Aprille Legacy

This is Sonya Lano's best work yet.

Under a Caged Sky is a twisting, turning tale of hardcore dystopian government, underground mutants, and painfully beautiful love. I'm not big on romance, but it was done well in this book. There was no bullshit about it - it was very clear between the two lovers what was between them, and it blossomed in a wonderfully believeable way.

The book is told in Depositions - the main character is being held in prison, and as such we're treated to interesting viewpoints at the beginning of the book (the prison cameras, the readout from her wristband, the security drones etc). I'm a fan of different formats in books, and I loved reading those sections especially.

Nothing is straight forward about Under a Caged Sky. This book was so unpredictable I stopped even trying to guess where it was going in the end. The author is a MASSIVE troll at one point, which is good, because I was getting ready to cry, yell and generally be upset about a certain scene. I won't say anymore on this subject.

This book has been meticulously gone over. Every paragraph is polished and gorgeous, and some of the writing is so gosh-darn beautiful that I used the highlight function on my Kindle for the first time:

"It feels like I'm standing on the edge of an abyss, arms widespread, head up to the stormy sky, the wind whipping my back and egging me on. I'm about to jump, but nothing's below me. No safety net. No bottom. And there's no guarentee that I'll fly. I fling myself off, anyway, my words escaping on a breath. "I love you.""

"Like two young girls in a fairy tale left alone in a deep, dark forest, enemies all around in the shadowed corners, under the stones at our feet, in the bony branches over out heads. But strength resides in the slender arm around my waist, healing resides in the wings curled around my back, and fire flashes in the heat of hers, ready to lash out at any foe. But most of all, it's her love that bolsters my faith and upholds any real vision of a future. That she will let nothing break us."

"It may be that with each step, our burden grows, but so does our strength. Our strength, Anza. Inside, we are cores of steel over stupid mushy hearts, but those hearts are what make that steel so strong, because it's forged in the lava of the fiercest emotion of all, the only one that can never break down when it runs as pure as it does in our veins. We love, Anza. That makes us stronger than any disunited hatred that tries to divide us."

This book is so gorgeous and so epic. I think there's another one in the series (there had better be) and I'm eagerly awaiting it. I highly recommend this read.

Beware though - this book is a heartbreaker.