Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon BOOK REVIEW

Title: Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Source: Paperback

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Published: 2015

*Not entirely spoiler free

Goodreads summary

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It's a hard concept to hold on to--the idea that there was a time before us. A time before time. In the beginning there was nothing. And then there was everything.” 

― Nicola Yoon, Everything, Everything

With Everything, Everything Nicola Yoon has woven a tale of love, and betrayal. A tale of risk, and deceit. A tale of what it means to live, and what it means to be alive. 

The way in which the story is stitched together: in spoiler reviews, journal entries, fragments of chapters etc... is creative and allows Yoon a fresh and experimental platform to propose the tale of Maddy. I say the tale of Maddy, rather than the tale of Maddy and Olly because the love story to me lacked depth and I found myself uninterested in the outcome. The synopsis on the back of my edition explains that the plot of this story is focused on 'the crazy risks we take for love' and I would argue that this is indeed a fair summary, but it is not a romantic love - it's a self-love. We experience Maddy - the main character - falling in love with herself, and her life, and eventually, the world. The real world. 

“Just because you can’t experience everything doesn’t mean you shouldn’t experience anything.” 

― Nicola Yoon, Everything, Everything

You see: Maddy has lived her entire life inside of a bubble. The bubble is her medically sealed and approved home, that is specially built to cater for her needs. Maddy suffers from a medical condition that 'is as rare as it is famous'. She is allergic to everything. Everything. 

“I was happy before I met him. But I’m alive now, and those are not the same thing.” 

― Nicola Yoon, Everything, Everything

As if being a teenage girl wasn't problematic enough. Maddy has to deal with her burgeoning hormones, her increasing questions of life and love, and her desire for something more inside the repetitive safety of her home. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that would be. Can you?

Luckily for Maddy her monotony is interrupted in the form of the-boy-next-door. Olly is a risk taking anomaly that walks into Maddy's life and everything changes. The trouble was that their relationship was just a bit bland for me. I did approve of the pacing that they moved at. It wasn't instant love, and their interactions felt true to their characters - I just felt that they lacked any real depth. However, it's a sweet love story, and I believe that young readers will fall in love with their story.

For me, I was much more interested in the relationship between Maddy and her Mother.  

“I decide then that love is a terrible, terrible thing. Loving someone as fiercely as my mom loves me must be like wearing your heart outside of your body with no skin, no bones, no nothing to protect it” 

― Nicola Yoon, Everything, Everything

For certain an undercurrent theme within this novel is that of parental abuse. We see Olly's father be emotionally and physically abusive towards his family, and we see this mirrored with Maddy's mothers psychological abuse. Where Olly's father lashes out, Maddy's mother smothers.  And eventually, as events within the novel unravel, we see to what lengths Maddy's mother's abuse goes. I appreciated the time spent building the relationship between Maddy and her mother: they have their set routines, and their phonetic scrabble, and we see the bond between them. I became invested in their relationship. Even though I saw the twist coming.

And then the worst happens. 

Events unravel, lies are revealed, the abuse is public. AND MADDY IS LEFT IN HER MOTHER'S CARE.

No. Not okay. Nope.

Young adult novels in particular have a duty to address issues such as parental abuse with appropriate care. There is a duty among writers in general to focus on issues such as this with a caution that includes holding Maddy's mother accountable for her actions and providing Maddy with the necessary tools to recover - including actions that she may not immediately see as desirable.

If finally getting the thing that she desires most costs her the only thing she has ever truly had (her relationship with her mother) then I think this novel had a duty to resolve this conflict appropriately. And I think it failed to do this.

Nicola Yoon's writing is not the issue: she writes beautifully, creatively, and poetically in places. I think it is the fine detailing of the ending that let this novel down for me. That said I hear impressive things about Yoon's latest venture The Sun Is Also A Star, and I will certainly be checking this out!

“We are lips and arms and legs and bodies entangled. He raises himself above me and we are wordless, and then we are joined and moving silently. We are joined and I know all of the secrets of the universe.” 

