Title: The Almost King
Author: Lucy Saxon
Series: Take Back the SKies #2
Edition: Digital ARC, 400 Pages
Publication Details: June 2nd 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Genre(s): YA; Steampunk
Disclosure? Yep! I was provided with a free copy in exchange for an HONEST review.
Goodreads// Purchase
In the second book in this sprawling saga, Aleks is the youngest of four brothers, each with his future predictably mapped out. But Aleks wants more than a life in his father’s shop. So when he hears his parents worrying about money, he decides to save them the cost of his keep by running away.
Aleks joins the army—but when that doesn’t answer his problems, he breaks the law and deserts. Wanted and alone, he heads north, where he stumbles into love, adventure, and a skyship he might be able to call home . . . if he can evade the soldiers pursuing him.
Prepare for another sweeping adventure by nineteen-year-old Lucy Saxon in a series that seamlessly blends genre elements and a compelling contemporary voice.
Review
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Take Back the Skies considering the very mixed reviews it got, and I knew I’d need to continue with the series after a surprising, infuriating ending, so I was pretty thrilled to get approved for the second book.
The Almost King is set in the same world, but isn’t a continuation on Cat’s story,to my dismay. I was dying to know what that crazy ending was all about, but nooooooo!
However,The Almost King is about Aleks, the youngest boy in a large family who feels like he’s always in his older brother’s shadow and wants to do something that will set him aside from them.
Alexs’ solution is to join the military, which we know from Take Back the Skies is not as it seems.
I’m gonna throw it out there, the start of this book was written terribly. It was wooden, felt disjointed and was just very writing 101. I had expected the first book to be like that but it wasnt, so i was really disappointed that this one was.
But saying that, it got much better after a chapter or two, and I really enjoyed it. I longed for it to meet up where the first book left off but I think it’s kind of more intriguing that it didnt.
So all in all, I found this book to be a mixed bag, but I’ll deffo be looking forward to the next installment.
