The Sky Is Everywhere

Wow.

The first word that comes to mind after I finished listening to this book is: WOW.

This book was recommended to me last year by a friend. She did warn me beforehand that it was sad, so I did have a bit of an idea of what I was getting myself into???

So being the person I am, I purchased a copy of the book when it was on sale, and put it on my shelf to read at a later date. Time passed and I had to use up some of my credits on Audible.com so I bought a audio copy of it as well.

Fast forward another year or so after that and I find myself sitting at work sick of the music I have on my iPod so I switch over to books. This is the one I chose to listen to.

From the first ten minutes of listening I was hooked. In tears, but hooked. I understand Lennie more now, being on the other end of loss then I think I would have before. Her heart break at losing her sister, the anger and the pain she feels.

I understand Lennie's feelings of need. Of the desire for human contact. For her endless feelings of betrayal towards her sister.

It's very real to me.

In a lot of ways she is me.

I heard the words from this book and they echoed with what I was feeling, and how I felt for those months after I was left behind too. How I desperately needed an outlet and sometimes the written word was all I had because the spoken words wouldn't come out of my mouth. Some parts of the book took that hole in my heart and seemed to rip it open again and it's like the last 3 years vanish and the sad is all new again. But while it opened a lot of heartache, it also helped heal over some too. The climax and resolution of the story were so beautifully crafted, then in some ways there were those "ah ha" moments reminding me to think of others because my grief is no more or less then theirs and everyone has lost out. Don't forget the others.

I truly loved this book. I would recommend it to others who would enjoy a good teen romance with a lot of sad mixed in??? or perhaps it???s more of a walk through grief with a little teen romance mixed in. Either way you look at it The Sky Is Everywhere was just a good book.

Just a warning, there is quite a bit of language (meaning the BIG F word) throughout the book, but honestly its probably a lot less then what some of us hear on a daily basis.

???grief is a house
where the chairs
have forgotten how to hold us
the mirrors how to reflect us
the walls how to contain us

grief is a house that disappears
each time someone knocks at the door
or rings the bell
a house that blows into the air
at the slightest gust
that buries itself deep in the ground
while everyone is sleeping

grief is a house where no on can protect you
where the younger sister
will grow older than the older one
where the doors
no longer let you in
or out???
??? Jandy Nelson

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Lennie's Opus

Bailey died and sister, Lennie (John Lennon) is left to navigate a lonely existence without her. She finds herself in a unique position grieving with Bailey's boyfriend and is struck by a new boy at school. Coming of age, she learns secrets about her sister, absentee mother, grandmother, and of course about her own wishes and desires.

Jandy Nelson is a wonderful author. This book is well written with thoughtfully crafted characters you will care about. It's a good precursor to her huge hit, "I'll Give You the Sun".

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Themes will resonate with readers of all ages...

This is the story of Lennie, a teenage girl who is coming of age after the untimely death of her older sister. Unsure how to cope, Lennie ends up in a passionate solace seeking romance with her sister's boyfriend. This relationship is further complicated by the arrival of the boy of Lennie's dreams. The novel takes you along with Lennie on a sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking journey as she struggles to find her place in a world without her sister.

The character development in this book is phenomenal. Lennie's voice is brave and humorous. Julia Whelan perfectly captures this voice - from Lennie's teenage sarcasm to her deepest longings. The secondary characters, Lennie's grandmother and her pot-smoking Uncle Big, lend heartwarming charm to the narrative as they support Lennie the best way they know how.

If you like gritty young adult novels that don't shy away from mature content, you will love The Sky is Everywhere. It is written for teenagers but its themes of falling in love and coping with death will resonate with readers of all ages.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

A Wonderful Book!

This is an amazing story...a beautifully-written tale of one young woman's jouney through loss and grief and out the other side to the path of her own life. I loved the main character John "Lennie" Lennon. Her friends and quirky family are awesome characters. The narration by Julia Whelan perfectly captures the heart, emotions, and attitude of Lennie and all the other characters. A story that is heart-breaking, heart-warming, with touches of poignant humor all at the same time...completely moving. Not to be missed!

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

I just loved it !!!

What did you love best about The Sky is Everywhere?

the heartwarming emotional description of lennie`s sadness about her sisters death and the turbulences of her first love are just moving.
i could not stop listening

and julia whelan is one of the best readers i know, her lovely voice matches perfect with lennies character, she expresses her feelings and thoughts in a way you cannot resist.

it made me feel my first love and all its difficulties again

i really really loved it

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

AMAZING

I've never felt any desire to write a review until reading Jandy Nelson, and can't convey just how much I love this book. What a perfect balance of poetry, romance, humor and grief. Two days later and I'm still consumed by Lennie and her vivid world. Not just a YA novel, but one for all ages. I'm ready to start it all over again and I'm excited to see what her next novel brings.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

I'll Give You The Sky

I kind of consider Jandy Nelson as my secret book crush, sort of like liking Matchbox Twenty. Her books are not necessarily literary genius or scholarly. Her stories always end happy, which normally I find disappointing, but I love Nelsons characters so much that I practically beg the ending to be upbeat.

I read I Will Give You The Sun first, so listening to Julia Whelan again was a pleasure. Although somehow she made it feel like I was listening to the same story.

The characters Nelson writes are lovable, sweet, and broken which makes me care about their happiness. Lenn is a girl struggling with unexplainable feelings for her dead sister's boyfriend, Toby, and a new love for Joe. During all of this angsty love, Lenn finds herself pulling away from a family that needs her help to recoup after Bailey's untimely death and tries to discover a way to cope with her mother's absence.

I didn't think it was as eventful as I'll Give You The Sun, nor as enticing as the character switch in narration, but overall I loved this book.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

young love, well written

What young loves feels like...and how it feels to almost lose this love through your own actions. The love, fear, and regret feel so real in this book it truly transported me back to my teenage years.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A Brilliant listen!

I enjoyed this book immensely! It was a breath of fresh air for me! I bought it from a sale and didn't expect much - never having heard of the author before. The characters were great in my opinion and the story good. The way this book is written is golden! Also the reader did a great job!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

One Romantic Read!

If you could sum up The Sky is Everywhere in three words, what would they be?

Grief. Love. Hope.

What other book might you compare The Sky is Everywhere to and why?

"Adios, Nirvana." They are strikingly similar. However, "Sky" has lots more romance and is more serious in tone.

Have you listened to any of Julia Whelan’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't, but she did a good job.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No way! It's better to spread it out over time.

Any additional comments?

It's a great book with a lush, literary style--but also a street-smart contemporary voice. I especially like that Lennie did not find her mother--so there is that loose thread, thus avoiding a conventionally neat ending. It's so much better to leave a loose thread, now and then--because that's life.

Congratulations to author Jandy Nelson!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful