Thank you so much to the publisher, the author, and netgalley for sending me an e-ARC to read. I gave this book four stars.

I unfortunately DNFed it around 40%, it wasn't for me. But others might enjoy it much more than I did, I just didn't connect with the characters or the story.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

This is a book that covers very tough but important topics. It may be difficult for some to read as it discusses bullying, rape, and domestic abuse.

Izzy is a young girl who is sexually abused and threatened by a boy at school; she is also losing her best friend, and her stepfather is a monster. She feels alone and cornered. She needs her mother to stand up to her stepfather. They both need to find their voices!

This gets pretty graphic and intense. But it has an important message as Izzy feels like she asked for it when she walked into his room or laid on his bed. I was glad there was somewhat of a happy-ish ending for Izzy.

Thank you @rocktheboat for this gifted ebook.

Izzy's story took many twists and turns. I felt incredibly bad for her at times. Additionally, I love the stand out yellow of the cover.

A beautiful and powerful book that tackles some pretty difficult topics (sexual assault, domestic abuse, bullying) while also tackling themes of friendship and standing up for yourself. As a parent, this was a hard read at times, but I think for any teen who might be dealing with ANY of these issues, it would be an good story, because despite the difficulty of the topics and they heaviness of the story, it is somehow heartwarming, too.

The characters are really well written and it's a really moving story.

"The Sky is Mine" by Amy Beashel is a beautiful and heartwarming novel that explores the themes of family, identity, and the search for home. The author's writing style is evocative and touching, bringing the reader on a journey of self-discovery and healing. The characters are lovable and relatable, making for an enjoyable and memorable read. If you're looking for a touching and uplifting story, "The Sky is Mine" is the perfect choice. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a heartwarming and inspiring read.

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

Some may find this book to be difficult or heavy to read and some may need trigger warnings for rape, and domestic abuse. This makes one ask how much can one person handle before they totally break and why would one continue to allow such trauma to happen to them over and over again.
In the end I enjoyed how Izzy prevailed and was finally able to step into the light.

A very heavy book that covers many issues that, unfortunately, some teenagers have to face these days. These issues are not normally talked about because many would rather believe they are not happening but this book brings them to light.
The beginning was very slow and took me a bit to get into but it started to hold my attention better approximately half way through. The characters began to develop a bit more depth and I began to care more about what was happening. Isabel is a strong heroine that goes through many things in her young life.
There are many trigger warnings such as abuse, rape, domestic violence and strong language.
I am grateful to Netgalley for offering a digital copy in exchange for an honest review of this powerful book.

For starters I LOVED the overall message of this book. I am all for books that empower women. However the execution of this one just wasn’t great. I felt as though the author wanted to explore all aspects of abuse, so she included as many different forms as possible, which felt like too much. At times it rushed and not fully developed.

DNF - did not finish. I did not connect with this story and decided not finish it. Thank you for the early copy.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Sky is Mine by Amy Beashel.

Ooof, this book is heavy, and the most horrifying part is that it's a stark reality for a lot of teen girls.

Seventeen year old Izzy is not safe anywhere. Her step dad Daniel is becoming increasingly controlling and abusive, causing Izzy's mom to shrink away, making her almost unavailable to Izzy. At the same time, Izzy is being "sexploited" by one of the boys at school, and even Izzy's best friend is off and distracted by her new love interest. Izzy is completely alone. But one small step at a time, Izzy and her mom will find their strength and their voice to reclaim their lives.

I admit, I almost couldn't finish this book, which is odd because I've read things probably way harder. But like I said, I have no doubt that young girls have been put in this impossible situation all too often, so the realism of it was just so difficult. But I'm glad that I continued because as hard as the climb was, it was empowering to read. The characters were all deeply flawed and damaged, and while there is no guarantee that anyone will ride off in the sunset to live a perfectly happy life, you're left with a lot of hope. I also loved the reminder of the power and bond that women have when they rely on themselves and other women to forge their own paths, no matter how badly someone wanted to take that away from them.

⭐ ⭐ 1/2

I really, really, really wanted to enjoy this book a lot more. I had high hopes based on the subject/s and the important matters covered (rape, abortion, abuse, etc). But, I just didn't.

This book follows Izzy (a teenager) and her mom who have finally had "enough" and go to a safe space to get away from the abuse of Daniel, husband and step father. Izzy is also dealing with her own problems (including both her step father and boy at school)... my heart hurt for all of these issues as I know these are issues that many females deal with in real life.

