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xan_van_rooyen's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book and it was a five star read for me right up until the last 20%.
Reasons I loved it:
1. British setting - so refreshing and quaint and beautifully written
2. Younger female MC - I really appreciated the character's innocence and how she grows over the course of the story
3. Gypsies - I'm a sucker for stories involving gypsies
4. The character dynamics - a brilliant cast of strong individuals all facing their own challenges
5. The romance - the romance was handled beautifully and age appropriately and I really adored the young couple.
Things I intensely Disliked:
1. The mother - I just don't understand how any mother could do what she did.
2. The last 20% - there is a lot of build-up and I knew something bad was going to happen but I didn't expect
3. The ending - after such an amazing, touching, gentle, beautiful story, I found that ending completely dissatisfying, that the story took a turn down a path it didn't need to go and that story would've been just as poignant and moving had it not involved.
I'd love to read more by CJ Flood, loved the prose and loved the characters, just didn't love the way the story ended.
Reasons I loved it:
1. British setting - so refreshing and quaint and beautifully written
2. Younger female MC - I really appreciated the character's innocence and how she grows over the course of the story
3. Gypsies - I'm a sucker for stories involving gypsies
4. The character dynamics - a brilliant cast of strong individuals all facing their own challenges
5. The romance - the romance was handled beautifully and age appropriately and I really adored the young couple.
Things I intensely Disliked:
1. The mother - I just don't understand how any mother could do what she did.
2. The last 20% - there is a lot of build-up and I knew something bad was going to happen but I didn't expect
Spoiler
the last quarter of the book to descended into a depressing mush that left some of the critical relationships in the story dangling without resolution. I thought the hospital and funeral scenes were dragged out to milk the reader's emotions, but instead of making me hurt/sympathise/feel for the characters, it just made me wish the story would hurry up and end the melodrama especially since Sam was a total jerk in the novel - I honestly didn't mourn his passing the way everyone in the novel did. I was total on Trick's in all this and Iris's meandering loyalties annoyed me.3. The ending - after such an amazing, touching, gentle, beautiful story, I found that ending completely dissatisfying, that the story took a turn down a path it didn't need to go and that story would've been just as poignant and moving had it not involved
Spoiler
the death of a loved one, which seemed to eclipse and undermine everything else in the storyI'd love to read more by CJ Flood, loved the prose and loved the characters, just didn't love the way the story ended.
sophiewdhs's review against another edition
3.0
A sad coming of age story, and a quick read. I like the setting and the way the story is told through Iris’ point of view. It was more devastating than I expected, yes I cried. I disliked the prejudice shown in the book of course but especially when the author gave in to this and allowed certain characters to follow stereotypes.
goldluula's review against another edition
4.0
While it was a lovely little book and I enjoyed reading about Iris's summer, it got a little bit repetitive in some places :/ I would read it again and recommend it though!
libraryofescape's review against another edition
3.0
Being a country girl born and bred, I found some aspects of this book a little irritating although it does have its charms.
Fitting snugly into the 'whimsical country life turns tragic' genre, this book is a solid debut novel.
At times, I felt as though I was reading something which I had read before. The female central character - Iris - is typical of this type of book: she is strong willed but naive; her family looks good on paper but in reality is as messed up as any inner city kids; she is a tomboy who doesn't fit in with the ordinary girls.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad read. I'm just getting rather tired of the repetitive nature of some of these stories. My upbringing was in a similar type of community to the one in which Iris is raised. Me and my siblings also grew up with cornfields, farmland and travelers on adjacent land - there was no murder, divorce, crazy parents etc in my life.
I was charmed by the tragedy and tenderness of the sibling relationship, particularly in the touching conclusion of this book although I did feel strongly that Iris was a very unrealistic 13 year old. I am a teacher - 13/14 year old girls do not think the way that Iris thinks. Her emotions, considered opinions and mature personality are well beyond her years and at time it did irritate me. I feel as though perhaps the author should have challenged herself and read an adult book.
Overall, I thought this book was touching if a little emotionally manipulative. Read it if you aren't already saturated with 'whimsical country life turns tragic' books!
Fitting snugly into the 'whimsical country life turns tragic' genre, this book is a solid debut novel.
