THE WINDLESS SKY BY MICHAEL OWNES
WHEN THE CHILD BECOMES THE LEADER...
Ever wonder what it would be like if you were an orphan in space? What if everything suddenly goes wrong and the adults are a big part of the problem? Well, The Windless Sky gives us some insight on how something like that would play out.
Maisy was a natural born leader. With her mother's passing, she was sent into space where she would be staying with her father, surprisingly, more independent and strong-willed than he expected. A run in with pirates leaves Maisy an orphan, right around the time that things start to change in their home.
People were going missing, and the higher ups were keeping secrets.
With Maisy's curious mind, she goes looking into it, only to find herself watching after a small group of kids missing their parents as well.
Now, although I was able to finish the book, it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. The beginning was slower than expected, and for most of the first half of the book I would get lost in all the new terms being thrown at me at once. I suppose if I read more scifi books like this one, I would be more familiar with the terminology or at least know what the machines were called. So far, all I could grasp onto were words like "dashboard" or "engine". This could just be my problem, but with so much information being thrown at me without some form of reference or description of what I was reading about, I could only use my imagination.
Besides that, there was much to be desired with the book. The story didn't really pull me in as much as I would've liked. When I chose to read this book, I was expecting there to be a bigger adventure with Maisy and the other children, but all that seemed to happen was Maisy, being the fearless leader, making sure that none of the children were separated when things started to get rough, and then they were all shacked in a small room. From what I read, that was most of the book. There were parts that drew me in, but I was looking for more. It kind of left me feeling as if the climax never really happened, although I will say it's the most exciting part of the entire story.
I will take this first book as a warmup for what's to come. I give it two stars because I did have a hard time finishing it. Almost two months actually. There was nothing in the story putting me off, but I would say that it wasn't as exciting as I needed it to be to hold my attention.
I will, however, look forward to reading book two. The slow to grow romance with the main character has me wondering what the next adventure would look like. With some more plotting, I do feel as if this series could be great. I love female leads, coming of age, and kids learning leadership roles, which this series seems to be stepping into.
I would recommend this book to YA/teens interested in heavy science fiction, space battles, and strong female leads!