However, the execution of this story was just NOT there. I didn't like how it bounced all over, I didn't like the writing style at all and I felt absolutely nothing for these two ladies (minus hurt knowing people actually deal with this in life). These characters were super undeveloped to me, I felt nothing for them and knew nothing about them besides the pain they went through in life.

I was so happy these women in the book were strong. They used their voices and they ran. They stood up for themselves and got help and safety. But, that's all that I enjoyed. Unfortunately, I was just bored. I didn't really care about the story - I'm sad to say that because of the subject matter. It just didn't do it for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

This book was quite the surprise! I admit that the beginning was really slow for me, but by the middle point the story really held my attention and I loved the focus on self-care in the latter chapters and the ending not being too stereotypical.
There are a lot of trigger warnings for this story. That's not to say that you shouldn't read this because The Sky Is Mine certainly is an important, and life-changing read, but there are triggers that you have to be aware of before going into this book.

Thank you @netgalley, @oneworldpublications, and @beashelwrites for my arc in exchange for my honest review. This book has been on the back burner for quite some times. For some reason, I kept thinking the pub date got pushed back due to the pandemic, but alas, I was looking at the wrong block of information 🤦🏽‍♀️, so without further ado, my review for the lovely book!

This debut novel definitely covers some heavy topics. Trigger warnings: rape, domestic violence, mental/ physical abuse, and toxic relationships.

However, within this story, you'll find there is hope and love. Both the MC and her mom goes through some major character development and you can't help but continously root for them. It is a powerful book with a message just as strong.

Heartbreaking, emotional, and beautiful! I would highly recommend this!

This is such an important theme and this book needs to be read every person out there. So beautiful and to know that this is a debut is only setting up high expectations for the author

I flew through this book so quickly, it was highly triggering for me to read at some points as i have myself recently left an abusive marriage, although it was never physical, the psychological scars are still there, and that is the thing, you cannot see these bruises on your heart, but you can feel them, they are always there!

I highlighted so many passages in this book, that i had to come up with my own colour coding, Yellow for abuse (Physical/Mental) Blue for Izzy the MC Gaslighting herself, and Red for her mother Gaslighting herself, and Orange for anyone else!!

This is just horrific, the poor girl is just being abused everywhere by everyone, her step father is not only abusing her, but also her mother, and she is too controlled by him to speak out about it.
And now she is getting abused and raped by the local scumbag school kid.

This was a really good read, but please be aware that this could be extremely triggering for some people to read about the abuse, and although it isn't graphic, there are clear cases of Gaslighting and Manipulation that scream RED FLAGS even when other people are saying "Aww isn't that nice how much he cares for you"

3.5/5.
I do like the writing style, and thought that it fit the story well. And it was nice to have a good ending in which the characters each seek healing for themselves. But I had trouble getting into this book at the beginning, and to be honest, to me it only really seemed to pick up a little bit into the book. I love Harry and every scene he was in as well.
I appreciate how this book tackles a lot of really tough issues, but also found it difficult to focus on each one. Every new problem seemed to come out of left field and took me by surprise, which I suppose is the point. And even though these issues SHOULD be talked about, which each one I realized that reading about that much abuse puts a strain on the reader as well. I hadn't necessarily expected to read about such tough topics, so I found myself a bit off put when each one came up. The story is important, and some parts were very powerful, but it was also very character driven as opposed to plot-driven, which might have contributed to me having some trouble getting into the book.

First of all, thanks to NetGalley and Rock the Boat for approving my request and sending me an eARC in exchange for a honest review.
You have to know English isn’t my first language, so feel free to correct me if I make some mistakes while writing this review.


CONTENT WARNING: domestic violence, blackmail, psychological manipulation, verbal abuse, abuse towards animals, fat-shaming, slut-shaming, dubious consent, actions carried out under duress, harassment, rape, abortion.


If you know me, you know that I find it hard to relate to books in which domestic violence is present - but it happens especially if the victim is the protagonist and things are narrated from her point of view.
Maybe it's because I am presumptuous in thinking that I am so self-centered and so "emotionally detached" since I already have too many problems to deal with, to think that I would allow someone else to exercise control and violence on me.

But here the protagonist is Izzy, who is seventeen, and her mother is the one who is mainly a victim of Daniel - but Izzy is also not exempt from it.
Except that it was easier to relate to Izzy, even if my family situation is the opposite of hers fortunately. But I felt Izzy close anyway - with the body she despises, with the parties where she feels uncomfortable, with the distance that is growing with her best friend when she's too busy with her girlfriend Nell.

We had a lot in common, Izzy and I.

