Broken Skies

The Bookworm says... Absolutely! Broken Skies by Theresa Kay was a terrific book. 10 years ago, the Collapse wiped out 90% of the human population. Now, the remaining humans live in seclusion, sharing the planet with E'rikon aliens. Jax is different from most of the girls in their settlement; she refuses to wear gowns and prance around like a show pony. Alongside her twin brother Jace, she hunts, fights, and sneaks past the gates whenever possible. After a traumatizing past event, Jax cannot be touched and has frequent panic attacks. She relies heavily on Jace, as he is the only one that can get through to her to calm her down. One day, her curiosity gets the best of her; Jace ends up a prisoner of the E'rikon and Jax ends up with an unlikely E'rikon friend named Lir. On her journey to rescue her brother, Jax becomes fatally close with Lir, and discovers that she isn't as different from other girls as she thought. Over the course of the novel, Jax fights the battles against her anxiety and panic attacks, and attempts to figure out where loyalties lie and who the true enemy is. 

This book was excellent! Initially, Jax reminded me of Merida from the Disney movie Brave. (And may or may not be how I picture her...) Generally, I'm not into dystopian novels. Until I read this, I probably couldn't have told you my favorite. Now it's Broken Skies. As the novel is told through Jax's point of view, the development of her character was terrific. The mystery of her anxiety/panic attacks was intriguing and captivating. The characterization of Lir through Jax's eyes was great. I do think the ending felt a little rushed, but that didn't take away from the novel at all. The plot was brilliantly thought through and held my attention perfectly. This book has been on my mind constantly for the past 24 hours. (Spoiler alert for the little blurb after the quote!!)

"When the dreams finally come, they're not at all what I expect. My dreams once again focus on me, me in danger, me crying, me shaking... It's not the fear or the blood of those I killed filling my head, but my own." 

(Spoiler alert!!) I wish there was more on the Jace/Flint relationship!! When it comes down to it, I TOTALLY ship that.