Helpful Score: 1
Taken from my blog: princessbookie.com
My Thoughts: I had this book recommended to me by a few different people because they know I'm a huge YA romance fan, especially of Elizabeth Scott and Susane Colasanti, and this book is similar. I really enjoyed reading The Sky Is Everywhere. Doesn't the plot sound pretty amazing? We meet Lennie who is a band geek whose sister just died. No warning, no symptoms, it just happened one day. Lennie starts to get close to her sister's boyfriend and the new guy at school, so basically she is torn between them. We also get to read Lennie's poems throughout the book which just make the story more amazing. The girl's mom took off when they were young so they've lived with their grandmother their whole life. I really enjoyed reading this book. Yes, I admit I liked both guys. I could feel her pain and understand why she was so drawn to her sister's boyfriend Toby but I couldn't help but like Joe too. I do feel a little guilty though, a part of me wanted her to end up with the other guy (the one she does not end up with) but the other part of me wanted her to end up with the one she did. I was quite torn as well. I couldn't make up my mind on which guy was better for her. They both had their reasons as to why. The details we find out throughout the book only make it more amazing. There were so many little things that just made this story what it was. I agree, fans of Elizabeth Scott will devour this book. What happens to Lennie? What is the backline with her sister's death? What happens with Toby and Joe?
Overall: Really liked it a lot. I could feel Lennie's pain throughout the book and I can understand why she did the things she did.
Cover: Its cute. Artsy and makes you think a little.
My Thoughts: I had this book recommended to me by a few different people because they know I'm a huge YA romance fan, especially of Elizabeth Scott and Susane Colasanti, and this book is similar. I really enjoyed reading The Sky Is Everywhere. Doesn't the plot sound pretty amazing? We meet Lennie who is a band geek whose sister just died. No warning, no symptoms, it just happened one day. Lennie starts to get close to her sister's boyfriend and the new guy at school, so basically she is torn between them. We also get to read Lennie's poems throughout the book which just make the story more amazing. The girl's mom took off when they were young so they've lived with their grandmother their whole life. I really enjoyed reading this book. Yes, I admit I liked both guys. I could feel her pain and understand why she was so drawn to her sister's boyfriend Toby but I couldn't help but like Joe too. I do feel a little guilty though, a part of me wanted her to end up with the other guy (the one she does not end up with) but the other part of me wanted her to end up with the one she did. I was quite torn as well. I couldn't make up my mind on which guy was better for her. They both had their reasons as to why. The details we find out throughout the book only make it more amazing. There were so many little things that just made this story what it was. I agree, fans of Elizabeth Scott will devour this book. What happens to Lennie? What is the backline with her sister's death? What happens with Toby and Joe?
Overall: Really liked it a lot. I could feel Lennie's pain throughout the book and I can understand why she did the things she did.
Cover: Its cute. Artsy and makes you think a little.
To an extent, I can understand why THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE is one of the most highly praised books of 2010. The poetry and the way it makes the characters seem to ache with loveliness.Its easy to be hypnotized by what the book presents. But I seem to be one of just a handful for whom this book did not work.
Good things first. Nelsons writing really is a work of art. She effortlessly twists words, emotions, and descriptions that are so common in YA lit theyre practically cliché into ribbons of beauty that you just want to remember forever. After all, how many books about teenage girls grieving after a loved ones death have been written in the past year alone? And then how many have been written by a poet?
However, there was just something about Lennie that had me not connecting with her. I really had to wonder, most of the time that I was reading this, what about her was attractive to not just one, but two guys. Toby and Joe are reasonably well-rounded characters: Joe is a genuinely swoon-worthy musician character, while Tobys angstiness is slightly harder to swallow. But either the love triangle aspect of this book felt contrived to make Lennie more desirable, or else Baileys death feels like a merely convenient premise to work Lennies romantic troubles.
For me, THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE is yet another victim of the assumption that a sympathy-inducing issue can turn a book into a five-star classic. The writing is beautiful, and even the examination of the characters different ways of dealing with grief was good. I just didnt feel a connection to Lennie, and thus, to the rest of the book.
