on June 23, 2020
Pages: 384
Goodreads
Gul has spent her life running. She has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, and in the kingdom of Ambar, girls with such birthmarks have been disappearing for years. Gul's mark is what caused her parents' murder at the hand of King Lohar's ruthless soldiers and forced her into hiding to protect her own life. So when a group of rebel women called the Sisters of the Golden Lotus rescue her, take her in, and train her in warrior magic, Gul wants only one thing: revenge.
Cavas lives in the tenements, and he's just about ready to sign his life over to the king's army. His father is terminally ill, and Cavas will do anything to save him. But sparks fly when he meets a mysterious girl--Gul--in the capital's bazaar, and as the chemistry between them undeniably grows, he becomes entangled in a mission of vengeance--and discovers a magic he never expected to find.
Dangerous circumstances have brought Gul and Cavas together at the king's domain in Ambar Fort . . . a world with secrets deadlier than their own. Exploring identity, class struggles, and high-stakes romance, Hunted by the Sky is a gripping adventure set in a world inspired by medieval India.
Today we are excited to be here with a review of the recently-released Hunted by the Sky. I adored Tanaz Bhathena’s debut novel, A Girl Like That, so I was really excited to see how her gorgeous writing style and prose that isn’t afraid to tackle important, timely issues would translate into a fantasy set in medieval Persia.
I absolutely was not disappointed.
Hunted by the Sky is not a book for the faint of heart — the first sentence of the novel hit with a literal bang — “The come for us in the night and shoot my father through the skull.” After reading that, I knew I was in for a wild ride.
The rest of the book definitely lived up to the first, heart-stopping chapter. This is definitely a take on the “chosen one” trope — our main character, Gul, is possibly the prophesied girl who, with unknown magic, will eventually defeat the evil King Lohar and return peace to the country. But Gul isn’t buying it, and I really liked that about her. A lot of times “chosen ones” are really quick to accept their new path, and Gul was kicking and screaming the whole way. She made terrible decisions and went down bad paths, but again, in the hands of Bhathena, it didn’t read as annoying or cloying. I really loved her as a character and was rooting for her the whole way.
I didn’t feel as much of a connection with the male lead, Cavas, for most of the novel, though felt he came into his own toward the end. He just wasn’t drawn as wholly as Gul was, for me, and some of his chapters dragged a bit.
On the whole, I thought this was a great read. I have been in a bit of a slump lately and found this book to be engaging enough to help beat the slump. I couldn’t wait to see what happened. Hunted by the Sky kept me guessing the entire way through and I never once knew exactly where it was going. I loved the atmosphere and the magic system, though I could have used a bit more on the different types of magic. I’m hoping that comes out a bit more in the second book.
Overall, I’m absolutely hooked and cannot wait for book 2. I definitely suggest you pick this one up — I don’t think you will be disappointed!
What About You?
Have you read this one yet? Is it on your TBR? Will you be picking it up? I hope you do! Come talk to me about it in the comments!
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