The Sky is Everywhere

by Jandy Nelson

[Leah]

Lennie Walker has always felt safe in her sister’s shadow; with Bailey there Lennie could float through life without having to worry too much about being the center of attention. So when Bailey dies, the bottom of Lennie’s world falls from underneath her and she suddenly finds herself very much the center of attention and doesn’t know how to deal with it, particularly when it appears that she has two boys to choose from. There’s Toby, but what kind of girl falls for her sister’s boyfriend; her dead sister’s boyfriend, no less? Then there’s Joe, the new boy in town with a grin the size of America. But how can Lennie be falling in love when her sister Bailey isn’t around to witness it? But who is Lennie actually falling in love with? Toby or Joe?

Jandy Nelson’s debut novel only came to my attention a couple of months ago when I saw it being reviewed everywhere after it’s American release. I thought it sounded fantastic and I was pleased to find out that it was going to be published in the UK. I was contacted by one of the ladies who work for Jandy’s UK publishers, Walker, about getting a review copy and I jumped at the chance to be able to get an early copy of the book. It took a little while to arrive and I was eager to get stuck in as soon as possible. I finally finished the book I was reading when The Sky Is Everywhere arrived and got stuck in hoping for a fantastic debut novel.

I knew from reading the blurb of the book that the book dealt, as you can expect if you’ve read the blurb, with death and the aftermath of death and how it affected those left behind. Grief is always a difficult topic to write about and you certainly have to have a certain touch to pull off a book that deals with the aftermath of the death of a loved one. With The Sky Is Everywhere I thought Jandy Nelson did a fantastic job portraying just how confused Lennie was after the death of her sister, and best friend, Bailey. I truly didn’t think the Lennie/Toby strand of the storyline would work; but it really really did. I thought I would find it disgusting and wrong and that it would tarnish Bailey’s memory in some way, but Jandy handled it so well that although it was wrong on a lot of levels, it was also understandable; it made sense.

My absolute favourite favourite favourite (yes I just said favourite three times) part of the book was the blossoming relationship between Lennie and Joe. From that very first meeting, in the first few pages, I loved them together. They seemed to spark off each other so well and I loved that Joe called Lennie John Lennon. Their chemistry was fantastic and they’re almost certainly one of my favourite pair of characters that I’ve read in a long, long time. Of course, with Lennie having to decide between both Toby and Joe there was bound to be some sort of huge part in the middle where it all exploded and let me tell you, it was a good explosion. It was a good way for everything to pour out and boil over and although it was a bit sad, it also meant for a fantastic build up to the end of the book.

I absolutely loved Lennie, right from the off. I’m the kind of person that prefers to stay in the shadows rather than be the center of attention so I could totally understand how much Lennie’s life changes after Bailey’s death. Lennie goes from standing in her sister’s shadow to being the only person there, with no one to stand behind and it was a huge change. She went from being a shy music-geek to fighting off the attentions of two boys. I liked both Toby and Joe but for very different reasons. It was clear that Toby was struggling to come to terms with everything that had happened and although I thought he was a bit full-on at times, I did still manage to understand his feelings. Joe just shone from the page and I couldn’t not love him. Truly, there’s nothing I can say to give Joe the justice he deserves, he was a fantastic character. Two other hugely important characters to the book are Gram, Lennie’s grandmother, as well as Big, Lennie’s Uncle. They’re also fabulous characters and are of huge importance to the book. There’s quite the family atmosphere around Lennie; despite the fact her mother is AWOL and she doesn’t know who her father is but the fact is, Gram and Big – and Bailey, of course – are her family. Surprisingly, although she never makes one appearance, Bailey is also important to the book. Despite the fact she’s dead, she’s alive throughout the book simply by the way in which Lennie relies on her, and the way Lennie keeps her room the same as it was the day she last left it.

The Sky Is Everywhere is a truly fantastic read. Jandy Nelson writes so beautifully that once I managed to sit down and get stuck into the book, I barely wanted to put it down. She writes from Lennie’s point of view incredibly well and Lennie’s voice is just fantastic. Jandy has put a note in the advance copies of the book saying that she herself lost someone important to her around about Lennie’s age so it means she’s able to write grief very very well, as I said. There are a lot of kooky elements to the book all of which add up to make a totally fantastic debut novel. I truly hope Jandy is currently working on her second book, I for one will be snapping it up as soon as it’s physically possible. I hugely recommend The Sky Is Everywhere, it’s a fab read.