Shatter the Sky Cosplay + Review
Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells, out now from Simon & Schuster
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | Zeebra Books
Personal Rating: i’d follow Maren in an uprising against any tyrant. i don’t care which one. i’m down for any. hit me up.
Reasons to Read: Clever protagonist, unapologetic BI REP!!, unpredictable plot, transportive worldbuilding rich with detail
Are you one of those people sick of queerness always being portrayed as a subject of discrimination and struggle, even in fantasy settings? Well, HERE’S THE BOOK YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. The world of Shatter the Sky has an imperialism problem, and a tyrant problem that’s packaged with that, but queer people are perfectly fine being themselves and no one gives a shit. The story, summarized succinctly as an “angry bisexual feminist dragon fantasy,” follows Maren, a mountain girl who gets so pissed when the imperialists snatch her girlfriend away for some mysterious and deadly training trials that she sets out to steal a dragon and get her back.
What gets me about Maren is that she’s one of those rare YA protagonists who’s clearly very intelligent, but you can actually see her streams of clever thoughts at work instead of just being told that she’s, idk, doing smart shit. She’s also very coolheaded, thinking through all of her decisions carefully and making almost none by impulse (unless she’s under high duress).
“I dug in my pocket and pulled out the coins I’d separated from my purse this morning. Father had warned me about how expensive things were likely to be. I’d set aside five feathers for the inn, knowing it was probably too much, but I hadn’t wanted the vulnerability of scrounging around in my pack after coming up short.”
“My stomach was growling fiercely by the time the sun set. I’d debated whether to go down for supper—it would be an opportunity for my façade to slip—but decided eventually that it would be more suspicious for an exhausted traveler not to take full advantage of a hearty meal.”
No matter how much she preps ahead, though, Maren’s plans don’t always work out when you expect them to, which keeps a constant thread of suspense through the book. You never get the sense that things are becoming too easy for her. Her character arc is very much about her pushing through her self-perceived inadequacies out of her love for her girlfriend and discovering along the way that, you know what? She is more That Bitch than she ever imagined.
“I am Maren ben Gao Vilna of the Verran mountain. I have left my home, and I have fought and bled for my quest. I have met Aurati and faced down dragons and matched wits with Zefedi invaders. What I have done, I have done to survive. Like Ciara, mother of dragons, I will soar. I have not failed. I will not give up. I am second to no one. I am worthy, and I will not be overtaken by you.”
One of my favourite aspects of the book is the system used in the world to tame dragons–scented oils! I don’t think I’ve ever read another book that went so in depth in exploring the power of scents. Smell is an underrated sensory cue in literature, y’all.
“Tell me what you smell. Be as specific as possible, no matter how strange it seems.”
Warmth. Sun. A sharp, sweet tang in the back of my mouth. It was on the tip of my tongue—Father had brought fruit that smelled like this to the mountain once, after a long trip to Kyseal. “Orange,” I said.
Overall, Shatter the Sky is a fun, fast, suspenseful read that relies very little on existing YA tropes and keeps you guessing what will happen next. Go check it out!