At times, I felt as though I was reading something which I had read before. The female central character - Iris - is typical of this type of book: she is strong willed but naive; her family looks good on paper but in reality is as messed up as any inner city kids; she is a tomboy who doesn't fit in with the ordinary girls.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad read. I'm just getting rather tired of the repetitive nature of some of these stories. My upbringing was in a similar type of community to the one in which Iris is raised. Me and my siblings also grew up with cornfields, farmland and travelers on adjacent land - there was no murder, divorce, crazy parents etc in my life.
I was charmed by the tragedy and tenderness of the sibling relationship, particularly in the touching conclusion of this book although I did feel strongly that Iris was a very unrealistic 13 year old. I am a teacher - 13/14 year old girls do not think the way that Iris thinks. Her emotions, considered opinions and mature personality are well beyond her years and at time it did irritate me. I feel as though perhaps the author should have challenged herself and read an adult book.
Overall, I thought this book was touching if a little emotionally manipulative. Read it if you aren't already saturated with 'whimsical country life turns tragic' books!
serendipity_viv's review against another edition
4.0
This was originally posted on www.serendipityreviews.co.uk
Sometimes a book touches your soul enough to leave a wound. This is one of those books. A poignant, heart breaking tale that jolts one carefree child instantly in the world of adulthood, leaving her childhood in tatters, engulfing her in pain, like she has never experienced before. The main character Iris is young for her age, but by the time the book reaches the end she has grown emotionally beyond her years.
This book should come with hankies because the as the story unfolds the sadness weeps out of the pages. An unfortunate accident, a game of misadventure entwined to create a tale of tears.
Iris lives an idyllic life on a farmland where she can happily watch the seasons come and go as the harvests appear and disappear. Her life is fine until her mother decides she needs freedom – freedom to be herself and not belong to anyone else. Without another care or worry, she leaves Iris, her dad and her brother to fend for themselves and they are just about managing to cope, walking that very thin line before falling in chaos. The situation goes from bad to worse when the gypsies move into the paddock field. Her father is about to reach boiling point, her brother has stepped onto the wrong wayward path, with no way of finding his original route and Iris, well Iris has fallen for the kind, gorgeous gypsy boy against her father’s wishes.
The gorgeous friendship that grows between Iris and Trick, is innocent and yet meaningful. It has a Romeo and Juliet feel to it, as it obvious from the start that neither set of parents would approve. Yet they enjoy each other’s company and want to spend time together. They were not to know what would happen in the near future.
As the story progresses, their lives spiral out of control and things come to a head. The situation could have been stopped, but no one was watching for the signs, all too busy surviving their own problems.
I was completely caught up in the emotion and drama of this tale. Reminiscent of Annabel Pitcher’s novel’ Ketchup Clouds’ and Celia Rees ‘This Is Not Forgiveness’. Don’t expect to leave this book without tears and don’t expect to walk away unscarred. This will leave a memory in your mind for weeks to come. A stunning debut that blends the cruelties of life with fiction.
Sometimes a book touches your soul enough to leave a wound. This is one of those books. A poignant, heart breaking tale that jolts one carefree child instantly in the world of adulthood, leaving her childhood in tatters, engulfing her in pain, like she has never experienced before. The main character Iris is young for her age, but by the time the book reaches the end she has grown emotionally beyond her years.
This book should come with hankies because the as the story unfolds the sadness weeps out of the pages. An unfortunate accident, a game of misadventure entwined to create a tale of tears.
Iris lives an idyllic life on a farmland where she can happily watch the seasons come and go as the harvests appear and disappear. Her life is fine until her mother decides she needs freedom – freedom to be herself and not belong to anyone else. Without another care or worry, she leaves Iris, her dad and her brother to fend for themselves and they are just about managing to cope, walking that very thin line before falling in chaos. The situation goes from bad to worse when the gypsies move into the paddock field. Her father is about to reach boiling point, her brother has stepped onto the wrong wayward path, with no way of finding his original route and Iris, well Iris has fallen for the kind, gorgeous gypsy boy against her father’s wishes.
The gorgeous friendship that grows between Iris and Trick, is innocent and yet meaningful. It has a Romeo and Juliet feel to it, as it obvious from the start that neither set of parents would approve. Yet they enjoy each other’s company and want to spend time together. They were not to know what would happen in the near future.
As the story progresses, their lives spiral out of control and things come to a head. The situation could have been stopped, but no one was watching for the signs, all too busy surviving their own problems.
