Review Detail

Stranger Skies by Pascale Lacelle is the second book in The Drowned Gods Trilogy and sees our main characters separated by time and realms. *If you haven’t read Curious Tides, there will be spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.* Emory has found Romie alive in the dreamscape, the world between worlds. Together they start following the song only Romie can hear to the center of the universe. Baz and Kai were chasing down Emory, but through a twist of fate find themselves 200 years in the past facing Baz’s idle, the author of Song of the Drowned Gods, Cornus Clover. In a race against time, Baz and Kai must find Romie and Emory before the Tides tear apart their world and others.

Emory really came into her powers towards the end of book one. She’d become more comfortable wielding them. However, Kieran’s betrayal really shook her. Emory is doubtful of her abilities, and it doesn’t help that Romie also seems scared of them. Emory struggles to find her path as she and Romie travel deeper into the heart of the worlds. The more Emory tries to control her power, the less she can. Romie’s treatment of Emory is unfair and biased by her own experiences, experiences that have separated them. Everything Emory did was to get Romie back, and Romie seemed resentful of it.

Baz and Kai are in the past, at their college, and right in the middle of history. Cornus Clover hasn’t written his famous novel yet, the one that sent them on this adventure in the first place. Kai is rightfully distrustful of Clover from the start. Like Emory, Clover is a Tidecaller, but he hides his Eclipse-born status. Baz is too enamored with Clover to see the truth. He wants to be a part of this story but doesn’t realize what it will cost him.

This book unfolds in two different times and follows two different plots that all come together in the end. At times, this slowed the story down. I loved both parts, but I struggled to stay engaged. Baz and Kai’s was more interesting to me as it revolved around the origin story, the legend that Emory and Romie were currently living. Another thing that hindered my enjoyment was that I disliked Romie straight from the start. Emory and Baz both mourned her in book one and did so much to get her back, only for her to distrust and treat Emory terribly. That was hard for me to understand and forgive, even if Emory was quick to.

Overall, Stranger Skies was just okay for me. It suffered a bit from second-book syndrome, being a bridge to the end. A lot happens in this story, but the plot was stagnant and dragged out. Despite that, I look forward to the conclusion of The Drowned Gods Trilogy. I cannot wait to see how the author ties all these loose threads and mythos together. If you are a fan of dark academia and fantasy, I highly recommend it.

Audiobook Note: I opted to listen to the audiobook as I followed along in my hard copy. There are four narrators, one for each of our main characters as the chapters are told from their perspectives. Each one brings something different to the story. I enjoyed them all. If you are a fan of audiobooks, I highly recommend this one.