(marking as read, even though I haven't read the Epilogue, which I'm planning to read after [b:Evershore|58465495|Evershore (Skyward, #3.1)|Brandon Sanderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636833412l/58465495.SX50.jpg|91782364], which apparently fits just before the Epilogue).

Spensa's journey is too plainly laid out - the plot is not what happens to her, it is what the author wants to happen to her for her character growth. So instead of her character growth feeling organic because of her own actions, it feels like a middle book written to provide situations for that to happen.

Also due to where the book takes place, the setting is very unnatural and artificial, so the author gets too much leeway on engineering the plot, instead. While I liked some of the conclusions (Delvers are Jason's AI), and the explanation the book provided for the adventure "Path of Elders" (Chet is also a Delver), many of the elements feel like an "invented set piece that needs to be explained away" (Taynix = Reality Icons).

On the overall direction of the series, I loved [b:Skyward|36642458|Skyward (Skyward, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531845177l/36642458.SY75.jpg|58411143], but the series is trying to be grand and centered at the same time, and that's where it's failing for me. When answers to lynch-pin questions take an entire book to answer (what are delvers?), it doesn't feel like its the same series anymore.