6.3.10

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Summary from Amazon:

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding.

This remarkable debut is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block. Just as much a celebration of love as it is a portrait of loss, Lennie’s struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often hilarious, and ultimately unforgettable.

Review:

With The Sky is Everywhere being one of Penguin's Young Reader's most anticipated (and talked about!) book of the Spring 2010 season, I just expecting to LOVE it. Especially when I saw that Jandy was being compared to Sarah Dessen, one of my absolute favorite authors ever!
Sadly, while The Sky is Everywhere had an interesting premise and characters, it never completely captured my attention in a way that made it hard to put down. Instead it was very easy to have the feeling of wanting to read something else from time to time, leaving me to feel never truly committed to reading Lennie’s story.

Though, as mentioned above, I did like the main character's. Since they were an interesting group because of how different their personalities and actions were. My favorite would probably have to be Lennie, because of her love of reading and music. On the flip side, I didn't personally like some of the things she did to people who thought the world of her. Sure, I could understand that she was distraught over her sister's death, but some of the thing's she did were just unnecessary at times and only hurt the people she should trust the most.

Moving on, the plot was...... dull.  It never really had a big "bang" moment or "Omg, I can't believe what I'm reading!" until the end, which just felt way to late to me. Since, when I was finally interested in reading more about Lennie's story it was...over.

One of the most redeeming qualities of this book was the book's premise which was a great start, but the execution always seemed to fail. Though, with saying that, I will pick up Jandy's future books, because I just have this feeling her books will continue to get better and more breath taking over time.

In all, The Sky is Everywhere was a decent book, but not something I would really suggest you buy in hardcover. But as always do remember this is just my opinion, since who truly knows, this could end up being a book you personally love, like some of my fellow reviewer’s did, until you give it a chance. I just was someone who didn't see the light.
 
Grade: C+

The Sky is Everywhere comes out March 9, 2010.

* Source of book: Publisct at Penguin's Young Reader's Divison. Thanks, Anna!

7 comments:

  1. I couldn't get into this book at all. When I realized how much it was stopping up all my reading, I just gave it up.

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  2. Thanks for an honest review, Lauren. I've seen some really good reviews for this, and a couple not so good ones, so it seems to be quite divided in the blogosphere.

    I'll still give it a go when it's released here, just in case I'm on of those who might love it.

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  3. I hate it when that happens - when there is a perfectly good premise and it just doesn't work out. I like the sound of it also, but I wouldn't read it because grief stories are too sad for me :(
    By the way I've given your blog an award, which you can pick up here - http://backchatgirl.blogspot.com/2010/03/award-time.html - well done XD

    P.S I totally just wanted to say 'well duh' when I saw the title

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  4. Indeed, there's been quite a lot of hype regarding this book and I've been rather tempted to read it myself! Sorry to hear it didn't live up to your expectations, but thanks for the honest review nonetheless!
    ps: The title is sort of random and I've been wondering what it relates to? :)

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  5. This is a great review. I quite like the cover for this so I probably will get it myself some time. It DOES sound interesting, just a shame you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd have liked!

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  6. I appreciate your honest review. Now I'm not sure what to expect from this book. I've read some really wonderful reviews, and then I've read some like yours that say this book isn't that good.

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  7. Too bad, since the premise was so good. That happens sometimes. They can't all be winners. Great review Lauren!

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