The Skylighter (Keepers' Chronicles, #2)

by Becky Wallace

Johanna and Rafi are in a race against time to save their country before a power-mad Keeper destroys everything they hold dear in the “enthralling magical world” (Cinda Williams Chima, author of The Heir Chronicles) introduced in The Storyspinner.

As the last of the royal line, Johanna is the only person who can heal a magical breach in the wall that separates her kingdom of Santarem from the land of the Keepers, legendary men and women who wield elemental magic. The barrier protects Santarem from those Keepers who might try to take power over mere humans…Keepers who are determined to stop Johanna and seize the wall’s power for themselves.

And they’re not the only ones. As the duchys of Santarem descend into war over the throne, Johanna relies more than ever on the advice of her handsome companion, Lord Rafael DeSilva. But Rafi is a duke too, and his people come first. As their friendship progresses into the beginnings of a tender relationship, Johanna must wonder: is Rafi looking out for her happiness, or does he want the throne for himself?

With war on the horizon, Johanna and Rafi dodge treacherous dukes and Keeper assassins as they race to through the countryside, determined to strengthen the wall before it’s too late…even if it means sacrificing their happiness for the sake of their world.

• ISBN10: 1481405705
• ISBN13: 9781481405706
• Publish Date: 22 March 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Margaret K McElderry Books
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[KitsuneBae]

Actual: 3.5 stars

The Storyspinner was by far one of the best books I've read in 2015. It wasn't perfect particularly in the world building and plot but its characters, the ships, the classic fairy tale feel and the premise certainly compensated for what it lacked. So it was only expected that the second book, Skylighter, was one of my awaited books this 2016. And what can I say, it was still wonderful but I wish that there was more.

Considering that the Keepers' Chronicles is a fantasy and that there were so many POVs, one would expect that it was longer, if not in the number of installments then at least, in the number of pages per book. Alas, The Keepers' Chronicles is only a duology and each book consisted of around 300 pages. For other readers, said statistics would have been enough but hell, we're talking about fantasy here. And taking into account the scope of the plot and the involved characters, more pages or installments are needed.

What happened in this series is that the almost-mediocre world building wasn't improved. Some of the POVs got left out and the plot really suffered because everything just happened too fast. It didn't help that another POV (Dom's) was added and you know, it wasn't really necessary. Don't get me wrong, I adore Dom but I don't think that it was important to get a blow-by-blow account of what he's doing and his various romances on the side because there are still more important things that could have been improved in lieu of his POVs.

What else? There's also the matter with Johanna's stubbornness to accept help from basically everyone (Rafi and the Keepers). I know she's trying to be honorable but gods, she should have realized that even if she's a talented storyspinner and acrobat, she's still no match against the enemies.

And what happened to Pira and Leao? Don't they deserve a better ending than that? They went through so much and yet, not even a passionate kiss?

All in all, I still say that despite my little disappointment with this finale, the Keepers' Chronicles is one of the best series I've read in 2015-2016. The characters were overall interesting, the ships toe-curling, the plot page turning enough, and the writing is magical to keep you hooked until the end.