That Time I Ate In-N-Out

Let The Sky Fall
By: Shannon Messenger
Reported By: Julianna Helms
Release Date: March 5th, 2013 via Simon Pulse
Source: ARC via Tour

A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this “charged and romantic” (Becca Fitzpatrick), lush novel. Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

-Summary from Goodreads
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If your state doesn't have In-N-Out, that seriously sucks.

Something interesting: While I was reading this, I was on "vacation" in Palm Springs. Which was awesome, because I drove past many of the places in the book while I was "vacationing". And during that time, there was a scene in the book that involved **EXTREMELY MINOR SPOILER AHEAD** an Animal-style Cheeseburger at In-N-Out.  **EXTREMELY MINOR SPOILER OVER** I always knew In-N-Out had a "secret menu", but I didn't realize it was called Animal Style. So last weekend, while I was out at a Debate Tournament and happened to stop by an In-N-Out, I bought an animal-style cheeseburger.

SO. GOOD.

Oh my gosh. Sorry to all the vegans out there, it's just, OMG HOW CAN SOMETHING TASTE SO GOOD. But anyways, back to the point: Let the Sky Fall is somewhat like that amaaaazing cheeseburger, in that it is delicious and awesome and also wields a secret, unique power of its own: something really original.
  

Let me just start with the characters: Vane was such a boy. Seriously. I used to think that, oh, boys surely don't think *that* much about, you know, mind-in-the-gutter stuff, but once I got to high school... wow. How much more ignorant could I have been? The thing is, Vane's behavior is sort of like that. He's a bit immature, a bit foolish, so very much a boy, and sometimes I was frustrated with him. He had such a big responsibility to uphold and he kept messing around. But thank goodness for Audra. Audra is like the polar opposite of Vane (which, by the way, made differentiating the characters in this mutliple-POV book so much easier). She's stern and fierce and very very serious. I think some people would find her to be a bit too intense at times, but I think 1) if you factor in her situation, it's understandable how she came to be such a tightly-coiled person, and 2) Vane seriously needed someone like Audra to snap him back into where he needs to be. The characters' juxtaposition flared them both to life, and the intricate subplots (especially of Vane's "love life") adds doses of authenticity to their personalities as well.

Let the Sky Fall also won me over with its originality. I haven't ever read a book about windwalkers, and maybe that just means that I have narrow taste, but it is true that this LtSF utilizes some seriously awesome mythology. The world is a easy one to understand, and an easier one to immerse into. 

If you've never tried it before, you'll probably be hesitant to grab a taste, and you might not immediately like it (both the cheeseburger and the book). But once you halt the early questions and just go along for the ride, you might find that, sometimes, those extra calories are worth it, and that soon, you just can't help but admit that you're a fan. (PUN INTENDED. ^_^)