SPSFC REVIEW: ABOVE THE SKY OR A BOOK THAT KEEPS SURPRISING ME!

Hello people and happy Monday! I can’t believe that I am here with my first review for the new year, but here we are! And I really hope this would be the first of many!

Title: Above The Sky
Series: Above The Sky #1
Author: Jenny Lynne
Pages: 352
Publication Date: July 9th, 2015

HER FIRST EIGHTEEN YEARS WERE FILLED WITH LIES.
SHE IS ABOUT TO DISCOVER THE TRUTH.
Eighteen-year-old Seven and her best friend, Ten, live where all is peaceful … except for the violent war raging above the sky. Lifelike humanoid robots and self-operated drones tend to everyone’s needs, leaving people free to spend their time stimulating their minds and enjoying life’s pleasures. But there are strict rules and few choices.
Every year, on Assignment Day, the path of each eighteen-year-old’s life is laid out. Some are given the jobs for which they have shown exceptional aptitude and are “paired” for mating. The others are sent off to fight in The War and never return.
When Assignment Day comes for Seven, the assignments shatter everything she’s ever believed. The rules force everyone to accept their fates, but Seven decides to do something unprecedented: to go against the Decision Makers’ wishes.

This book made me change my mind a number of times. When I sampled it I was quite okay with it. I am not a fan of dystopic YA but the first 10% seemed okay: I was enjoying the MC’s voice and I wanted to see where all of this was going.
Then I started to read it for real and I wanted to drop it. And I wanted it pretty bad too because I was not impressed. It was the same old, same old.

Sure, new location, but all the rest was boring and predictable. Mind me, if you are a fan of this genre probably you would have enjoyed it because it is not objectively bad, it was just bad for me. The dystopic vibes are just so high in there, the only really well-developed character is the main one, even if we have some secondary ones that are pretty important (I mean, Ten is almost an MC but he feels plain, and not as well developed as I was hoping). But it was an SPSFC book so I decided to wait a bit more.
Dropping it was still on the table because I won’t drag myself in a reading I am hating, but I was okay with giving it a bit more of my time. And then we reach the 30%, given or taken, and things started getting better. And better.

The author managed to take the story in some unexpected places and the pace sped up. And I was there, turning page after page because for some unexpected reasons I was completely hooked up! So much so that I am seriously thinking about continuing the series. And this is a pretty big step, considering that I wanted to drop the book. The problem here is that I can’t really say a lot, because it would be a spoiler, and I don’t want to ruin it for you. 
In the beginning, we have our MC, Seven for short, her twin sister, Six, the best friend, Ten, and the bully, Twelve. They all are teens and they are going to school in a world where all is established and determined. You have to go to that restaurant that specific day to eat with your family, you have to wear those clothes, and you can do this or that in your free time when you have free time. All is decided and accounted for for you. You just have to behave and do what is expected from you. At least until the day in which all our characters finish school and there is a decision made (by some unknown entity or commissions or whatever) about their future. On that day they would be told what they would become and who they will be paired (as in married, sort of) to. The only ones that won’t be paired are the Warriors. They would be sent to fight a mysterious war and they are basically sent to death.
So, not really an idyllic world. And here the things start to get interesting. I can’t really say more about the plot from this point on, because spoiler alert! But I can say that things start to get interesting, and the author took some original and intriguing decisions. And I really appreciated them.

This is the perfect series to binge-reading if you want something with strong dystopic vibes, an interesting and mysterious world to discover, and a lot of things happening that would keep you on the edge of your seat, turning page after page.
Sure, I wasn’t really into it, in the beginning, and I was so tempted to just drop this one, but I can tell you that I am pretty happy to have kept at it, because in the end, I had a great time and I was invested in the story.

So, that’s all for today! Have you read this book? Or are you interested in it? Let me know!!!

Happy reading!
S.