A Review Take 2 is when one of our bloggers has already reviewed a book but another blogger also wants to review the same one. To read Justine’s review of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, click here!
I love going to author signings. There is nothing more fun to me than seeing my favorite authors talk about their work. Almost as fun, and just as interesting, is when my favorite authors talk about their favorite works of their fellow writers. This is just what happened when I saw Ransom Riggs last year for his signing at Changing Hands in Tempe, Arizona to promote HOLLOW CITY, the sequel to MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN. He couldn’t stop raving about Jandy Nelson. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE was her only book out at the time but he had seen the proofs of I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN and said it was so moving.
With reviews like that, I couldn’t say no to this book! Here’s the synopsis from its goodreads page:
Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life – and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding.
I heard a lot of complaints about how strange the love interest was between Lennie and Toby, her late sister’s boyfriend. But I actually got it. Sure, it was weird, but she and he both acknowledged that. I guess I know a thing or two about love where you don’t expect it and so it was actually refreshing to see a not-your-typical-love story in a YA novel.
I guess I was left a little underwhelmed with the the progression of the story because that part was very typical. Girl meets boy, girl and boy flirt unexpectedly, girl and boy fall in love even more unexpectedly, girl and boy break up because of a misunderstanding gone horribly wrong, girl and boy make up after much agony. Bleh. It was hard to get through towards the end because it was just so predictable.
However, I will agree with Ransom Riggs’s assessment of her writing style. It’s incredibly poetic, in fact there are poems laced throughout the story, introducing each chapter. These were beautiful and I ended up highlighting almost every single one. I only wish that she would apply this writing style to more advanced story. Then again, this is her first novel, so I have higher hopes for I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN, definitely going to give that a read.
Have you had a book that’s disappointed you lately? What was it?