I was completely caught up in the emotion and drama of this tale. Reminiscent of Annabel Pitcher’s novel’ Ketchup Clouds’ and Celia Rees ‘This Is Not Forgiveness’. Don’t expect to leave this book without tears and don’t expect to walk away unscarred. This will leave a memory in your mind for weeks to come. A stunning debut that blends the cruelties of life with fiction.
e_mull's review against another edition
4.0
Here's a link to my blog, An Abundance of Novels , for more reviews.
I had heard so much about Infinite Sky from numerous different booktubers, so I was delighted when I managed to pick up a copy up from the library. In her novel, Flood deals with Irish travellers in a very unusual way. As the story begins travellers move into the field beside beside our protagonist Iris’ house, just as her mother moves away, and her life is never the same again.
One of the strongest and most interesting aspects of the novel is the broad range of characters presented by Flood. None of the characters conform to our preconceived ideas of these characters. Iris is a pretty unique protagonist. I would consider this a YA novel, but Iris is not the typical age of a YA protagonist. Iris is about fourteen or fifteen, and she greatly reminded me of Melon, the protagonist in Red Ink by Julie Mayhew. Except that Iris is a bit of a flat character, without the individuality and unique voice that made me love Melon
The book begins with the excellent premise that someone Iris loves is going to be killed by someone else she loves. Now I don’t know about you, but this was enough to hook me. This prologue kept me intrigued all the way thought the book until the actual event, even if I had figured out what would happen long before it did. Conversely, I’m not sure if the plot would have been enough to hold my attention without this bombshell at the beginning. It kind of moseys along before picking up right before the very end, so I’m glad I stuck it out, but I can’t help but feel that Flood told us the end to keep us interested, you know… like the way the do in Revenge.
The plot of this novel reflects real life as there is undeniable and destructive tension between Iris’ family and the travellers that move into the field beside their house. The travellers do not live up to society’s expectations of them, and turn out to be pretty decent people. More decent, in fact, than Iris’ own family. As Iris’ friendship with Trick grows , she becomes more and more torn between her loyalty to and love for her family and her disgust for their actions. Iris is so young and it was quite painful to watch her agonise over this very serious issue that no young girl should have to deal with.
Travellers are presented in quite an open minded and unbiased way in this novel. As I sort of grew up with travellers and went to school with quite a few I was extremely familiar with traveller culture, so while the way travellers are presented in the novel is different to the way they usually are in the media, I wasn’t too surprised. I imagine it would be a hugely enlightening read if you were unfamiliar with traveler culture , and it will definitely open your mind to this group of people.
There are a few interesting characters in this novel including Sam, Iris’ brother , Iris’ mother and Iris’ best friend (Mattie? I think, I’m going to go with Mattie, I didn’t write her name in my notes and it’s been a while… ). Sam is definitely an interesting character, but not a likeable character. He had the potential to be likeable, when Iris reminisces back to the time before her mother left we see glimpses of a much better Sam. He is definitely the most complex character and my feelings for him fluctuated between feeling sorry for him and being truly aggravated by him. Iris’ mother is also pretty interesting. To me, she embodies the debate whether or not a parent’s primary responsibility is to their children, and how much can parents let a broken marriage affect the children of the relationship. Iris’ best friend Mattie (correct me if I’m wrong) is a massive pain in the ass, and reminded me of Chick from Red Ink ( again ), so watch out for her.
Overall this was a pretty solid novel and it was no chore to read it. Objectively it was really good, but for some reason it didn’t click with me. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who who enjoys YA contemporary with a bit of bite and doesn’t mind shedding a few tears.
Objectively : Four Stars ****
Personally : Three and a half stars
Here's a link to my blog, An Abundance of Novels , for more reviews.
I had heard so much about Infinite Sky from numerous different booktubers, so I was delighted when I managed to pick up a copy up from the library. In her novel, Flood deals with Irish travellers in a very unusual way. As the story begins travellers move into the field beside beside our protagonist Iris’ house, just as her mother moves away, and her life is never the same again.