― Nicola Yoon, Everything, Everything

Nicola Yoon's Website

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton BOOK REVIEW

Title: Traitor to the Throne

Author: Alwyn Hamilton 

Source: E-Arc 

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Published: 2017

*Received e-arc to review from Net-Galley

*Not strictly spoiler free

Goodreads summary

This is not about blood or love. This is about treason.

Nearly a year has passed since Amani and the rebels won their epic battle at Fahali. Amani has come into both her powers and her reputation as the Blue-Eyed Bandit, and the Rebel Prince's message has spread across the desert - and some might say out of control. But when a surprise encounter turns into a brutal kidnapping, Amani finds herself betrayed in the cruellest manner possible.

Stripped of her powers and her identity, and torn from the man she loves, Amani must return to her desert-girl's instinct for survival. For the Sultan's palace is a dangerous one, and the harem is a viper's nest of suspicion, fear and intrigue. Just the right place for a spy to thrive... But spying is a dangerous game, and when ghosts from Amani's past emerge to haunt her, she begins to wonder if she can trust her own treacherous heart.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I should start by saying that when I began reading this book, I had read no blurb, I had not even seen its book cover; I had no idea this book was the second in a series, and I have not yet read book one, Rebel of the Sands - though I fully intend to once I finish this review.

Why?

BECAUSE I FREAKING LOVED THIS MAGICAL, ENCHANTING BOOK.

I can't believe what I've just stumbled into. The world, the words, the characters - I've never read anything quite like it. 

"We rode like we were trying to beat the sunset to the horizon." 

                                                                         - Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne

Going into this book without any idea of what to expect, and with no knowledge of the backstory, I believe I am at an advantage to readers who are picking this book up after first reading Rebel of the Sands, as Traitor to the Throne pretty much begins by throwing you right into the action. 

As an English and Creative Writing graduate, I was given the advice to 'throw my characters into the deep end' constantly throughout my degree. However, I've never minded a build up before the action kicked in, as long as the action had began no more than a couple of chapters in. By beginning this series on the second book, however (unintentional as it was) I was open and without expectation, and it was incredibly exciting to instantly find myself thrown into this frantic, fast paced rebellion. 

"'How do they work?'

Leyla shrugged, looking miserable. 'The same way all magic does. Words, words,words.'"

                                                                                             - Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne

Occasionally a writer, a book, or a sentence will come along and remind you why it is called spelling. Traitor to the Throne was filled with moments like this for me. Alwyn Hamilton is a master of words. The best type of novel creates its own style of language, and this book is over flowing with creativity. The world building is exceptional, and the characters all have such strong, nuanced personalities that noen of them felt like filler to me. I loved the gender fluid, shape-shifting demdji Imin and their small but significant sub-plot. I loved Izz and Maz, with their yin and yang blue hair and skin, their youthful exuberance, and willingness to throw themselves straight in. I loved Jin, though I didn't encounter him much. He was flawed and heroic - the foreign prince who captured my attention easily. Admittedly I'm not as invested in his and Amani's relationship as those who have read book one, but I do still enjoy them together, and because I was not as invested in their relationship, I wasn't as frustrated by their lack of page time together in Traitor to the Throne. I was fully immersed in Amani's story, in the rebels story, and also, in the story of the Sultan. 

"I forced my tears to dry. I forced myself to remember I was a desert girl. I didn't have water to spare."

                                                                                             - Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne

When Amani finds herself a prisoner of the Sultan, she faces a moral dilemma when she finds herself able to understand some of the Sultan's logic. She struggles to rectify this in her mind, and questions her loyalty to the rebellion. A great deal of this book is spent presenting things from the perspective of the Sultan, and though we see this through Amani's eyes, and therefore not strictly an unbiased narration, it is clear that it is the reader, and not just Amani who is supposed to question where they thought they stood in regards to the battle for the kingdom of Miraji. Though I did not have the events of the first novel, I did have the mind of Amani as a guide, and a brief summation in chapter one. Usually I find these things irritating, but not in this case. It almost felt like being introduced to a fairy tale, which in a way I guess is true.

