Threats of Sky and Sea by Jennifer Ellision

Threats of Sky and Sea (Threats of Sky and Sea, #1)

by Jennifer Ellision

Sixteen year-old Breena Perdit has spent her life as a barmaid, innocent to her father’s past and happily free from the Elemental gifts that would condemn her to a life in the Egrian King’s army. Until the day that three Elemental soldiers recognize her father as a traitor to the throne and Bree’s father is thrown in jail—along with the secrets from his last mission as the King’s assassin. Secrets that could help the King win a war. Secrets he refuses to share.

Desperate to escape before the King’s capricious whims prove her and her father’s downfall, Bree bargains with him: information for their lives. It’s a good trade. And she has faith she’ll get them both out of the King’s grasp with time.

But that was before the discovery that she’s the weapon the King’s been waiting for in his war.

Now, time is running out. To save her father’s life and understand her own, Bree must unravel the knot of her father’s past before the King takes his life– and uses her to bring a nation to its knees.

Reviewed by Angie on

3 of 5 stars

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I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I was really looking forward to Threats of Sky and Sea, and while I did enjoy it, I found it too predictable to love it. When we meet Bree, she's just a barmaid, working at an inn with her father. While out chopping wood she stumbles upon some elementals who are looking for a traitor. Of course, their mission brings them right to her inn where they promptly arrest her father and drag them both back the castle. Bree's father is taken to the dungeon, but she is given lessons on being a lady, and undergoes some cruel experiments directed by the king. Turns out that Bree's entire life is a lie, and there's an entire kingdom in trouble that she can save if the king doesn't use her to destroy it first.

Threats of Sky and Sea didn't impress me at first. It was the typical you are not who you think are you but you have great power plot. However, soon enough, I was quite invested in Bree's story. I liked her a lot. She's not a proper lady like the king wants her to be, but she also doesn't go out of her way to be unladylike just to spite him. She knows it's important to play along in order to stay alive and have any hope of escaping with her father. She's also not so stupid to refuse to learn how to control her power, despite not wanting it in the first place. It's another skill that might save her life and those around her.

You may be happy to learn that there is no insta-love or a love triangle in Threats of Sky and Sea. In fact, there's a distinct lack of romance, which made me a little sad, but I did enjoy getting to know the characters first before any relationship drama is thrown in. Bree does like someone, and these feelings come out at the end, but she decides that now is not the time to act on them. Much more important things are happening that require a clear head, something one does not have while making out. I am looking forward to how this develops in future books, since I am such a sucker for forbidden romances.

I did figure out every twist in Threats of Sky and Sea. They were way too obvious to me, and I was annoyed rather than excited to find that I was correct. I was kind of hoping to be wrong, and that it would be something else that would cause a reaction. Unfortunately, that just did not happen. I didn't dislike anything that was happening, but there were no surprises which made the experience less fun.

In the end, I did enjoy Threats of Sky and Sea. It's a good, quick read with likeable characters (except the king and Katerine, of course). It does fall prey to many cliches and tropes, and doesn't do anything new with them which was disappointing. I do plan on continuing the series, since I am interested to find out how Bree handles all of these new truths. I also need to know what really happened to her mother!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 19 June, 2014: Finished reading
  • 19 June, 2014: Reviewed