Review: The Sky Is Everywhere

Goodreads Summary: Lennie plays second clarinet in the school orchestra and has always happily been second fiddle to her charismatic older sister, Bailey. Then Bailey dies suddenly, and Lennie is left at sea without her anchor. Overcome by emotion, Lennie soon finds herself torn between two boys: Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, and Joe, the charming and musically gifted new boy in town. While Toby can't see her without seeing Bailey and Joe sees her only for herself, each offers Lennie something she desperately needs. But ultimately, it's up to Lennie to find her own way toward what she really needs-without Bailey. A remarkable debut novel perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block.

Every now and again it comes over me, the urge to just drown myself in contemporary novels. I want to devour them by the stacks, by the piles, by the roomful...and for those of you that know me you know I'm a fantasy girl so these contemporary binges of mine are particularly insane.

I fell in love with the cover for this book a long time ago. This exact cover. There was just something about it that drew me in. The colors, the mellowness and somehow it broke you heart too. It made me think of Sleeping Beauty wrapped in her ivy, lost in slumber and lost to everyone. It was haunting. 

And it had been haunting me from my TBR pile for entirely too long when I finally picked it up. Every now and again a book demands to be read at that exact moment with no ifs, ands or buts to come between you and its pages. So I began to read. And I fell in love from page one. 

First off it was beautifully written. [I seem to be stumbling across a lot of books that fit this description lately...GO ME!] I especially loved the poetry that is interlaced with the narrative. What I love even more about the poetry is that it isn't random quotes that the author chose to insert or that fell in line with the character or what they were going through or what was going on in the book at the time...these poems, these bits of conversation and verse were written by Lennie herself and offered a deeper insight into her character. [And inspired me to start keeping a verse journal!] I feel like I know Lennie in a way that I don't often get to connect with other characters, I feel like I know her inside and out and I love her in that imperfect way that love works. I could relate to her. I could feel her pain. 

I fell just short of reading this novel in a single sitting, in a single evening as I ignored homework and everything else that got flung at me. I couldn't stop. I was so lost in Lennie's story. I was there with her and I had to make it out, I just had to! The Sky Is Everywhere is the kind of story you can lose yourself in, that you can become part of, and the kind that for some will strike close to home. These are a few of the reasons why I loved it and will treasure it and will slip into the hands of those I love. Five out of five stars and a new favorite contemporary.