Review of ‘Glorious Day’ by Skye Kilaen
This was great! First I do want to say that while I do not “know” Skye but she is a Goodreads friend of mine. Skye has been a reader/reviewer on there for years so most of us, especially if you are a part of the LGBTQ+ book reader’s corner of Goodreads, will probably know of Skye too. While I love seeing “one of us” actually get published, and I was totally rooting for her, I don’t believe I’m being biased here. I was prepared to write a critical review if warranted. Luckily, this story had me hooked from page one and I can easily say that it’s in the running for the best novella that I have read in 2020 so far.
This was a really interesting mix of fantasy with a sci-fi twist. If you are not a sci-fi fan don’t let this put you off. The sci-fi is very light and in fact, I kept forgetting about it. Besides a few devices and people talking about traveling off-planet, this almost completely feels like a fantasy book instead. This also has some romance in it too.
I’m happy to say that Skye writes really well. This did not feel like a debut to me. It didn’t have a lot of those newbie bumps that are so common for first-time published writers. You can tell that she really put a lot of work into this novella.
Besides this being well written, the story is really gripping. It hooks you in from page one and you can’t stop reading until the end. I was really impressed by how good the world-building was for this story. I felt like I knew just how this planet operated and what the people were like. To be able to do all of this in a novella is really impressive. Fantasy novels can be giant tomes because there is so much info to squeeze in there. To write a new world that works in the length of a novella is very impressive.
I don’t want to say much about the characters since it can be easy to spoil a novella, but I will say that I cared for both leads and was hoping a HEA could somehow be possible. There was also a twist – if that is even the right word – concerning one of the characters that I did not see coming. And once you find out what that is, it sinks in just what a badass she really is.
If you are looking for good quality, WLW fantasy novella, this story is for you. I really enjoyed this and it makes me excited to see what Skye might come out with next. Skye, if you are reading this. Congrats! 4.25 Stars.
An ARC was given to me from NineStar Press for an honest review.