Traitor to the Throne is a fantasy novel through and through: the words, names, people, characterisations, abilities, back stories, myths, and legends are all fantasy created and constructed by the incredible author Alwyn Hamilton. Including, but not limited to, the many, many female characters in this novel, in this universe, that are the number one reason that made me love this book so much.

We have Amani, the Blue Eyed Bandit, a sharpshooter with as much sass as Buffy, and and twice the strength. 

There's also Shazad, the daughter of a Mirajin general, who is often underestimated due to her beauty and grace, and yet is someone with incredible skill in both fighting and strategy. She is fiercely loyal and a beautiful character from the inside out.

Delila, who can cast illusions out of light and air, the sister to both the rebel prince and the foreign prince, a young girl with all the fight of a power puff girl. 

Hala, golden skinned and a sharp tongue, able to twist people's minds, to ease their suffering or to cause it. She is strong and independent and feisty. 

Even Shira and Leyla were strong, interesting 'villain' type characters whose decisions were not necessarily well liked, but they were certainly respected. 

"Sometimes I doubted if Jin even knew those stories of his mother. They weren't the sorts of things women told their sons. They were the sorts of things women told other women. Beware, they told their daughters. People will hurt you because you're beautiful.

I wasn't beautiful. I wasn't here because of that. I was here because I was powerful."

                                                                                             -Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne

The women, and girls, in this world are strong, feisty, intricate, beautiful, powerful, and incredible role models to young readers. Even though the world itself is particularly hard on women and girls, like the women of the Harem, it is also a world where women reclaim their liberty, their independence, and their right to be women. At this time in the real world, where rights and issues like this are particularly prevalent, I feel that this novel is a beautiful gift to give to the girls, women, or indeed boys and men, in your life who need to feel strong and valuable in times of great distress and mistrust. This novel is empowering. 

I would recommend this book as a perfect escape into another world. 

I would recommend this book as a voice for strong women.

I would recommend this book for lovers of fantasy - and not just young-adult fantasy. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves epic, magical worlds and incredibly intricate plots.

And yes, I would recommend this story to fans of romance.

"Anyone could see the way Navid looked at Imin. And it didn't chge no matter what body our shape-shifter wore, woman or man, Mirajin or foreign."

                                                                                 - Alwyn Hamilton, Traitor to the Throne

Rebel of the Sands series website

Alwyn Hamilton Twitter

Hello Me, It's you by Anonymous, Hannah Todd BOOK REVIEW

Title:Hello Me, Its You

Author: Anonymous, Hannah Todd

Source: E-Arc 

Genre: Young Adult, Mental Health, Non-Fiction

Published: 2016

*Received e-arc to review from Net-Galley

Goodreads summary

“Keep smiling and being you. Don’t let the world change you”

Hello Me, it’s You is a collection of letters by young adults aged 17-24 about their experiences with mental health issues. The letters are written to their 16-year-old selves, giving beautifully honest advice, insight and encouragement for all that lays ahead of them.

This book was produced by the Hello Me, it’s You charity, set up by the editor, Hannah. Hannah was diagnosed with depression and anxiety whilst at university and found comfort in talking to friends about their experiences, realising she was not alone in her situation. This inspired the idea for the charity and book. Through the creation of materials such as this, the charity aims to provide reassurance for young adults (and their families) who are experiencing mental health issues and give a voice to young adults on such an important topic. The result of that will hopefully be a reduction in the negative stigma surrounding mental health and an increase in awareness of young people’s experiences. All profits go the Hello Me, it’s You charity, for the production of future supportive books.

Trigger warning: Due to it’s nature, the content of this book may be triggering. Contains personal experiences of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, trichotillomania and other mental health issues, as well as issues such as assault.

“…both beautiful and necessary” Sarah Franklin

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This book is important. 

This book is important maybe now more than ever. 

