Check The Shelf Review: The Daughter of Sea and Sky

Daughter of Sea and Sky by David Litwack

Publisher/Year: Evolved Publishing | April 12, 2014

Pages: 290

Series: Stand Alone

Genre: New Adult, Fantasy

Format: EBook ARC

Source: Publisher through Netgalley (Thanks!)

Amazon | Goodreads

 I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  That did not sway my opinion in the least. 

Summary (From Goodreads)

After centuries of religiously motivated war, the world has been split in two. Now the Blessed Lands are ruled by pure faith, while in the Republic, reason is the guiding light—two different realms, kept apart and at peace by a treaty and an ocean.

 Children of the Republic, Helena and Jason were inseparable in their youth, until fate sent them down different paths. Grief and duty sidetracked Helena’s plans, and Jason came to detest the hollowness of his ambitions.

 These two damaged souls are reunited when a tiny boat from the Blessed Lands crashes onto the rocks near Helena’s home after an impossible journey across the forbidden ocean. On board is a single passenger, a nine-year-old girl named Kailani, who calls herself “the Daughter of the Sea and the Sky.” A new and perilous purpose binds Jason and Helena together again, as they vow to protect the lost innocent from the wrath of the authorities, no matter the risk to their future and freedom.

 But is the mysterious child simply a troubled little girl longing to return home? Or is she a powerful prophet sent to unravel the fabric of a godless Republic, as the outlaw leader of an illegal religious sect would have them believe? Whatever the answer, it will change them all forever… and perhaps their world as well.

Shannan’s Summary

Helena lives in the land of reason.  A place where science and proof give order to life.  Helena held to reason as anyone else, until two things happened:  Her father died and a child showed up on the beach.  This child was from the land of religion, where faith guides blindly.  But the Child, Kailani, has a way of burring into the hearts of those around her, and more than anything else, Helena wants to keep her safe.  Little did she know what that would require.

First Off…

I thought the description sounded intriguing, a little mystery and running from the law, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Thoughts:

This was a difficult book for me.  The story was well written and I wanted to know how everything wrapped up, but it was slow all the way through. Toward the end I started speed reading and mostly reading dialog so I could just know how it ended, but even that seemed anti-climatic.

 The biggest reason I didn’t like the book is that it is 99% character driven, and the little action that actually happens is anti-climatic by the end.  I think people who like character driven stories would enjoy this book.  There are flashbacks that help the back story, and each of the characters have individual struggles they have to wrestle with.  But that was really the driving force, the characters struggles.  If you took away all the character development, there really wasn’t much happening otherwise, and I prefer my books to be balanced between characters and action.

 I did enjoy the play between reason and religion, and where one begins and another ends, but I was a little confused by the world as a whole.  I don’t know if it’s because I read the story so slowly or if it just wasn’t the author’s intention to explain, but I would have liked a little more clarity about the world the story takes place in.  At times it felt like it was our world in the future, but then sometimes it felt like a world somewhere else.  I would have just liked a little more information about it.

In the End

It wasn’t for me. Honestly, if it hadn’t been a Netgalley read, I probably would have put it down a couple chapters in, but being new to the program, I wanted to finish it to get my score up. However if you like character driven books or are intrigued by the line between reason and religion you may want to borrow this. 

10 Second Summary:

1. It’s Character Driven: It’s the characters and their struggles that drive the story.
2. I’m not sure if it’s based in our world or another: There was some confusion for me on this, which I think just means the Author didn’t think giving the world a definition was crucial to the story.
3. The little action that exists is anti-climatic: the last 20% of the book picked up with some action and suspense, but it kind of fell flat.

It’s a don’t bother book for me.   Defiantly not my style of stories.