Book Review
Title: A Shiver of Snow and Sky
Author: Lisa Lueddecke
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Rating: ***
Review: I didn’t know anything about this book before picking it up. From the synopsis, I know this story takes place in Skane where the sky lights up different colours, these colours correspond to the mood of the Goddess. Green is good, blue means a storm is coming and red is a warning. The last time the sky turned red was 17 years ago when our main character Osa was born, but the sky turns red again and she has to solve what it means before the horrors associated with the red sky are unleashed upon Skane once more.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, we are introduced to the history of the island of Skane. The oldest man on the island Ymir has only seen the lights once before with day Osa was born and her mother died. The red lights seem to be followed by a plague that arrives within days, the last time it swept over Skane nearly half of the population was completely wiped out. This time around they don’t have a plan to stop the plague but just to be vigilant and quarantine those that are ill. However, this might not work as many won’t let the sick be taken, Osa’s father, for example, wouldn’t let her mother be taken until she was dead and Osa was extremely lucky to survive. Ivar provides a constant for Osa and he seems a little like a love interest and I can’t wait to see how Osa is going to investigate the plague before it arrives and what will happen when it does.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, this novel wasn’t really catching my interest despite being really atmospheric and I am hoping it picks up soon given that the novel is also quite short. Osa’s family seems quite cold towards her especially her older sister Anneka but Ivar makes up for it by showing Osa she is wanted. Ivar mentions that there is a cave where there are markings relating to Skane’s history that may hold some clue to figuring out the meaning of the lights and the plague that follows. Osa seems to see things that aren’t there which leads to her being frightened a lot of the time, but she doesn’t have a choice in the matter. In the cave Ivar uncovers a piece of information; travel to the highest peak and you’ll hear the Goddess speak. While Osa has no idea what this means I have a feeling it may be part of her journey to uncover the true meaning of the lights, but as they leave the cave Osa notices a set of footprints that don’t belong to her or Ivar. The footprints belong to the Or, a vicious race of humanoid creatures that have taken over everything except Skane and with the plague, on the way it seems this is the end of Skane. Osa however, volunteers to go into the mountains to speak to the Goddess and while her father stands against her, he is outvoted but she will have to go alone as everyone else will be trained for the upcoming battle with the Or should they survive the plague.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, things were picking up a little especially since Osa is about to begin her journey into the mountains with the slim hope that she might be able to convince the Goddess to stop the plague or the Or to give her people a fighting chance at survival. As Osa begins her journey to the mountains Ivar is given the task of notifying the other villages of what is happening and offer them the opportunity to train with them. However, he does encounter one village where they try to sacrifice him in order to appease the Goddess. Luckily, he is rescued by his father and brother, but fear and desperation is starting to set in. Osa on her journey is having more trouble with the weather than anything else but we do get some memories of her life and not one of them is good, even though her motivation for volunteering is to make her father and sister forgive her for killing her mother, even though it wasn’t her fault.
As we cross the halfway mark in the novel, as Osa reaches the foothills of the mountain, she is now in giant country and has to stay hidden and move without being seen but that is harder than it sounds. Back home, the Or are coming in more numbers to scout around Skane and Ivar leads a group to deal with them, but Mori ends up being killed along the way renewing Ivar’s determination to fight back against them. Ivar also seems to be the only person that holds any sort of faith that Osa will return from the mountain despite there being the odds being against her. Osa’s journey isn’t getting any easier but it is getting interesting when she stumbles across some giants and ends up getting captured by them. Here she proves that Ivar was right about being stronger than she thinks when she takes on one of the giants and gets free but whether she will survive long enough to speak to the Goddess and return home remains to be seen.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, the Or have made it to Skane and people are beginning to flee taking their chances in the wilderness rather than waiting to be slaughtered, some even resort to suicide and Ivar hopes that Osa is still alive. Meanwhile, Osa has made it into the mountains and come across a strange people who live within the mountain guarding the temple of the Goddess but don’t let any outsiders into the temple unless they are a sacrifice. A guard helps Osa find an older, disused way into the temple but it is guarded by ancient magic, but she takes her chances for getting to the Goddess and saving her people before it is too late.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Osa finally manages to get to the Goddess who gives her the tools to save Skane should she make it home in time, but she leaves the temple with far more than that. While the final battle with the Or was the most exciting part of the novel, and the writing style is beautiful, it can’t make up for the lack of action, the clunky exposition, slow pacing and the confusing point of view changes. While Shiver of Snow and Sky definitely had potential, in my opinion, it was a confusing and difficult book to read.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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