Shatterskin by Beca Lewis

Shatterskin (The Return To Erda) is the first in a fantasy series aimed at young adults.

Hannah is about to do a portal dimensional jump. This is definitely a first for her, and even though she has some small trace of powers on Earth, she doesn’t know how they will translate in Erda. Erda is a breathtakingly magical place. Similar to Earth, but blessed with nature beyond anything she has ever seen before. As Hannah meets new characters and people, memories are slowly beginning to come back. Memories of having lived in Erda before. Of being someone important, someone needed. As it turns out, Hannah is a princess and in order for her full powers to be revealed on Erda, she needs to train. And train she does. Hannah finds out that the threat she will be facing is a giant metal robot named Shatterskin who was created by Abaddon, an age-old enemy of Erda. Shatterskin, accompanied by the green slimy blobs called Shrieks, literally destroys everything in his path, and nature cannot rebuild where he has been. Will Hannah be ready in time or have the inhabitants of Erda left it too late to bring her back?

The author has created a lovely world in Erda, one that feels gentle and flows with nature and as you picture the damage done by Shatterskin, it actually feels rather sickening. The writing is very evocative and you are able to picture the dragons and tree people and fairies and get swept up in their emotions. As the battles against Shatterskin and the Shrieks took place, the author helped you to understand the despair the characters were facing, and it became much more than just a story.

I found Hannah a bit whiney in the beginning, but I guess with all she was going through she was bound to be feeling out of sorts. The story is very light and you don’t delve too deeply into the character’s emotions, which is understandable seeing as this is the first book and the characters and their roles need to be introduced. There is no cliffhanger, but plenty of paths are left open for the series to move into! The editing was fantastic, and no mistakes occurred which would interrupt the flow of reading.

Thank you to Reedsy Discovery and the author for an ARC.

https://reedsy.com/discovery