River means everything to Sky. They have lived alone together on Island for as long as they can remember. The two of them hunt for food, wash in Falls and curl up together in Shelter. Their life is simple and safe. Until River sees a boat . . .
Across Ocean is California, a place where nothing makes sense to Sky. She is separated from River and taken to live with a grandmother she doesn’t know. Lost and heartbroken, Sky searches for him so they can return to Island, only to find out that their paradise wasn’t as perfect as she thought, and everything she’s ever known and loved may have been a lie.
A gripping and beautifully told story of love and survival in a hostile world – ours.
So, if you've read the synopsis, you know that Sky and River have spent as long as they can remember on Island. And when they leave Island, things are tough, as you'd expect. When I realized that Sky would be entering the real world, I figured this book could go one of two ways: The first is that it could be inconsistent, with lack of attention to the detail required to pull such a very intricate character off. The second is that the author could have somehow remembered every single detail, and was completely consistent to the point that I was amazed. Can you guess which? Yep, it's the latter. I cannot even imagine how much time and thought Jillian Cantor must have poured into Sky's every thought, every dialogue, every miniscule detail. And if Sky did know something that seemed suspicious, Cantor explained the reason. It was nothing short of completely impressive, and made it very easy to feel immersed in Sky's story.
Sky was a very likable character for me. I couldn't help but feel every bit of her pain, her frustration, her desperation, her sadness. She reacted in ways that seemed so appropriate, even though likely none of us will ever know what "appropriate" is in such a situation. The progression of Sky as she grew and learned more things was stunning as well. She and River (and even The Grandmother Woman) moved me to tears many times, and it was simply a beautiful story that I am not soon to forget.
The reason I am not giving it a full five stars is that there were a few issues that I just had some trouble with the believability of. First, the people who treated Sky upon her reimmersion acted oddly, in my opinion. I don't think that actual psychology professionals would have been so completely inept with dealing with Sky's issues. Granted, this is not a common occurrence, but some of their failings were simple common sense! The other issue was a public opinion issue that I simply found hard to believe. I can't get into it without spoiling some things, but suffice it to say that I hope that people aren't this cruel, and that I am justified in finding it hard to believe.
This is, in truth, a very hard book to review without giving things away, and the reader definitely should go into this one with a blank slate, so I am not going to offer many more details. I am going to say that I love Sky and River, and Ben and even "The Grandmother Woman". And I want more of them.
