Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing Stranger Skies by Pascale Lacelle. I loved the first book in this series, Curious Tides, and have been so eager to see where the story would go next ever since finishing it. Read on to find out if it lived up to all of my expectations!

Ninth House meets The Hazel Wood in this riveting sequel to the New York Times bestselling dark academia fantasy Curious Tides, following Emory, Baz, Romie, and Kai on their desperate quests through space and time!

Opening locked doors has a price—even for those who hold a key. After going through the door that called to them both in dreams, Emory and Romie find themselves in the same verdant world written of in Song of the Drowned Gods, albeit a twisted, rotting version of it. A sinister force has awoken with their arrival, intent on destruction as it spills across realms, and now Emory and Romie must stop it before it reaches their own shores.

Meanwhile, Baz and Kai are desperate to follow their friends through the door to other worlds, but a mishap pulls them back in time instead—where they come face to face with Cornus Clover himself, famed author of Song of the Drowned Gods. Stuck together in the past, they must navigate a very different Aldryn as they unravel the school’s darkest secrets.

Across time and worlds, Emory, Romie, Baz, and Kai find their fates eerily interwoven with the heroes from Clover’s book. But when stories can’t be trusted, friendships are put to the test, and deadly enemies are not always as they seem, they must decide who gets to be a hero—and who is desperate enough to see themselves become a villain.

I loved Stranger Skies even more than its predecessor. If you enjoy portal fantasies, stories within a story, time travel, and dark academia vibes, do not sleep on this series. The writing was just as fantastic as in the first book, and the plot was plotting. lol. SO MANY THINGS happened in this book. My head swims just thinking about it all. The author managed to keep things clear, though, despite juggling four POVs and all of the intricacies of the plot and world-building. I was hooked from beginning to end, and I’ll be impatiently waiting for the final book.

I avoided everything about Stranger Skies before picking it up. So, the time travel component was not something I saw coming. I expected to be traveling through different worlds with Emory and Romie while Baz worked to make things better for Eclipse-born back home. The time travel added some really great elements that helped to deepen and strengthen the world-building. I also adored seeing Baz freak out over meeting his literary idol.

Emory and Romie didn’t have the relationship dynamic I expected. I thought they’d be so overjoyed to be together again. They were on the journey of a lifetime together in these unknown worlds. However, they’d changed considerably since being apart. Those changes added a considerable amount of mistrust and jealousy to their relationship. It was interesting to see them work through those feelings while trying to navigate often hostile situations.

Kai and Baz, on the other hand, had exactly the dynamic I was hoping for in Stranger Skies. I shipped them so hard in Curious Tides and really wanted Baz to get over his infatuation with Emory. She didn’t deserve him. lol. The romantic tension between Kai and Baz in this book was perfection. I totally ate up the slow burn build-up to the two of them realizing they both wanted each other in that way. Baz’s arc in this book was the standout for me, as well. He started out on the sidelines and perceived himself as the reader of the adventure. By the end, he was integral and the author of his story, and I loved it.

Stranger Skies explored so many great themes. My favorite thing, though, had to be how it deconstructed the stereotypes and myths surrounding good versus evil. Each of the worlds and time periods that the characters traveled through had unique ideas on the topic. I liked how the characters came to see not all that proclaims to be good is so, and vice versa. The topic of power and its corrupting nature was also front and center. The use of Emory and Cornus as mirrors to show different responses to the allure of power was particularly well executed.

All in all, Stranger Skies is my favorite book that I’ve read in quite some time. It had a lot going on, but I loved the world-building, the character arcs, and the development of the relationship dynamics. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next. I swear to god I will cry if the author doesn’t give Kai and Baz the HEA they deserve. 🙂 All that said, I rate Stranger Skies 5 out of 5 stars.

There you have it! My thoughts on Stranger Skies. Have you read this series? Do you love it as much as I do? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments! As always, happy reading!