I recently wrote a review of book two of this series, only to realize I never tackled the first. So here we go. Spoilers ahead.
Soren is a young barn owl who gets knocked out of his nest and is thereafter kidnapped by the owls of Saint Aggie's, an orphanage run by villainous owls. Here, Soren and his new friend Gylfie are put to work. They only have one wish: to escape. But in order to do so, both must be able to fly.
Despite me praising the second book (and liking the third, too, which I have also finished at this point), I still maintain that this is not a strong first installment. It's not bad by any means, but just not that great, either.
My biggest gripe is probably that the way this book is written just doesn't really get me particularly invested in the characters or world. The characters are mostly just bad or good with very little in between, making them feel bland. And I don't find Soren that interesting of a hero (yet). Nor did I enjoy the other two members who end up joining the band, Twilight and Digger, in particular. Gylfie honestly is the only major characters I really liked here, she's just very perceptive, clever and smart and I liked that. Hortense, though she doesn't have a huge role and is more of a minor character, is also all kinds of badass.
The world-building in this installment also feels weak when compared to later installments. We barely get to see any unique locations outside of the canyons of Saint Aggie's. We briefly get to visit the desert of Kuneer and Soren's home forest in Tyto, but that's it. Lasky's world would eventually be much more well-established in books two and three, but so far I feel somewhat disappointed by what we learn of this world here. It doesn't exactly draw me in as a reader like a first installment is supposed to.
So not my favorite start of a series, but again not bad. And books two and three do get better! So probably worth it to get through this one before things get really good.
Rating: 3/5
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