The lovely people at The Guardian ran a competition for Jandy Nelson's other book, I'll Give You The Sun, and I was so excited! But before I read I'll Give You The Sun, I decided that I was going to test drive what Jandy Nelson wrote with The Sky Is Everywhere. Consider this the driving test report.
Lennie's sister Bailey is dead. She's only recently deceased, and picking up the pieces is a tough job. Lennie also happens to be a musician, and it's in a music class that Lennie meets Joe Fontaine: French, attractive and pretty much the new school heartthrob. The ultimate perfect guy. Lennie is falling for him. But how can he do that when, hello, anyone's supposed to be grieving, and let's not throw Toby, Bailey's ex, into the mix either!
If this review is a driving test report, I'm pretty sure it passed.
This book is devastating in the best way possible. Not only does it pull with your emotions, it really shines a light on the interesting characters that are Joe and Lennie.
But that brings me onto the characters. Jandy has a way of describing and telling the story of each character in a way that is just perfect. Throughout the book you find yourself connecting with the story, even though you've got no reason to. You find yourself in a position where Lennie's story feels like your own, even though it's anything but for someone like me. It's absolutely fantastic and just weird at the same time!
If you're thinking of buying The Sky Is Everywhere, then let me just say that this book is one of the only ones that I stopped halfway through and said aloud to an empty room, "This book is devastating". But like I've already said, it's in the best way possible.
However, very few people get through a driving test with a clean sweep, no faults, and neither does this book.
Lennie is supposed to be grieving after her loss of Bailey. Instead she falls in love. Does someone really fall in love with someone that quickly a matter of weeks after one of your closest relatives dies? Is that real? Please someone tell me if the case is that it isn't, but I doubt very much that's something that would happen. If I were Bailey, I'd feel a bit insulted.
Lennie does acknowledge that she shouldn't fall in love when she's supposed to be grieving, but if there's one thing I understand from books it's that love is pretty unpredictable, so the fault there is just a minor one!
I think anyone that's read Looking For Alaska or any Gayle Forman book might just be a fan of this. I read it as a test drive, it passed, so I'll Give You The Sun becomes my next to read book.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
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