There's so much Izzy can't talk about - and when she wants to, she always gets told by the other person that they have no time or that it's not the right moment and can't it be postponed until later?

Izzy misses the life she had before - the life before Daniel.
Before Daniel showed his true face, before he became abusive with words and gestures, before he controlled her mother's every move forcing her into silence and into obeying him, before he began to put his eyes and hands on Izzy too. Before the house became a minefield where every word is measured, every step is calculated, every oxygen molecule is subtracted when he enters a room.

And out of the house for Izzy is not better, because at a party she drank too much and no one saw Jacob's approach towards her as something she didn't want - something she didn't say yes or no to. Is not answering the same as giving consent? Is not answering the same as refusing? Choosing silence while feeling petrified and waiting for someone to tell you what is the best thing to do is still an answer in itself?
And at first it was just a photo that Jacob had taken to share among their classmates, at first it was only murmurs and sneers, but now Jacob wants more from her and Izzy is so used to silence - so empty, so numb - that she could also give in to his blackmail to prevent certain photos from going around the school.

And after losing (metaphorically) the first person who always kept her on her feet - her mother - she now feels that she no longer even has the support of Grace, who is so in love that she sees nothing but Nell and accuses Izzy of being jealous.

What Izzy doesn't know is that inside her - crushed by years of abuse and relegated to the depths and darkness of her soul - there is an Izzy that has a voice. And she finally wants to scream.


There is so much more in this book - in this book that also made me cry twice.
Not only because many things in Izzy's life resembled mine when I was her age - like the issue with her best friend - but because it's a book that deals with heavy and important themes.

It's a book full of so much sadness, desperation, resignation, pain, anger but also hope. A book that shows how, after years of abuse, one person almost manages to remain indifferent to it - how one person learns to walk on tiptoes and try to calm the situation down to prevent it getting worse, but when it explodes then that person remains still to look at violence as a thing normal. As if it were deserved.

And then you pretend nothing happened. And maybe you fall back into the same vicious circle in other circumstances and in other situations.
You keep pushing the problem away, hiding it under the carpet believing that it will resolve itself without you doing anything about it - that things will improve on their own.

When her mother Stephanie finally decides to regain control, Izzy's anger is immense. NOW her mother wants to protect her. But in all the previous years why she didn't do it? Why hasn't she saved them both before? Why didn't she leave Daniel earlier? And Izzy feels that that love - that trust - a daughter should feel unconditionally towards her mother has been lost many promises of a change for the better ago.

But Izzy's anger is also directed at herself, for letting the boys and men in her life always towering over her - always taking off, piece by piece, a little more sun and a little more moon and a little more sky.
And Izzy wants that sun, wants that moon, wants that sky - she wants again the feeling she got from her father when he made her feel at the center of his universe.

It's a powerful book with an equally powerful message.
It's a book about domestic violence, the consequences at home and outside of it, how those consequences affect the psyche and the behavior of the victims - and Izzy has shown me that you can ask those questions in a poisonous way and be angry at the person who had disappointed you and still end up trapped in the same vicious circle, in the same mechanism in which we reduce ourselves without control and at the mercy of someone else without even realizing it.

But it's a book that also tackles bullying, the boys' lack of respect for women and how it's all a game for them - including the songs they sing at the top of their lungs about rape and the way they laugh about it at the end. Or when you know that what your friend is doing is wrong, but you keep to justify it (and justify yourself) saying it's a joke and you keep quiet and let it happen without doing anything.

I loved this book, I loved Izzy finding her voice, I loved Izzy challenging everyone to take back what is rightfully hers, I loved Izzy still needing the support of the ones she loves while discovering she can also be independent and walking alone, I loved Izzy for her playlists, I loved Izzy for her desire to be an island out of reach and the subsequent understanding that one must always leave a way of access to others, I loved Izzy who embarks on a healing path of acceptance even if it'll be slow and painful - and the same goes for her mother.

It's a book on the trust that begins to lack, on the love that begins to waver, on the promises not kept or kept when it is perhaps too late, on the hope that perhaps it is not too late, on the family and the love that we really deserve, on the choices that in the end are ours and ours alone.


"My life. My body. My choice."


And I usually have "problems" with this type of book, but this time around I didn't - perhaps because this time it was narrated from a different point of view, by someone who asked the same questions I ask myself when I read a book with such themes.

Amy Beashel has a particular way of telling the story - which often takes a break to tell episodes from the past - but you quickly get used to the rhythm of this intense, emotional and also heartbreaking book.