated then and I still appreciate it now. Alex is an entirely different character to what we saw when we glimpsed them in ‘The Young Moon’ and the growth in them was amazing to see as it slowly dawned that Makash was not what he seemed.

Luca – Saving the best until last... he’s my favourite character (this tells you how awesome he is). The thing I appreciate about Luca is ~~that he’s smoking hot~~ that while on the surface he’s jokey he has this deepness and loyalty that makes him a worthwhile friend and definitely someone you’d want on your side. He lightens scenes that would otherwise be dark and that really helps for me. I like him.

Overall this is the best of the trilogy, but not just that, this is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I keep saying that when it comes to the ‘Sky Song’ trilogy but it’s so true. As a trilogy it’s probably one of the best I’ve read. Each story weaves a beautiful world that I can relate to and feel like it’s happening around me. The realisticness is something that appeals to me so much. I feel that if you’re going to have a fantasy book/series set in our world as we are now make it as realistic as you can. Sharon Sant is a brilliant writer, she captures my imagination every time and I love the quality of what she writes and I just want to fangirl her essentially. I can’t say a bad word about her or the trilogy! So I’m just going to wrap it up here by saying that I’m so excited for her next release ‘Runners’!!!

Was there ever any question? This trilogy just kept getting better and this is the perfect ending. I will admit I would’ve read it so much quicker but I kept putting it off, I didn’t want to say goodbye. Even now it feels painful. I’ve become attached to Jacob, Luca and Ellen and I really didn’t want their journey to end. Well played Sharon, well played.