Sanctuary Reviews

Graveskies by Cowardlydawg

"Graveskies" by  cowardlydawg follows a young woman named Ryujin (who also goes by Ryu), a winged mutant serving in the Akan military with her partner, a Weilder named Willow who can liquefy solid objects. In the Akan society, mutants and Wielders are forced to enter the military or die. Despite the stigma, Ryu takes great pride in her wings and has excelled as a fighter, going above and beyond the requirements of service as she competes for the grandest award: to meet her God Nyrin in the hopes he will grant her a wish as he has done for many of her nation's greatest warriors before her.

I love the contrasting colours of the book's cover. The bold reds and blues go well together and stand out against the black background. The gold font of the title also serves as a great contrast, however, I did find the title difficult to read. The author's name is legible and distinct from the black background. I found the cover to be a bit busy, with many different elements intermingling and it was difficult to distinguish them from each other and see how they fit together.

I love how multifaceted the book is, and all the different compelling concepts that are explored and woven into the plot. However, for the sake of the blurb, it may be best to choose the central plot, and perhaps one or two other concepts to focus on for the sake of being concise and attention grabbing. I did notice some tense slips and some areas where the syntax could be adjusted for clarity.

The descriptions in this book are wonderfully vivid and snappy. We get lines such as "her lungs had grown too tight." Truly, there were plenty of times I wanted to stop for other examples, but there were so many. As we follow the main character Ryujin, we get to see the world through her eyes and her perspective is woven throughout the descriptions in the narration as well as when she's thinking or speaking, which puts us fully into her head throughout the story.

Ryujin is a fascinating and compelling character. In her society, mutants are stigmatised. As a child, she had to hide her wings and her parents threatened to disown her if she ever flew. Then she joined the Akan military and met Willow. Despite the adversity in her early life, she takes a lot of pride in her wings. As a reader, I enjoyed and admired her ferocious fighting spirit as she stops at nothing to better herself and achieve her goals.

I love the contrast between Ryujin's determination with how considerate and gentle she is with her partner Willow. The dynamic between them is heartwarming. They have known each other since early childhood and share an Opus bond: A bond between warriors where one swears to sacrifice themselves for the other. However, these two promise never to use it on the other and instead use the advantages the bond creates.

The Opus bond concept is interesting and a large part of the story, as well as the dynamic between Ryu and Willow. I would have liked to have seen more of the concept shown to us, rather than explicitly told.

I noticed there was a pattern of telling rather than showing. There are a lot of cool world building elements and concepts woven into the story. When certain concepts are shown to us, such as the objects falling from the sky and Ryu's determination it is powerful and makes me sink my teeth into the story. On a similar note, I would have liked to have seen more of this concerning concepts and characterisation.

The characters have unique voices and mannerisms, however, I think some of their personalities and descriptions could have been worked into the narrative rather than explained via exposition. We get to see a lot of Ryu, and we see Willow through her eyes which works well for their dynamic. However, when we learn more about Willow's aversion to using her powers at the start, and especially her aversion to using them on Ryu as she often requests, we are told of her arc in only a few sentences that she became ruthless. As we see Ryu learning and developing her abilities, it would be compelling to see how Willow develops hers as well alongside Ryu. This wouldn't necessarily warrant a POV change or anything, but could still be developed through Ryu's admiration of her.

"Graveskies" is a compelling story that explores fascinating concepts from religion to one's faith in their nation. Ryu is an engaging character with an intense and admirable confidence and spirit. I enjoyed what I read of this story so far and look forward to seeing where it's headed! Great job! 

Sincerly, 

- TheQueenofGremlins (Mandie)