CRIMSON SKY REVIEW

Crimson Sky (Dark Sky #1)
by: Amy Braun
Publish Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: Self
Status: DNF

          They’re always watching. They’re always waiting. They’re always starving…
          Ten years ago, the sky shattered and the Hellions emerged. No one was able to keep them from destroying the city of Westraven. Now that the bloodthirsty monsters rule the skies and have forced the few remaining humans underground, Claire Abernathy lives in a nightmare. She survives by using her skills as an engineer for a ruthless tyrant connected to her mother and father’s past failure.
          Then Claire’s world is torn apart when her sister Abby is kidnapped by the Hellions, and Claire herself is taken by dangerous sky pirates known as marauders. But Claire will not be intimidated by them while her sister’s life hangs by a thread, and so she strikes a deal with them: If they help rescue Abby, she will fix their ship and give them the chance to take the revenge they desperately seek.
          As Claire fights for her sister’s life, she begins to realize that the Hellions are not the only dangers she’ll face. Burdensome secrets and devastating betrayals threaten her at every turn, and if she loses herself to them, it won’t just be her life that is destroyed…

          I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. There were info dumps and I wasn't intrigued. I expected a lot more gore. I probably didn't get that much gore because I only got through 25% of the book. The only gore I got was from the 4 sentences in chapter 1, which made me happy. Then, things started going downhill.

          From what I read, it was very City of Ember meets Attack on Titan. It's City of Ember because people live underground with a really corrupt ruler, food is becoming scarce and there's this message from the past. It's Attack on Titan (I never watched or read Attack on Titan) because there are these hellions (Titans) that are crazy and they kill everything. There's also a group of people that kill these hellions/Titans. That's pretty much the gist of Attack on Titan, I think.

          The whole story is about Claire trying to save her sister. I admire her tenacity/sense of responsibility despite the obstacles and difficulties of this feat. I get it, you want to pull a "Penryn Young", but you're not as badass as Penryn. I also found Claire to be obnoxious on occasions. She had too much confidence and hubris. Ah, hubris, the downfall of every noble and non-noble character. "Fucking love it."

          That's pretty much the story, along with staying alive in a post-apocalyptic world. You know, the usual story of every YA book known to humanity, after Divergent and Hunger Games became popular. I found it kind of flat and boring because it was so been there done that. I understand that Claire is extremely worried about her sister and wants to save her immediately, but constantly reading that line over and over really starts to grate on the nerves.
          I didn't get steampunk, even though it's one of the genres of this book. I got an inventor, but that's the extent of steampunkery. The inventions were not steam related and no one got burnt. I know, it's sick of me for being disappointed by the lack of death and gore, but this is a "horror" book after all. I always pictured steampunk during an industrial revolution, not post-apocalyptic setting. There was to be an advancement, not a step back. I expected this:

From Steamboy

          The writing was decent. It needs a little more flavor. I thought it was monotonous and lacked life, zing. Interesting story and concept, but it needs a little more thought, planning and fine tuning (mainly getting rid of those horrid info dumps.)