{Audiobook} Review : The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Title: The Sky is Everywhere
Author: Jandy Nelson
Narrator: Julia Whelan
Series: n/a
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication Date: March 9, 2010
Source: purchased audio
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life - and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

This remarkable debut is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block. Just as much a celebration of love as it is a portrait of loss, Lennie's struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often hilarious, and ultimately unforgettable.

Last month I was supposed to do some traveling for work. I thought, what better time to once again give audio books a try. I went into this thinking, no way, I will hate it just like the last time. To up my chances of success, I enlisted my lovely co blogger to give me a list of books she loved in audio. The Sky Is Everywhere was one of her suggestions and I’ve been wanted to pick it up for a while now. So I signed up for a trial audible account, and picked this one for my free credit.

I’m not going to lie, at first it was a little weird. I started it one day on my way to work, and I didn’t really know what I thought of it by the time I got there. I did know one thing, I wanted to listen to more on my way home. And that's how it starts my friends… the audio book addiction. I’m not going to go into detail about how the narrator was, because it’s truly the first full audio book I’ve ever sat through. I enjoyed her, gram’s voice was a little annoying, but other than that, she really fit how I think Lennie would have sounded like. So to me, the narrator was great.

This book… sigh. I need to get myself a physical or kindle version just so I can go through and highlight the shit out of it. That is my only audio book complaint, I can't really highlight my favorite parts. And the words, oh all the beautiful words and passages.. I’m so in love with this story.

Lennie has lost her big sister, and I cannot even pretend to know how that would feel because I don’t have a sister. I’ve experienced grief though, so I understood her. She’s not herself, she doesn’t know who she is anymore. She’s always been Bailey’s little sister. She makes mistakes, oh my gosh does she make mistakes. But aside from that, she falls in love, and she feels guilty for feeling these happy things while her sister Bailey is in the ground. It’s heart wrenching and breathtaking all at the same time.

There is so much depth in The Sky Is Everywhere. There really isn’t anything I can say that can do this book justice. Jandy Nelson took a horrible tragedy, a grief stricken family going through hell, and put it all to words in the most beautiful way. It was gorgeous. I’m not the same person after reading this.

About the author:

Jandy Nelson received a BA from Cornell, an MFA from Brown in poetry, and another MFA from Vermont College in writing for children and young adults. A literary agent for many years, she is also a published poet. The Sky Is Everywhere is her first novel. Jandy lives in San Francisco.



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