The Skylighter (The Keepers’ Chronicles #2) – Becky Wallace

Johanna and Rafi are in a race against time to save their country before a power-mad Keeper destroys everything they hold dear in the “enthralling magical world” (Cinda Williams Chima, author of The Heir Chronicles) introduced in The Storyspinner.
As the last of the royal line, Johanna is the only person who can heal a magical breach in the wall that separates her kingdom of Santarem from the land of the Keepers, legendary men and women who wield elemental magic. The barrier protects Santarem from those Keepers who might try to take power over mere humans…Keepers who are determined to stop Johanna and seize the wall’s power for themselves.
And they’re not the only ones. As the duchys of Santarem descend into war over the throne, Johanna relies more than ever on the advice of her handsome companion, Lord Rafael DeSilva. But Rafi is a duke too, and his people come first. As their friendship progresses into the beginnings of a tender relationship, Johanna must wonder: is Rafi looking out for her happiness, or does he want the throne for himself?
With war on the horizon, Johanna and Rafi dodge treacherous dukes and Keeper assassins as they race to through the countryside, determined to strengthen the wall before it’s too late…even if it means sacrificing their happiness for the sake of their world.

THE STORYSPINNER was one of my favorite reads of 2015 so when I got approved to read THE SKYLIGHTER early on Edelweiss, this was one I didn’t hesitate to pick up right away!! Becky Wallace has this amazing way of crafting characters to really connect the reader to each one and also create this incredible bond between them all. One thing I always love and enjoy in a book is a cast of characters that really comes together to form a crew (like in The Lunar Chronicles, The Lies of Locke Lamora, and Six of Crows) so to see how each of these characters already were tied together or became wrapped up in each other was just fantastic.

I’ll admit that I probably could have done with a re-read of THE STORYSPINNER before starting THE SKYLIGHTER. There’s just so much that happens and it really was almost a year since I had read it and I could have used some brushing up. There’s still plenty more to be seen in THE SKYLIGHTER though! It was actually hard for me to come to grips with the fact that the series was already ending! I’m so used to trilogies that it felt so fast to come to a conclusion already and yet it was the perfect amount of content for this story. I always enjoy duologies because you get so much more to a story and yet the series also wraps up quickly so readers aren’t waiting forever for that next book. I did feel a bit lost at times simply because I just didn’t remember everything that happened in book one (and totally major plot points too. Oops. My reading retention is the WORST) so there were moments that I wasn’t as hooked as I had been with THE STORYSPINNER because I was missing those pieces of information that should have already been stored in my brain. That was definitely reader error there.

As always, Becky Wallace’s character relationships are to die for. I absolutely adore every single one, romantic, platonic, or familial. They’re all so intricate and really provoked so many emotions as I was reading. The budding romance between Johanna and Rafi is absolutely stellar, filled with plenty of tension and some amazing kisses! And the range of romances is wonderful as well. There are many different levels and forms of love in this book and it was so wonderful to witness them all. I also really just adore this crew and their friendship. It’s not always easy but they really come to rely on one another and their feelings go way past the surface level.

I’m also still totally in love with this incredibly intricate world and how much it comes alive as I was reading. I could easily picture every location and it really helped me put myself in the story. The magical aspects of the world really develop in THE SKYLIGHTER as well although since it was the title of the book, I did find myself wanting a bit more focus on skylighters!

I just love Becky Wallace’s books and whatever she writes next will be an auto-buy for me. This is such a fun fantasy duology and if you haven’t read these books yet, now’s the perfect time to read them back-to-back and really savor the whole experience!

“The View from Goodreads” is a featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!

Kept Me Hooked On: Fantasy duologies. I am REALLY enjoying the fact that this was a fantasy duology. I love, love, love epic fantasy series and could live in some of these worlds forever but sometimes it’s hard to pick up a series when you know the rest of the series could literally take decades to release. This was a wonderful set of two books and I feel so content having it all wrapped up… although I will miss the characters too!
Left Me Wanting More: Memory. Ughh my reading retention is so bad. I wish I had taken the time to refresh myself on some of the bigger plot points of THE STORYSPINNER before I started because there was so much that I just didn’t remember in detail.

Addiction Rating
Read it!

I just love Becky Wallace and her writing. This was a fun and unique fantasy series and it’s only two books so you can easily start and finish!

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