The editor/innovator behind this anthology of letters, Hannah Todd, has crafted a collection that has the power to speak straight to your soul. What makes this collection so important is that it does not just empower those that can relate to struggling with mental health issues, but it's also a tool for friends and family members of those suffering with mental health issues to gain a valuable insight into how to better understand their loved one and what they are going through.

This is important. 

This is a good book to gift to a family/friend if you believe, or if you know, that they are suffering through mental health issues. This is also a good book to gift to family/friends if you feel like you can't talk to them about mental health issues you are facing.

This book works because it is written by, and to, those suffering with various mental health issues. The spectrum of issues described within this collection is varied, and they are all, even the darker ones, uplifting. 

I found myself  automatically assuming each letter was written by a female when reading, so I was pleasantly surprised when I came across a particular letter that proved this was not the case, and going forward from this point I realised that the gender of the writers was insignificant. What mattered was their words. 

Encouraging, uplifting, and at times heartbreaking - each letter resonated with me in different ways. I couldn't relate to each variation of the issues dealt with, but I could relate to some, and as a person who lives with mental health struggles, I found myself warmed by the letters inside this collection. It was encouraging to know so many others were living with what can sometimes feel like the unlivable effects of mental health issues. It was a cathartic read, and it was an inspiring read. I would encourage anyone to read this book. It is important. 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inspired by the bravery of those involved with this project, I feel like the best way to honor this book is to write my own letter. Feel free to write your own and post it in the comments if you want to share.

Hello 16 year old me, it's you,

I saw a meme the other day (you don't know what a meme is yet, but you will. Look out for the Biden memes.) proposing the choice between going back to a ten year old you, and re-living your life over, with all the knowledge you have gained up until this moment, or going forward to your mid-forties, and being a millionaire living in a beautiful home. The choice was to pick one. I know what your answer is: you would move forward, take the money and run away from everything you are living through, and I'm so sorry that you feel like to be happy you have to run away from your current situation. I can tell you that we don't fast forward to our forties and live a filthy rich life, but we do change our situation. 

I know, it seems impossible right now, right? We do it. We did it. 

Now here's the tricky part. Where you are currently, surrounded by those who do not understand, or don't care, or take advantage,.. well it gets worse.

But then it gets better. Better than you ever thought imaginable. Better than you ever wrote about during the periods that you were awake. 

You've been through some stuff already - unimaginable stuff. You've already had your first panic attack, and your second. You know that feeling you get in the morning which makes you unable to go to school? You know that uncontrollable shaking you get whenever that boy that you like tries to touch you - even gently? That's part of your anxiety. Your cousin was right when he took you to the doctors, the thoughts you had of dying, the many times you planned your funeral, and those dark moments of despair when you made attempts at ending your life, you are not choosing to be miserable: you do have depression. The doctor is wrong, it is not your fault. It's still many years until you will be diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and begin the medication that will slowly start to give you space in your mind. There are darker times ahead. I'm so sorry that these things will happen, but you can survive them - and we do.

Writing helps. 

Reading has allowed you to visit other worlds, other lives, but writing will allow you to clear your mind enough to make it through another day, another hour, another minute. And guess what? When you're 19 you will go to college - how unbelievable does that sound? Don't panic! Don't get worked up about this, because you do go, and then you complete your course, and you move to Sheffield to go to University.

I promise I'm not joking. 

It's not smooth sailing. It turns out that Sheffield is just a bit too much, too soon. It's too far away, too different. That's okay. In fact, that's the best decision you ever make, because transferring to Salford Uni is where your life truly changes. You meet the most incredible people, you study (maybe not as hard as you should have) your dream degree, and guess what? We graduate with honors. 

We haven't moved back home yet, though we are considering it. We're almost 25, and as much as we love living with our new friends (they're amazing! but don't worry, you're the Beyonce) we know it is time to grow up, move on, and establish our own path in life. 