One of the strongest and most interesting aspects of the novel is the broad range of characters presented by Flood. None of the characters conform to our preconceived ideas of these characters. Iris is a pretty unique protagonist. I would consider this a YA novel, but Iris is not the typical age of a YA protagonist. Iris is about fourteen or fifteen, and she greatly reminded me of Melon, the protagonist in Red Ink by Julie Mayhew. Except that Iris is a bit of a flat character, without the individuality and unique voice that made me love Melon
The book begins with the excellent premise that someone Iris loves is going to be killed by someone else she loves. Now I don’t know about you, but this was enough to hook me. This prologue kept me intrigued all the way thought the book until the actual event, even if I had figured out what would happen long before it did. Conversely, I’m not sure if the plot would have been enough to hold my attention without this bombshell at the beginning. It kind of moseys along before picking up right before the very end, so I’m glad I stuck it out, but I can’t help but feel that Flood told us the end to keep us interested, you know… like the way the do in Revenge.
The plot of this novel reflects real life as there is undeniable and destructive tension between Iris’ family and the travellers that move into the field beside their house. The travellers do not live up to society’s expectations of them, and turn out to be pretty decent people. More decent, in fact, than Iris’ own family. As Iris’ friendship with Trick grows , she becomes more and more torn between her loyalty to and love for her family and her disgust for their actions. Iris is so young and it was quite painful to watch her agonise over this very serious issue that no young girl should have to deal with.
Travellers are presented in quite an open minded and unbiased way in this novel. As I sort of grew up with travellers and went to school with quite a few I was extremely familiar with traveller culture, so while the way travellers are presented in the novel is different to the way they usually are in the media, I wasn’t too surprised. I imagine it would be a hugely enlightening read if you were unfamiliar with traveler culture , and it will definitely open your mind to this group of people.
There are a few interesting characters in this novel including Sam, Iris’ brother , Iris’ mother and Iris’ best friend (Mattie? I think, I’m going to go with Mattie, I didn’t write her name in my notes and it’s been a while… ). Sam is definitely an interesting character, but not a likeable character. He had the potential to be likeable, when Iris reminisces back to the time before her mother left we see glimpses of a much better Sam. He is definitely the most complex character and my feelings for him fluctuated between feeling sorry for him and being truly aggravated by him. Iris’ mother is also pretty interesting. To me, she embodies the debate whether or not a parent’s primary responsibility is to their children, and how much can parents let a broken marriage affect the children of the relationship. Iris’ best friend Mattie (correct me if I’m wrong) is a massive pain in the ass, and reminded me of Chick from Red Ink ( again ), so watch out for her.
Overall this was a pretty solid novel and it was no chore to read it. Objectively it was really good, but for some reason it didn’t click with me. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who who enjoys YA contemporary with a bit of bite and doesn’t mind shedding a few tears.
Objectively : Four Stars ****
Personally : Three and a half stars
Here's a link to my blog, An Abundance of Novels , for more reviews.
tigerlilliereads's review against another edition
4.0
I would give this about a three and half stars. At first I wasn't sure about this book and I felt the characters ages didn't match them very well. The book was beautifully written but it was very difficult for me to read personally. This book is not really a happy one, so don't pick it up if that's what your looking for. I enjoyed the book but there were parts that annoyed me and the characters ages just made the story for me not feel right. I would recommend for people who like coming of age books or ones that are powerfully written.
vaniushka's review against another edition
4.0
I was gladly surprised with this book, not really what I expected when I first got the book (because of the cover, shame on me). The story reminded me of Kevin Brooks' "Lucas", the ending was the result of a series of truly unfortunate and regretful events, it was very sad.
Yes, this book may be under the YA category, yes the main character is 13 years old but she lives through a lot of life-changing situations and goes through a lot of personal growth.
I highly recommend this book.
Yes, this book may be under the YA category, yes the main character is 13 years old but she lives through a lot of life-changing situations and goes through a lot of personal growth.
I highly recommend this book.
amywiley's review against another edition
2.0
SPOILERS!
This book was quite boring and didn't stand out to me much but the blurb was interesting and I wondered if it was the type of book that would draw me in.
For the first half of the book I loved the story and characters, but then obviously events happened (that were well established and paced well) but then the funeral happened and I felt it went too fast and didn't have enough emotion, I recently lost a loved one and attended and spoke at his funeral so this is were my disliking of the book started.
This book was quite boring and didn't stand out to me much but the blurb was interesting and I wondered if it was the type of book that would draw me in.
For the first half of the book I loved the story and characters, but then obviously events happened (that were well established and paced well) but then the funeral happened and I felt it went too fast and didn't have enough emotion, I recently lost a loved one and attended and spoke at his funeral so this is were my disliking of the book started.