Ann Sei Lin

First and foremost, PAPER MAGIC!! I never knew I needed this in my life. Let alone creatures called shikigami created through it. I will recommend for this point alone!
The author's Goodread bio states that she loves worldbuilding, and this book makes that very evident. Sky cities, class systems, paper magic (again *chefs kiss*), CUMULUS WHALES (another concept I never knew I needed in my life), secrets and "long lost knowlege" being uncovered, royals with agendas, rebels, and flying ships. I had a nostalgic mix of Studio Ghibli and Treasure Planet with a dash of Kubo and the Two Strings and The Sea Beast going on in my head as I read through this book.
I did love most of the additional characters, though I feel a lot of aspects about said characters were heavily glossed over or perhaps it was to be covered more later in order to get back to the main character, Kurara, or anything that had to do with it. This felt more how it would be set up when a book gets turned into a movie and a lot of the background inforamation gets reduced to minimum and it feels like it's heavily implied that you should know the information already in regards to the races and the relationships between them or the specific character dynamics.
The heroine, Kurara, has kinda the typical "Chosen One" or "You're the Key" sort of feel to the story, where she grows in determination and confidence as she's growing in her powers. I found her overly naive with a certain level of entitlement that one would not expect of an individual that grew up in a servant position on board the flying ship the Midori, which was known to serve military elite personnel. Elite or not, military personnel is still military personnel, which when servants or slaves are thrown in to that mix it's hardly a place for soft innocence to survive (granted this is meant for young readers).
The shikigami already have a place in my heart, but I alwasy end up enjoying the creatures or beasty companions more than the humanoid or -esque characters.
The writing seemed to have a division of a writing comfort. The fluidity with the worldbuilding aspect allows for the words to sweep you away and the story to spring to life. Whereas, the dialog, interpersonal interactions between most the characters (not including the shikigami beasts), streams of thought inside the character's own heads, additional arcs/tracks, pace and even some transitions felt clunky and thrown in. I'm sure with more experience the author will be able to iron out the kinks and get more of a feel for her flow in writing melding. I loved the book regardless.
Overall, this is a fun start to a series that I did not expect to be as captured by, but I am pleasantly surprised to say I completely am. I look forward to more of the adventure and to see how arcs and dynamics play out. I have already recommended to a number of friends and will continue to do so.… (mehr)

Ann Sei Lin's debut novel "Rebel Skies" is a fantasy adventure novel that readers will enjoy. Kurara has only her friend Haru onboard the flying shiip, the Midori, where they work as servants and she is hiding a secret; she can make things out of paper that come to life and will be feared for it. When a wild paper animal destorys the Midori and Haru with it, Kurara begins a quest to get her only friend back by getting information from the Imperial Princess's private library. Who will be her friends along the way and who will turn into an enemy when they learn Kurara's secrets?

This book was categorized as YA, but I feel it would be better labeled as middle grade. The story is fast paced and the characters are engaging. Anyone that is interested in Japanese mythology or fans of Japanese animation will love this story as will anyone who enjoys a good fantasy adventure.… (mehr)

The pros:
- Interesting world
- Cool magic
- A few lovely characters
- Lots of action/very fast moving plot

The not so great:
- Needed more editing
- Clunky/juvenile writing

I really wanted to love this - the story and the world are so interesting and fun, but it wasn't executed very well. The writing is stilted and awkward, especially when attempting to solidify the misogyny of the men. The internal monologues from several male POVs are exceptionally cringey, and high stakes moments lose their emotional momentum in the poor writing.

TBD on if I continue the series. I wouldn't try to persuade anyone out of reading it, and younger audiences probably won't notice much of what bogged it down for me; a disappointing read for me, though.… (mehr)