It's been a few months since it got bad again and we finally went back to the doctors. This time the doctor listened to us and you know what? It helped. It finally helped. I mean, things are not perfect but they are certainly better. The difference this time is we are getting help. We're finally going to deal with things we should have been allowed to deal with many years ago. We're on medication, though we don't want to stay on it for longer than necessary, and we are waiting for our appointment to begin counselling. We are going to heal. 

Do you know how I know? Because it's already begun.

So hang on, write it out, and push yourself to make the space for the change you want, because I'm writing this to you now with a support system of incredible people in our life, some of whom you have not yet met, and some you will create a deeper bond with soon. 

Breathe. Listen to music. Open your curtains. Open the window. Concentrate on the moment you are in, and before you know it you will be here, and I'll be somewhere closer to that millionaire lifestyle in the huge house, and I promise you, we won't need or want to be alone there.

Write more,

Love, you at 24 x

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson BOOK REVIEW

Title:The Sky is Everywhere

Author: Jandy Nelson

Publisher: Walker 

Genre: Contemporary, romance

Published: 2010 

Goodreads summary

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. 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What do you do when the worst thing that can happen actually happens?” 

― Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere

The Sky is Everywhere is a novel that explores grief. Specifically, Jandy Nelson explores the question of what comes after your worst case scenario? If the unimaginable happens, how do you move on with your life? How do you process that level of devastation? How do you deal with the guilt of having survived the un-survivable at all? 

To this objective, I would say that Jandy Nelson proposes and explores this question in an incredibly lyrical manner. Her prose is melodic at times, and her understanding and exploration of grief is remarkable. Jandy Nelson knows grief. 

"In photographs of us together,

she is always looking at the camera,

and I am always looking at her.” 

― Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere

The protagonist, Lennon 'Lennie' Walker has recently lost her best friend, and older sister, Bailey Walker under tragic and sudden circumstance. When we enter Lennie's story, she is still struggling to process what has happened. Lennie has taken to writing brief poems on snippets of whatever she can get her hands on and scattering them over town. Each chapter ends, and occasionally begins, with one of these poems, and the location of where it was found. I found this idea to be a fascinating and fresh approach and was interested in this novel primarily because of this proposed structure. A mix of prose and poetry?

 Yes please. I was excited, and for the most part, this dynamic worked.

However, before we get to any chapters, there is a foreword by the author where she addresses us, the reader. In this brief letter, we are informed that the 'kookiest' elements of this story are all real, and immediately this jarred with me. I felt like this was a defensive statement to make before I had even engaged with the text. I also felt like it was unnecessary. I wanted to read a fictitious novel that explored real life issues, I did not want to read a novel that was the authors own personal wish fulfilment, and this foreword made me feel as though this was the case. It was only a minor point of contention, but it did irritate me. 

“My grandmother thinks it's really funny to put all sorts of things in our - my lunch. I never know what'll be inside: e.e. cummings, flower petals, a handful of buttons. She seems to have lost sight of the original purpose of the brown bag." - Lennie

"Or maybe she thinks other forms of nourishment are more important." - Joe” 

― Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere

When we begin the novel we are introduced to Gram and Big - Lennie's eccentric grandmother and uncle, who are also her primary care givers. We are also introduce to her home (I can not recall if it has a name) that is slightly reminiscent of 300 Fox Way from The Raven Cycle, or The Burrow from The Harry Potter Series in that the home has almost as much personality as its occupants. 

And I love me a good setting that acts as a character in and of itself.

From Grams paintings of every shade of green including the half-Mom, to her almost mystical rose garden; The sanctum and it's orange walls; Big and his tree climbing ways... I loved it. 

The trouble was, it wasn't quite stitched together.

Where 300 Fox way and The Burrow come alive is that they exist because of their occupants. They come alive around their occupants. The larger than life characters that inhabit their walls fill their rooms, and I don't think that the characters in The Sky is Everywhere achieved this. 

And the reason for this is Bailey Walker.

I understand that we mainly see Bailey through Lennie's perspective, and that she is not a reliable narrator, however, because of Lennie's idealisation of Bailey, her own characterisation is weakened. It is touched upon, but never fully explored that Lennie, although she feels terrible about it, has more room to be herself without her sister around. 

Through Bailey's death, Lennie is reborn, and the problematic nature of this realisation to Lennie is just never fulfilled.

 Lennie falls flat.

 I think this is also slightly due to her character being a little too perfect, and just too many things rolled into one.

She plays a musical instrument exceptionally well, reads classic literature obsessively, is beautiful but has only ever had a few, brief, one dimensional interactions with guys, she gets along great with her Gram and Big, she never fought with her sister, she has a best friend Sarah (who we will get to later), and she hates a girl in her class for seemingly no other reason than they have things in common. 

However, there is a small running joke within the novel relating to 'Fronce' which I found very funny.

Lennie's characterisation falls short to the point that she irritated me. I gave up caring about her character, which is always problematic for me, and I never found myself warming to her again. But hers was not my least favourite characterisation, this award goes to...

Joe Fontaine.

"When he plays

all the flowers swap colors

and years and decades and centuries

of rain pour back into the sky” 

― Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere

Joe is whimsical and musical, and joyous, and described often as being a bright beam of light, and I find nothing wrong with this. As unrealistic and idealised as he is, it's not this about his character that I disliked. In fact I was happy to see a male portrayed in YA as the whimsical, upbeat, romantic one in the partnership. My problem with Joe Fonataine is that he walks into Lennie's life, stalks her to her home when she rejects his request, enters her home every morning there after, which is totally normalised by everyone involved, and then obsesses over Lennie for the brief time it takes for them to fall in love.

 Instant, over-whelming, obsessive, love that is not a true representation and is certainly not a healthy portrayal of love to be marketed at young adults.

 I feel this is a recurrent issue throughout the novel. Jandy Nelson knows grief, and she knows how to write beautiful and lyrical prose, but she does not understand what it is like to be a teenager. Throughout the novel it is glaringly obvious that Nelson has forgotten what being a teenager is actually like and therefore her interpretation of the teenagers in this novel is frantic, overwhelming, and slightly off base. The impulsive nature of teenagers, and the all consuming nature of a teenagers first love does not, and never will, line up with depictions of insta-love and problematic romance that we see so often in Young Adult Novels. To me, Joe Fontaine was an unnecessary character and the novel would have been stronger if he had not made the cut.

Speaking of unnecessary characters: Sarah. Lennie and Sarah's friendship lacked any type of depth, and therefore I was not invested in the will-they-won't-they-regain-their-friendship aspect of their relationship. Sarah felt like every bad YA character trope rolled into one, and given Lennie's obsessive, consuming relationship with her sister, I felt like Sarah just had no place in the story. 

And then there was Toby. Toby is the boyfriend of Bailey, and is as lost in his grief as Lennie is in hers. They connect in unexpected ways and through each other there is promise at the beginning of the novel to truly explore the nuances of their grief. Personally I loved the Toby element of this story. Again, his character was too many things rolled into one, a horse-riding skater boy who is so good looking you can barely look away, and yet his character had the most promise of adding value to the story. Unfortunately I feel as though this sub-plot was not explored correctly, and the ending was rushed through and chaotic. If this story was told without Joe Fontaine, and we were just given the story of Lennie dealing with her grief, with Toby and his grief thrown in I feel like this novel could have gone to greater places. 

The writing itself was beautiful, the text contained some beautiful, tumblr worthy quotes, and there is a subplot concerning Lennie and Bailey's mother which is powerful and one of the strongest points of the novel. 

“That's a misconception, Lennie. The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet.” 

― Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere

I hear a lot of buzz about the authors latest novel, and I'll for sure check that out, because like I said, her writing is strong, I just found her characterisations and plot were too full on. Would I read this novel again? No - I'm certain I have gained all there is to gain from this novel. Would I recommend this novel to a friend? No - but I would follow the authors work as Jandy Nelson is developing an exceptional talent.

Jandy Nelson Website

Buy this book on Amazon