Take Back the Skies

by Lucy Saxon

[Kelly]

3.5 Stars
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2014/06/take-back-skies-by-lucy-saxon.html
After seeing the early reviews, I was skeptical whether I would enjoy Take Back the Skies, but I really enjoyed it. It was a fusion of dystopian, science fiction and romance, and apart from the appearance of of the Skyships, I was wondering where the steam punk aspect was. The storyline is seen through the eyes of Catherine, who takes on the new persona of Cat when she leaves home for a life on the run. Born in an era where women are obedient and the government feed propaganda into the homes of it's citizens, Cat is a renegade. Although she begins as a miniature freedom fighter, sadly she morphs into a girl who had the potential to battle her father, but seemingly backed away. She occasionally allows her thoughts to wander to that of her terminally ill mother, but Cat seems to have little or no attachment to the life she has only just escaped, but rather cares more for the robotic servant that became her carer and only friend.

I found the storyline entertaining, but it's not without it's flaws. I found Cat's age hard to connect with, as she felt like a much older character than fourteen years old. Cat's character would have benefited from being depicted as a sixteen year old girl or Take Back the Skies marketed as a mature Middle Grade release. Being almost fifteen just wasn't believable. The other issue I had was the cast of main characters being underdeveloped. Having left her own mother, Alice being the only other female in Cat's life, there was little information provided about her, other than the fact that she is the designated carer and spends all her time in the kitchen. Cat, who begun as feisty, sassy and seemingly ready to push the role that females played within their world, became soft and sulky far too often and gone was the girl ready to rebel.

Fox played the role of the chauvinist and occasionally arrogant teen. He was Cat's love interest, which didn't match up with here mere fourteen years of age, with him being seventeen. But when the dreaded love triangle comes to light, that's when the romantic aspect just became awkward. A third party enters the picture, and instantly wants Cat for himself. She's fourteen, not Sofia Vergara. Awkward.

But the author was only sixteen when penning Take Back the Skies. Despite it's flaws, which almost every book has, it was superbly entertaining. I rate books on how much I enjoyed them, and this was a four star read for me in terms of entertainment value. But the epilogue fell completely flat. This book has the potential to be a phenomenal read, the world created was brilliant, but needs a bit more depth. I loved the simplistic style of writing though, it was easy to read and put down to come back to later, but didn't fully draw me in. Young teens will adore this though.