Imprison the sky by A. C. Gaughen

Elementae series, book 2. Bloomsbury, 2019. ISBN: 9781547602544.
(Ages: 12+) Highly recommended. Themes: Fantasy, Air, Magic, Slavery, Science - Experiments. Aspasia was captured by the Trifectate as a young child from her family. She was sold as a slave to a ruler called Cyrus and made to do slave trading. Secretly she is an Elementae with air powers. As time goes by, she puts together a crew of Elementae on one of Cyrus's ships, the Anorca, to free as many women, children and Elementae they can get their hands on so they don't have to suffer slavery. Cyrus is close to discovering Aspasia's secrets that could kill her. She searches the vast ocean trying to find her brother, Gryphon, and her sister, Pera, before Cyrus finds them and sells them off to slave masters, whom would kill them. Aspasia travels to a slave sale in the Trifectate and buys three new recruits who all hold an Elementae power. She purchases two girls and one boy who has an extraordinary power that she has never seen or heard of before. Aspasia's crew and new recruits suddenly find themselves right in the center of a boiling war that will cover every last millimetre of the ocean. Will she get her freedom or will she die in the hands of Cyrus?
This heart stopper and page turner of a story will make you want to read more. Each time I put the book down, my heart was racing and I was breathless as if I just ran a race. The way the story was set out and the way the characters acted and behaved made me feel as if they were real people who lived in this world. At one point I was going to ask my parents if we could fly to the Wyvern Islands and visit Aspasia and her crew of Element. Personally, I was so on the very edge of my couch that I actually fell off. This story is about freedom and power and how saving people can bring good and bad. This magical tale of Aspasia and her crew was absolutely a show stopper. I would recommend this book for 12+ and I think I would give it out of 5 stars probably 4.5 personally.
Ruby O. (Student, year 7)