The Sky is Everywhere - Review by Diza Baryshnikov

 I read Jandy Nelson's other book I'll Give You the Sun last summer and I fell in love with the art style. The way that she alternated through time and described actions while portraying a beautiful story still sticks with me so I put it up on my shelf for display. I would use her book to find others similar to it on goodread, and that worked very well. Perhaps I scrolled too fast on goodread and did not see it, but I learned only recently that Jandy Nelson herself has another book, The Sky is Everywhere, so I quickly checked it out of the library.

*Contains Spoilers*

The book follows a seventeen year old poet and musician Lennie Walker, whose sister died recently. As her whimsical grandmother, uncle, and her struggle with the grief, she meets up with her sister's old boyfriend. The two are relieved to have someone to relate to, and start to kiss in private as a way to process the pain. Her best friend learns about the two of them, and is horrified. Lennie, encapsulated in her sorrow, begins to isolate herself from her best friend and others, and the summer starts. The new kid, Joe, moves into the their town from France, and brings his musical family. Him and Lennie meet in summer band practice, and she falls in love. After some time, he goes to her house to hang out in the morning and play music in the woods. Meanwhile, she continues to kiss her sister's boyfriend although trying to stop. Eventually, Joe and Lennie kiss and confess their love in the pouring rain as Lennie promises herself to never give into her sister's boyfriend again. The promise does not work out, and Joe catches them kissing in the garden. While Joe gives her the silent treatment, Lennie and her friend apologize and forgive eachother, becoming friends again. Lennie ends the thing with her sister's boyfriend, and tries many things to apologize to Joe, and eventually, a heartfelt poem and explanation clear the air. The two are reunited, and the dying plant who her family says represents her comes to life again. 

I did not love the book from the beginning, and looking back on it again, I dislike it even more. I understand that I tend to be all or nothing for romance books, and often pessimistic, but I stick with my opinion. Jandy Nelson is very creative and has written a wonderful book, but this one is not it. 

The main character, Lennie, seems to be very generic and unrealistic. Her actions seem to be done only with the motivation of moving on with the story and her habits seem cringy and overly poetic. A key detail in the book is her poems. Every day she writes poems on objects and papers that are hidden or fly away into the wind. This might be my pessimism shining through, but I doubt that the average person writes poems to leave everywhere unless they are the main character of a ya romance novel. Her love interest, Joe, seems to be written more for the authors fantasy than to portray a human. He is from France, has long eyelashes, loves music, and acts like an empathetic cardboard box, with no personality besides the fact that he loves Lennie. This problem often seems to arise in romance books, since the characters are written with the sole purpose to fall in love, as opposed to having personalities. There are many books where the author reaches that level, but it is challenging. If the author wrote it for the sake of a romantic fantasy they can read and imagine themselves in it, where the two love interests kiss in the pouring rain, it will not happen. 

The grandmother, uncle, and best friend are whimsical and strange, with superstitious ideas that pop up in Jandy Nelson's other book as well. However, this strangeness seems forced, as if to show everyone how different they are from everyone else. This type of contrived behavior shows up in many situations, real life included, but it is always obvious when it sounds fake, therefore adding a cringy element.

Lastly, I do not believe that this book touches on grief in the way that Nelson intended to. I love the way that she presents Lennie remembering stories of her sister, and dealing with her sorrow in a different way than often shown by connecting with her sister's boyfriend, yet once Joe is introduced and she finally understands her grandmother and her grief, that story plot seems to be forgotten until the end where Nelson remembers to add something to round it off. In this story, grief is used as a tool to move the plot on, and only the romance seems significant. If the book was meant to evaluate grief, I believe that it should have delved into the arc of Lennie's sorrow more.

Over all, I wished that one of my favorite authors had a better book for me to read, but it was exciting when in the middle of it. I strongly suggest that you read I'll Give You the Sun compared to this book, though I am glad I read Jandy Nelson's first book and could see her great development. 

- Diza :)