Amity is young and has her whole life in front of her but she lives in a world where harmony is meant to rule and everything is ‘perfect’, or soon to be, and astrology controls your fate and future.
Will Amity be able to make it through this Broken World and come out alive?
Broken Sky is an interesting book (like many of its kind) that explores the idea of an alternative to the reality of the 1940s and provides an interesting insight into communism, the idea of a perfect society and the truth about astrology. Because LA Weatherly, not through any fault of her own, chose to write Broken Sky in the weird echo of the 1940s and shows a very dystopian view of that time and the society that people lived in (though there is reason to show opposition to this fact as it is not meant to be a realistic view of the 1940s but a distorted one and there are many parts which are not at all to do with the 1940s).
There are multiple reasons to read this book: it has strong female leads, a very interesting storyline and is the gripping re-imagining of the 1940s, contrasting it to the society that we actually live in now (which is less racist, sexist, homophobic and more equal).
If there was anything that I would have to criticise about the book it would be the fact that it can become slightly confusing at points, and would be difficult for some of the demographic it is aimed at (teens) to completely understand. I would also make a note that part of why I enjoyed the book so much is the political and historical context, which makes it much more intriguing, but I know many young people my age who would not get the context in the story so maybe the writer could find a way for this to be more accessible for her YA audience.
I will be giving Broken Sky an easy 7 out of 10 for being such an inspirational and compelling book and being able to leave the story on a great cliffhanger!
- Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
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