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chrissireads's review against another edition
4.0
Infinite Sky tells the story of Iris, a 13 year old girl who has so much going on in her life. Her mother has left her and her family. Her dad is struggling and drinking a lot. Her brother is angry. A group of travellers settle down behind their house. Iris is intrigued by their life style, but her dad is furious that they are there. Both her dad and her brother are quite prejudiced towards them. Despite their opinions, Iris makes friends with Trick, a slightly older boy. They get on so well despite their very different backgrounds. It’s not long before trouble brews between the families which leads to an awful event…
I absolutely loved the character of Iris. I think she came across as much older than her years. She hasn’t had it easy and you can see her struggle between wanting to do right and follow her father’s instructions and wanting to make friends with the travellers. The characters are so well developed, despite it being such a short read. It really has depth to it which I never anticipated.
Infinite Sky has some really heartbreaking moments, but it’s such a beautifully written story. I think many readers would enjoy it!
I absolutely loved the character of Iris. I think she came across as much older than her years. She hasn’t had it easy and you can see her struggle between wanting to do right and follow her father’s instructions and wanting to make friends with the travellers. The characters are so well developed, despite it being such a short read. It really has depth to it which I never anticipated.
Infinite Sky has some really heartbreaking moments, but it’s such a beautifully written story. I think many readers would enjoy it!
pwbalto's review against another edition
4.0
Infinite Sky is a book that grows on you. Its beauty, like that of the book’s setting in rural England, builds with every scene, at first prosaic like a sunny summer day and at length revealed to be as profound and brutal as nature itself.
Thirteen-year-old Iris has a lot to deal with as summer commences. Her mother has left home, throwing the remaining family - Iris’s dad and older brother Sam - into a state of withdrawn, bitter depression. When a family of gypsies set up camp in the paddock adjacent to their house, all three seem to welcome the distraction: Iris befriends the family’s teenage son Trick, Dad schemes to evict them, while Sam’s pain drives him to incoherent destruction.
Author C.J. Flood, in an impressive debut, fully inhabits Iris as she gets to know Trick, gradually trusting him - and the reader - with her conflicted emotions. Whether she is describing the near-silence of the countryside, a stifling conversation with a classmate’s nosy mother, or an argument that explodes into violence, natural imagery and physical sensation provide the only embellishment to the understated prose. Compare to Mal Peet’s Life: An Exploded Diagram.
Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, as well it should be.
—Paula Willey for Booklist Online
Thirteen-year-old Iris has a lot to deal with as summer commences. Her mother has left home, throwing the remaining family - Iris’s dad and older brother Sam - into a state of withdrawn, bitter depression. When a family of gypsies set up camp in the paddock adjacent to their house, all three seem to welcome the distraction: Iris befriends the family’s teenage son Trick, Dad schemes to evict them, while Sam’s pain drives him to incoherent destruction.
Author C.J. Flood, in an impressive debut, fully inhabits Iris as she gets to know Trick, gradually trusting him - and the reader - with her conflicted emotions. Whether she is describing the near-silence of the countryside, a stifling conversation with a classmate’s nosy mother, or an argument that explodes into violence, natural imagery and physical sensation provide the only embellishment to the understated prose. Compare to Mal Peet’s Life: An Exploded Diagram.
Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, as well it should be.
—Paula Willey for Booklist Online
mcerrin's review against another edition
2.0
Eh. Finished it. Didn't hate it. But was underwhelmed by it. Had potential but didn't quite get there.
ew_may's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thesilmarillions's review against another edition
5.0
An absolutely beautiful book. The characters are engaging and the journey Iris goes through over the course of one summer is intriguing. The story definitely didn't go how I thought it would. A brilliant book from a brilliant new author.
bookcase's review against another edition
3.0
3.75
The reason why my rating is not higher is because it took me until a third of the way in to get into the story and care for the characters. But the last two thirds were greatly compelling.
The reason why my rating is not higher is because it took me until a third of the way in to get into the story and care for the characters. But the last two thirds were greatly compelling.
catarinajjoia's review against another edition
4.0
What a beautiful book! C.J Flood's writing was incredibly good, in my opinion, and I can't wait for her to write more books.
Infinite Sky started out as a pretty sweet and heartwarming story, ending in a completely different way. It made me laugh, "aw", and cry. It was stunning.
Infinite Sky started out as a pretty sweet and heartwarming story, ending in a completely different way. It made me laugh, "aw", and cry. It was stunning.
eliscliffe's review against another edition
3.0
An absolutely beautifully written book. The way C.J Flood writes Iris is pretty accurate of a more mature 13 year old. The story is enthralling and also sadly true to the typical British views towards Irish travellers.
It was sort of slow towards the beginning however after about half way it picked up pace dramatically and I couldn’t put it down.
It was sort of slow towards the beginning however after about half way it picked up pace dramatically and I couldn’t put it down.
hannahslibrary92's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Seriously, wow. I'll be honest, when I went into this book I didn't really know all that much about it. I didn't have huge expectations, and I thought that mostly it would just be a quick read to help me boost my reading challenge numbers for the year.
I could not have been more wrong.
It was a quick read, but that wasn't due to the less than three hundred pages, it was because I didn't want to put the book down. I loved it.
The thing I loved about it most, was the innocence of Iris and how she saw things. She was so much more accepting of people, and it was really interesting to see her tolerance, even in the face of constant intolerance from both her brother and father, as well as people in the local community.
One of the other things that made this book so interesting, was Trick's character. I loved the way he reacted to situations.
This is definitely an edge of your seat book. I kept flipping pages and it definitely tugged at my heart. I was wiping away tears at one point.
The emotions in this book are raw and you can't help but feel attached to the characters, and hooked to theur story.
This is such an incredible book. I am so pleased I read it.
I could not have been more wrong.
It was a quick read, but that wasn't due to the less than three hundred pages, it was because I didn't want to put the book down. I loved it.
The thing I loved about it most, was the innocence of Iris and how she saw things. She was so much more accepting of people, and it was really interesting to see her tolerance, even in the face of constant intolerance from both her brother and father, as well as people in the local community.
One of the other things that made this book so interesting, was Trick's character. I loved the way he reacted to situations.
This is definitely an edge of your seat book. I kept flipping pages and it definitely tugged at my heart. I was wiping away tears at one point.
The emotions in this book are raw and you can't help but feel attached to the characters, and hooked to theur story.
This is such an incredible book. I am so pleased I read it.
paulinazim96's review against another edition
Review to come. This reminds me of a book I read but can’t remember the name of 😂