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The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Have you ever loved a book from the first chapter? Been tugged in, heart-first, feet flapping last, straight inside a book?
I fell in love with this book so much I'm considering buying the UK paperback release (mine's a proof copy), because it's so beautiful and withh hold up better to the inevitable heartfelt rereadings. What this book really needs, though, is waterproofing.
I don't cry at books, as a rule. I don't cry over plots, or characters, no matter how much I love them. There are moment that have made me teary - the Weasley twins' sacrifice, the ghostly return of Piccadilly in The Deptford Mice Trilogy, Mole smelling his own, forgotten little home, but nothing has made me cry. At least, nothing until The Sky is Everywhere.
I had to leave my garden and hide indoors, for fear that my neighbours would notice I was sobbing into a paperback. Nelson effortlessly sculpts the absent character of Bailey, weaving her into every line so that each reminder of her death comes as a shock, so though she it yanking out a little of your stuffing. The reader knows that Bailey is dead from the first page, we never meet her, so how is it that she can hold my heart (and my tearducts) under such control?
For all it is a terribly sad book, this is also a wonderfully happy, and beautiful, book. There is a funny, silly, heartfelt mysticism in Lenny's life, which is populated with wonderful characters. Nelson's skill is in creating characters who are full and whole, never a charicature, nor a sketch. Each one smiles on the page, and you come to care deeply for the twists and turns of their lives.
Nelson's skilled, brilliant characters make the leaping, joyful romantic collisions a thing of wonder; aforementioned peeking neighbours must also have wondered why I was smiling, possibly even laughing, at my book. The contrast between the elated, unexpected highs of first love and the sudden, crushing reminders of grief make this an incredible book, and a real treasure. I think this book deserves to become a classic; I'll be watching Nelson's progress with interest (and tissues).
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