Starsight by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Read these books in order! They will make no sense otherwise.

In this second Skyward adventure, Spensa takes us off planet! We get to learn a lot more about the other races that inhabit the universe and how they all interact, both historically and in the present day. There's only a tiny bit of interaction with the characters from book one, as Spensa almost immediately sets off on a covert mission that takes her to a space colony deep behind enemy lines where she goes undercover with the help of M-bot's holograms and meets an entirely new cast.

A lot of the charm of this particular story comes from Spensa being so far out of her depth. She has a very volatile nature, so covert operations are a challenge for her. There were a lot of great scenes that tackled the theme of empathy and seeing the similarities between all living beings even when they originally seemed entirely alien. I particularly enjoyed Spensa's development as she interacted with her alien housekeeper, whom she originally assumed to be an enemy spy.

I occasionally got very irritated with Spensa for making foolish choices, but she is written as a reckless character with little regard for consequences, so such flagrant disregard for potential fallout wasn't out of character. Still, I couldn't help but roll my eyes when things inevitably blew up in her face.

This story ends on an absolute cliffhanger, so be sure to have the next book standing by if you don't like being left in the lurch. I'm excited to continue the adventure, and a little nervous about the paths of a few of the characters might take.

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