Good things first. Nelsons writing really is a work of art. She effortlessly twists words, emotions, and descriptions that are so common in YA lit theyre practically cliché into ribbons of beauty that you just want to remember forever. After all, how many books about teenage girls grieving after a loved ones death have been written in the past year alone? And then how many have been written by a poet?
However, there was just something about Lennie that had me not connecting with her. I really had to wonder, most of the time that I was reading this, what about her was attractive to not just one, but two guys. Toby and Joe are reasonably well-rounded characters: Joe is a genuinely swoon-worthy musician character, while Tobys angstiness is slightly harder to swallow. But either the love triangle aspect of this book felt contrived to make Lennie more desirable, or else Baileys death feels like a merely convenient premise to work Lennies romantic troubles.
For me, THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE is yet another victim of the assumption that a sympathy-inducing issue can turn a book into a five-star classic. The writing is beautiful, and even the examination of the characters different ways of dealing with grief was good. I just didnt feel a connection to Lennie, and thus, to the rest of the book.
Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com
Lennie and Bailey are sisters, best friends, everything to each other. Their mother took off when they were just babies, which Gram has always attributed to the "restless gene" that runs in the family.
When Bailey, vivacious and fiery Bailey, dies of a heart arrhythmia while rehearsing for Romeo & Juliet, Lennie is utterly lost. Without Bailey's guidance, smothering affection, and her untameable spirit, Lennie doesn't know what to do. She has always stood at the sidelines, content to catch just a few rays of Bailey's endless radiance.
Though Lennie can't help but wallow in her grief, the rest of the world carries on, and ultimately, so must she. On her first day back to school she meets the most enchanting boy on earth - fabulously multi-talented musician, Joey Fontaine. Complicating the situation is Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, who turns to Lennie for comfort. In sharing their despair, seeds of attraction manifest and Lennie must struggle to sort through a tumult of emotions roaring inside her.
Forced to come out of her shell, Lennie starts to see how absolutely beautiful yet wondrously confusing life can be. In her contemplation of life and death, Lennie must completely reconsider what it means to truly live.
For the first time in her life, Lennie is all alone - center stage. Whether she is ready or not, it is time for her solo.
Jandy Nelson's debut novel is a heart-wrenching tale of love and forgiveness that will make you laugh and cry all in the same sentence. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE ties themes of wanderlust, betrayal, and forgiveness in a love story more complex than most young adult authors dare to concoct.
Lennie and Bailey are sisters, best friends, everything to each other. Their mother took off when they were just babies, which Gram has always attributed to the "restless gene" that runs in the family.
When Bailey, vivacious and fiery Bailey, dies of a heart arrhythmia while rehearsing for Romeo & Juliet, Lennie is utterly lost. Without Bailey's guidance, smothering affection, and her untameable spirit, Lennie doesn't know what to do. She has always stood at the sidelines, content to catch just a few rays of Bailey's endless radiance.
Though Lennie can't help but wallow in her grief, the rest of the world carries on, and ultimately, so must she. On her first day back to school she meets the most enchanting boy on earth - fabulously multi-talented musician, Joey Fontaine. Complicating the situation is Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, who turns to Lennie for comfort. In sharing their despair, seeds of attraction manifest and Lennie must struggle to sort through a tumult of emotions roaring inside her.
Forced to come out of her shell, Lennie starts to see how absolutely beautiful yet wondrously confusing life can be. In her contemplation of life and death, Lennie must completely reconsider what it means to truly live.
For the first time in her life, Lennie is all alone - center stage. Whether she is ready or not, it is time for her solo.
Jandy Nelson's debut novel is a heart-wrenching tale of love and forgiveness that will make you laugh and cry all in the same sentence. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE ties themes of wanderlust, betrayal, and forgiveness in a love story more complex than most young adult authors dare to concoct.
Too juvenile for me so didn't finish this one.
