First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ebook in exchange for an honest review.

In The Sky is Everywhere, we follow Lennie, a teenager who just lost her sister, as she is going through different stages of grief and lives her high school life.

/!\ SPOILERS BELOW

I thought I was going to like to enjoy this book as I had enjoyed I'll Give You The Sun when I read it as a teenager, and well… I did not have a great time reading this book.
There is absolutely no plot, and I am not against character-driven books, but in this case, I did not relate to the main character at all and felt bored while reading. Is it because she is a teenager (and kind of childish?), or because she has lost a loved one and I haven't experienced this kind of loss? In any case, I do not think that it justifies stealing your dead sister's boyfriend is acceptable. They can bond over their grief, yes, or share their experience or some moments. And yes, she can feel lost – the whole book is a depiction of how lost Lennie is now that she lost Bailey, her sister – but I honestly thought that this book would be different. The romance between Joe and Lenny could have been great, but it felt rushed in a way.

That being said, the book was easy to read and understand, and it was quite slow-paced.

Definitely not for me.

This was a lovely and bittersweet story of Lennie, a 17 year old whose sister died and who is trying to figure out who she is without her sister. She explores her love life and relationships, including a fling with her sister’s former boyfriend, and drama ensues throughout the story. I thought it was beautifully written and the notes she had written to and about her sister at the start of many chapters really added to the story. This is a great read and I’d definitely recommend it.

The author handles the subject of death of a sibling well. Characters are well written and it explores the different ways people handle death and the sometimes out of character things people do. It also shows there is no wrong or right way to feel.

"I'll Give you the Sun" is one of my all time favourite YA contemporaries. It's basically a masterpiece, and it was my first Jandy Nelson so obviously the expectations for her other novels were high. I remember first reading "The Sky Is Everywhere" a few years ago, and how disappointed I was back then. This current reread just proved to me that my opinion didn't change.

Now, this is not a bad book at all. It's a story about the immeasurable grief of a young girl who loses her sister, and that part of the story really hits hard. I simply didn't enjoy what Nelson did with this concept. I would have loved for there to be more of a focus on Lenny as a person, her development, her growth, the effect of grief. In the end, all of that plays second fiddle to the romance between her and Joe and the more than unhealthy relationship she has with her sister's boyfriend. None of these relationships were convincingly told, so I felt nothing here. And the several "twists" added to Toby's side of the story got annoying at some point. Add to that the whole storyline about Lenny's mother, and it all feels a bit messy and unfocused.

Still, keep in mind that I'm not the target audience of this book anymore. It's well-written and deals with a serious and important topic, it's just not my favourite Nelson book.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

It’s been many years since I read I’ll Give You the Sun, so for me it felt like it was my first book from Jandy Nelson. And it did not disappoint.

After her sister’s sudden death Lennie feels lost. Raised by their grandmother, they made up stories about their mother who left them, shared everything with each other. But after Bailey’s death Lennie realizes that she didn’t know everything about her sister.

Lennie’ character felt like a typical 16-year old girl. With the exception that she just lost her sister. Grief can turn people into strangers, so part of me understood why Lennie suddenly had feelings for her sister's boyfriend. They were both grieving, and thought that no one else understands their feelings. It was hard to read, because she knew she should just stop, but when emotions ran high, I guess you can’t be rational.

Joe, I loved him. I mean, I loved all 3 brothers, but we learnt the most about him. He was like a golden retriever, charming, playful, loyal. I’m not a huge fan of love triangles, especially when it’s clear from the beginning who’s gonna end up with the main character, but here it was good. Not my favorite, but all their feelings made sense to me.

I have to mention Gram and Big, because I loved them. Bailey and Lennie had a supportive family, despite their mother's absence. Gram was basically their mother and Uncle Big, well he was a typical uncle. The family was a bit weird, but honestly which family isn’t?

The writing was beautiful, I felt everything that Lennie went through. It was emotional, and funny when it needed to be. I loved the short poems Lennie wrote throughout the book. I admit, at first I didn’t understand why it was important to note where each one was found, but at the end it all made sense, and if possible it made it even better! And absolutely loved the notes for the last one, it was adorable!

If you want a throwback to early 2010s YA stories, I’m sure you’d love this.

As much as I understand that its target audience, young adults, are naturally interested in sexuality and sex, but a book opening with a line, "all I think about is sex" is just a bit difficult for me to grapple with as an educator. Maybe I am a bit prudish.

Can’t even begin to explain how much I love this book. So beautifully written, funny and heartbreaking at the same time, stunning, just all around amazing. Such a comfort read for me, and always guaranteed to get me out of a reading slump. One of my favourite books of all time!