Review: The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Heart-breakingly beautiful story of a grief-stricken family’s journey to acceptance.

The Sky Is Everywhere Summary

Lennie Walker, seventeen, Wuthering Heights obsessed, clarinet player, band geek. Also hopeless romantic, prone to scattering poems all over town and as of four weeks ago, sisterless.

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My thoughts

What a stunning novel. I sped through this book, hooked from the very beginning by Jandy Nelson’s incredible writing style that, alongside Lennie’s poems which I’ll talk a bit more about in a moment, make this book an absolute dream to read, despite its heart-breaking contents.

Lennie’s sister died suddenly during a rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet, in which she was set to play the lead. She had her whole life ahead of her, and even more going on in that life than even Lennie knew, which is what made her death even more shocking to everyone who knew and loved her.

The Sky Is Everywhere takes you on Lennie’s rocky journey to accepting her sister’s death. It sure isn’t easy, and Lennie finds herself in confusing situations that I believed every moment of. When I think back to how I felt at the beginning of this book, it’s completely different to how I was left feeling by the end. To start with, I felt hopeless and desperately sad for Lennie, and in the middle I felt her guilt and her confusion. But by the end, I was sobbing with a strange, peaceful sadness that made me smile because I remembered how precious life is and how lucky I am to have lived such a good one so far.

The relationships in this book are what make it so special. Lennie’s relationship with her Gram, who raised Lennie and her sister Bailey after their mum left them when they were just babies, is beautifully depicted throughout The Sky Is Everywhere, and I love the unusual family dynamic that includes Lennie’s Uncle, Big, as a sort of big brother/father figure.

There’s also Toby, who is a character I completely adored. I completely understood his relationship with Lennie – grief makes people do strange things.

And then there’s Joe, who I liked but didn’t love. I found his relationship with Lennie a bit overpowering a bit too quickly. There’s a definite case of instalove, and the whole idea of him turning up at her house every morning got a little creepy.

But nonetheless I loved the ending, and the importance of his presence in Lennie’s grieving process. What makes this book even more special are the poems, which are scattered throughout the book in handwritten letters on what’s been made to look like scraps of paper, tree bark, coffee cups and more. Lennie writes the poems and hides them everywhere she goes. They’re amazing, and add another ingredient to the recipe that makes this book unforgettable.

My rating

**** 4/5 stars

Have you read The Sky Is Everywhere? I’d love to know what you think. Let me know in the comments section below.

Also, if you’ve got any recommendations of books you think I’ll like based on my love of this one, I’d love to hear them! Thanks in advance 🙂

February/March wrap-up and book haul!

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