Good for Reading? ∣ Sunreach Honest Review

Have you ever wondered if storytelling could save the world?

Before you roll your eyes at me for the absurd thing I say, I must tell you they can. But you’re right, stories might not change everything on their own; they’re just a good start. Where do you think money came from? Trees? Last I checked, a sheet of paper is worth less than a dollar.

That’s right, money started off as a story, not an objective reality.

Welcome to my odd review series, where I categorize how much novels question our beliefs about life, and how much they merely take them for granted.

This review might contain spoilers about what this book isn’t.

Apart from that, I believe you’re good to go.

W H A T I S S U N R E A C H ?

If you’re here, perhaps you’re trying to see if the novellas are even worth it. But if you don’t even know you want to know if they’re worth it, I recommend reading the other books first.

…And maybe my other reviews? Maybe the first review, or the second one?

Anyway.

After Spensa left who knows where, Skyward flight is there to pick up the pieces. Not only did Spensa not inform of the whole situation, but she came, brought trouble, and left.  Good thing she did at least give them a hint about hypertechnology. And good thing they had someone else that could try to use it or else it wouldn’t have mattered at all, right?

F U N

I have to be honest and say it did cost me to get into the thick of the story.

For starters, I am more of a character-driven reader; not so big of a fan of plot-driven stories. And while this was not a plot-centered narrative to a t, I believe it did have more elements of it than not.

That being said, we do get some character development with FM and maybe Rig, and some really weird character growth with Jorgen as well. Nonetheless, I did not relate to their growth or think it was as natural as I would’ve liked, and as character-specific as it should’ve been.

The best part though, the plot and worldbuilding did the story well. I even liked the romance in the book, even if I would’ve preferred for it to be subtler than it was.

I’d say it was enjoyable though, not great, but okay.

Verdict? W O R K S F O R M E

W E L L W R I T T E N

I confess I did have high expectations for this novella.

One reason only.

FM.

She was this character with whom I identified in Skyward; her fashion sense, her political awareness, and the rebel in her looking to change the system… All of it was incredible to find in a YA novel as I knew it.

…Hence my excitement.

However, once in her shoes, I found all that I had elevated her for, was not a part of her as I thought, but more like an afterthought. Almost as if her contradictions were not completely understood by the author. And this feeling, although not as overwhelming, I got with some other characters too.

So, having initiated the novella with disappointment, it was hard for everything to perk up.

Then I started nitpicking at slight consistency errors, or how fast everything seemed to happen, or why some things might’ve felt forced—maybe again because things happened so fast—that in the end I just did not enjoy it as much as I could’ve.

Now, by the end, I did come to terms with the fact it was a novella and that it was co-written by Patterson. By no means is this a criticism of her writing, I’m merely stating this put her at a disadvantage because, undoubtedly, she was going to be compared to Sanderson and his writing, not to mention those weren’t her characters so she might’ve not been able to see them just as Sanderson did.

Still, it was not terrible, and thinking about it in retrospect, it had its moments.

Verdict? N O T F O R M E

T H O U G T - P R O V O K I N G T H E M E S

I do not think there were thought-provoking themes in this one.

…Maybe because there was not much time to grapple with them. Can’t say.

I’d argue it was maybe related to character development not being as present, but who knows? Maybe it is just a personal opinion, but I tend to think character arcs are related to themes intrinsically. The theme is what the character is growing into, and stuff like that.

Yet, we don’t see much of what FM is growing into and why she must do so, except in some general ways. To phrase it differently, all the growth she did was not FM-specific, more like any-pilot-specific.

…and that’s maybe why the payoff did not hit as hard.

Or feel believable to some extent.

Verdict? N O T F O R M E

C R I T I C A L C O M M E N T A R Y

Contrary to what I would’ve thought, this story did not contain as much critical commentary save from a couple of paragraphs at the beginning of the book that confirmed this story was supposed to be FM’s.

Ah, yes, there is some poison in my words, unintended to the author of course.

Still, I think it did mention what FM meant when she joined the DDF and how she still thinks it’s counterproductive to handle things through the military… even if she doesn’t give it a thought for the rest of the novella.

Just for that, however, I will give it a star.

I think the lack of follow-through on FM’s part was more of a writing thing, than something missed entirely by the plot or the themes in the main story.

Verdict? W O R K S F O R M E

P R O P O S E S A L T E R N A T I V E S

I am more upset than I thought because once more, I am here saying a novella about FM was not a novella that delved deep into political issues and the contradictions of her character.

It did not give us a glimpse of what FM wanted, aside from giving creatures their due place as living beings.

It did not put us in conflict with the violence of the military, or the structure of command, or anything revolutionary.

This FM was not the FM I had pictured, but I guess I had too big of an expectation coming in with what little Sanderson gave us of her in the first place.

…Maybe she was all a product of my very greedy imagination to begin with.

Verdict? N O T F O R M E  

To make a long story short, this book got: