Book Review: The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Title: The Sky Is Everywhere
Author: Jandy Nelson
Series: Standalone
Pages: 368
Date of UK Publications: June 7th 2010
Source: Bought
Synopsis from Goodreads: 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.


My Thoughts:
This book was weird. I don't know why I thought it was so weird, but I did. It was really good though, just a little odd.

It's very sad. It deals with death and everything that comes after, the feelings of abandonment and grief, broken friendships, and broken hearts. Lennie is distraught after the death of her sister, and she doesn't know how she can make it better. She doesn't know how she, or anyone around her, can carry on living when her sister is nineteen years old, buried in a box in the ground, never to live again.

Sometimes, it was hard for me to understand what was going on in Lennie's head, and I found it hard to relate to her, but only because I have never been in that situation. But, even though I couldn't really relate to her, I still felt all her emotions as if they were my own. And slowly she did begin to rebuild her life - only to have it all stolen away again.

The plot was well thought out, and though it was rather predictable, and it's easy to tell what was going to happen, I was still a little surprised how the consequences played out. I knew something bad was going to happen, and I knew it would break Lennie, and I kind of knew that she would make it better, but I had no idea how that was going to happen until I read it and found out. I won't tell you what she did, but I will tell you this: It is SO sweet! :)

One of the things in the book that stood out for me are the poems. At beginning or end of every chapter there is a picture of a scrap or paper, a tree branch, a notebook page, a paper cup, and on it is scrawled a poem, or a conversation, written in Lennie's handwriting. They are so sweet, and they really add to the book and make it special. I don't know if they are in the US version, but they are in the UK hardback and it really is worth getting, if you want a little bit extra added to the story.

The Sky Is Everywhere is a sad story with a happy ending. It's such a good book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely be reading anything else that Jandy Nelson writes. I really recommend it, I know a lot of people have already read and loved, and if you haven't you must, because it really is a must read.


My Rating:

I give it 4 Feet!

Challenges:
2011 100+ Reading Challenge #35