Follow:
Review

Review | The Sky is Everywhere

the sky is everywhere 3

The story follows Lenny Walker, a 17 year-old clarinetist who struggles with her sister sudden death. Having been left by their mother at such a young age, Lenny and her sister Bailey grew extremely close, and her death hit her hard. She begins writing and scattering poems all over the place in order to cope with the loss. 

I had a high expectation for this book. A heartbreaking story with poems and beautiful lines? That sounds like the thing I’d love, I thought. I imagined it would be like reading a slightly different version of John Green. How wrong was I.

Instead of feeling sympathetic for Lenny, I felt downward annoyed and frustrated with her. I’m sorry, but going from one guy to another is just screwed up, and throughout the entire book I felt the need to slap her silly. For one thing, she seems to be struggling to keep the memories of her sister alive, which I COMPLETELY understood. But the thing that irked me was how she seems to deliberately refuse to be okay. She dramatically chooses to be grieving, instead of trying to let go and go on with her life. She makes no effort to be happy, and it was at this point all sympathy went out of the window.

And the poems? I admit some of them are beautiful, but most come across to me as pretentious, just as Lenny herself. Another irksome thing: the use of made-up slangs (case in point: WTF-asaurus). Lenny is just plain irritating, and so is the book. It’s like reading two styles of writing alternately: one where she’s trying to be poetic, and the other which just looks like the rambling of a spoiled 13 year-old girl. And FYI, it only takes 31 pages before this sentence appears: ‘But then all of a sudden, I feel a hardness against my hip, him, that. Holy freaking shit!’

I’ll leave it for you to judge.

Share:
Previous Post Next Post

You may also like

9 Comments

  • Reply Laura

    I’ve not heard of this one before- sounds interesting. I hate when books aren’t has I’ve hoped they’d be, but Im intrigued by the storyline. Thanks for sharing!

    December 13, 2015 at 10:19 pm
    • Reply Dixiezetha

      My pleasure 🙂
      The storyline is quite good, it’s just I personally can’t stand the main character. Apart from that, it’s alright I guess.

      December 14, 2015 at 12:53 am
  • Reply Amanda

    Haha! Maybe I’ll give this one a miss! X

    December 14, 2015 at 7:55 am
    • Reply Dixiezetha

      That’s not a bad idea! xx

      December 14, 2015 at 4:45 pm
  • Reply rae tashman (@lovefromberlin)

    Sounds like a lovely read, thanks for the great review!

    Rae | Love from Berlin

    December 14, 2015 at 1:59 pm
    • Reply Dixiezetha

      Not too great for me, but glad if it could help 🙂

      December 14, 2015 at 4:45 pm
  • Reply May Cho

    Precisely why I avoid YA like the plague. I’ve made the mistake of delving into books about annoying, self-pitying protagonists with regards to death and loss before (Hearts & Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga is a fantastically horrific example) and I just cannot bother anymore. And as much as I love a girl who writes and reads (because that is basically me, ha) I absolutely hate how these girls are portrayed in YA literature.

    Honestly speaking, I’d read the book just so I can rant with you but on other, I’d rather not waste my time.

    May | THE MAYDEN | Bloglovin’

    December 14, 2015 at 4:23 pm
    • Reply May Cho

      Also, you’ve just gained a fellow bibliophile & storyteller follower in me. Looking forward to more of your posts. <3

      December 14, 2015 at 4:24 pm
      • Reply Dixiezetha

        Thanks May! I’m going through your blog because, of course, having a like-minded person when it comes to these things is just awesome. Would love to read more of your posts too! 🙂

        And you sum up EXACTLY how I feel about this kind of books, and protagonists. And also about the portrayal of girls who love to read and write, sometimes they’re a bit too much so instead of liking them as girls after my own heart, I end up disliking them as they seem like they try too hard to be poetic. I have a feeling we have similar taste in books, so there’s a big chance we could have a good rant about these kind of books.

        December 14, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    Share your thoughts

    %d bloggers like this: