The Cerulean (The Cerulean Duology, #1)

by Amy Ewing

From New York Times bestselling author Amy Ewing (The Jewel) comes the exciting first book in a new fantasy duology. Rich, vivid world-building and ethereal magic combine in an epic tale that's perfect for fans of Snow Like Ashes, These Broken Stars, or Magonia.

Sera Lighthaven has always felt as if she didn't quite belong among her people, the Cerulean, who live in the City Above the Sky. She is curious about everything-especially the planet that her City is magically tethered to-and can't stop questioning things. Sera has always longed for the day when the tether will finally break and the Cerulean can move to a new planet.

But when Sera is chosen as the sacrifice to break the tether, she feels betrayed by everything in which she'd been taught to trust. In order to save her City, Sera must end her own life.

But something goes wrong, and Sera survives, ending up on the planet below in a country called Kaolin. Sera has heard tales about the dangerous humans who live here, and she quickly learns that these dangers were not just stories.

Meanwhile, back in the City, all is not what it seems, and the life of every Cerulean may be in danger if Sera is not able to find a way home.

• ISBN10: 0062490001
• ISBN13: 9780062490001
• Publish Date: 4 February 2020 (first published 29 January 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 512
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.com.au/9780062490001

Reviews

I realize that there are a lot of issues with this book. I never noticed that it was represented as an LGTB+ book, but it is not. The main character lives in a world of only women, where everyone has three mothers, but our main character is straight. I personally did not mind this, since she was always incredibly curious about the planets, so it does make sense for me that she could be straight. However, I do think it is important that this book is not represented as an LGTB+ book since it just is not. It has LGTB characters, but that is it.
The next issue that I have read about in other reviews, is that this book is racist. I am not quite sure what to think of this. We have this city above the sky, of silver colored skin persons who have blue blood and can do magic, and we have the planet with people that are oppressive and cruel. Three characters in this book are described as having brown colored skin, and these are from the planet. We also know that there are gingers on the planet, thus I assume that there are people of all colors on the planet and not strictly people of color. However, this is never stated. All we know is that there are members that are brown-skinned, and there are people with red hair. I definitely understand where people are coming from when they call this story full of racism, however, I believe that these people in the city above the sky are just mythical people who do not represent any race. None of us have skins of silver. I also believe that the planet has people of all skin colors, but the author could have done a better job representing this, instead of only describing three skin colors, all of them brown.

Despite the issues, I really enjoyed this book. The plot was unique, entertaining, and kept surprising me. There were a lot of plot twists I did not see coming, the characters were interesting, even though they were not explored in depth. We do get to know them, but that is all. They do not really go to major changes during this story. I especially loved the parts of Leela in the city above the sky and cared less about Leo and Sera, but I still really enjoyed it. One downside of this book was that the parts were so exclusively split. First, we only hear about Sera, next, we only hear about Agnes and Leo, next... etc. I think the book would have done better if we had switched more frequently from the planet to the city above the sky and back. It would have read more fluently.

[tweetybugshouse]

Ok, I really did enjoy this one I went into it with just the premise and the fact that it an Amy Ewing book. I love the jewel series devoured one right after the other. This one is very different. We have all female society that is ruled by a high priestess who dictates when certain events happen. She claims Mother Sun tells her when these should happen but I read plenty of these kinds of stories and their always some secret going on behind the scenes. Anyway, each family is formed of 3 mothers who each do something different. There are no males instead they have children in a birthing season and it happens within themselves. So next up we have the problem that the city cannot sustain itself anymore and needs to move on and the only way to do so is by having someone sacrificed to break tethered cord that connects their world to the planet below. Once that happens the point of view shifts to the planet below and your sort of left going but I want to know what happens back in the sky. Once we shift to the planet below point of view we learn all about this planet. We have a privileged country and the not so privileged country. We also have a society that ruled by men in one part of the planet and the women can’t do anything without men permission. We have a daughter who is mixed raced who only wants to know her mother and want to be a scientist. I saw some reviews that were really critical of this story in that the lesbian part of the story did not work for them, their racism’s in the story with the white privilege versus the dark skin, and the oppression of women. I felt that these things all worked well for the story they were explained very well and they help move along parts of the story. The layout of the two worlds was well done, the characters are established and play their roles how they been portrayed. The ending is a nail biter with a tearful scene as one of the creatures does not survive in the escape sequence. We are left with a cliff hanger for both parts of the story in the planet below and the planet above which sets you up for the next book. I not sure when that one is coming or what it will be called as it not listed yet on Goodreads. I would say this is a solid read for dystopian fantasy readers and that you should pick it up and give it a go for yourself before you decide how you feel about it.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

One thing I must say about this book, before we get into its entirety, is that the first say, 15% had me crying, smiling, in awe... and then lots more crying but look, emotions are good! I was in freaking love with this magical world in the sky. In. Love. And okay, I don't read synopses before starting a book, but some of the stuff is easy to predict regardless. That was okay, it didn't really have any impact on my reading experience. Plus, twists happened later anyway, yay!

Anyway, around 15-20% is where the location change happens. And I still really, really liked the book, but it did lose a bit of its magic for me at this point. Also, I need a map. Like desperately, and I hope there is one in the finished copy, because this world was a lot. And not in a bad way! Really, the author did a phenomenal job of creating such intricacies in several different cultures within the book, it's quite impressive. But maps help.

There are four POVs, and this did not bother me at all- I daresay they were necessary. Sera, who is the character we first meet in Sky Places (and I adored from minute one) stays with us throughout. Ground-dwelling siblings Agnes and Leo each have a POV, with quite differing views of the world around them. Leo is kind of a typical-seeming dudebro at first but you can tell he's really not underneath the machismo. Agnes is fabulous from the start ha.  Sera's best friend Leela rounds them out, and she's lovely and I really enjoyed what she added to the mix.

Speaking of characters, their interactions with each other are really the crowning jewel of this story. The lengths they'd go to for each other in some cases; the tension in others. The family dynamics between Sera and her mothers is one of the loveliest I have read about in a long, long time. And the friendship Sera and Leela have is so strong and inspiring!

I don't want to say too much about the plot, but Sera wants to know what has happened to her people, and will do just about anything to save them, as she thinks she's failed her mission. Agnes and Leo are dealing with a dad who is basically the grossest of all time and has a sentient zoo I guess and honestly he is the worst. They need to figure out what they truly want out of life. Leela just wants her bestie back, and to uncover some truths about her people that will send her (and everyone else) reeling. But it kept me completely invested and I definitely need more!

Bottom Line: Such lovely and unique world-building, and characters that I am fully invested in coupled with some really heavy emotions make me certain to return for the sequel!