Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
This book had a lot of pros and cons.
I liked the idea of the story but it was written in a way that didn't seem very realistic.
I didn't feel like crying at all because I didn't feel connected with the characters and many parts of the book left me feeling frustrated.
It was ok but I feel that it could be edited to be much better.
I liked the idea of the story but it was written in a way that didn't seem very realistic.
I didn't feel like crying at all because I didn't feel connected with the characters and many parts of the book left me feeling frustrated.
It was ok but I feel that it could be edited to be much better.
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Y’all, I don’t even know. This book was kind of good and also annoyed the living heck out of me.
Sky and River are two teenagers who live on an uncharted island in the Pacific, where they and their respective parental figures crashed and apparently everyone else but the four of them died. Helmut and Petal (River’s dad and Sky’s mom) renamed them and taught them to take care of themselves, and they’re living a life of simple isolation. Then the parents die and it’s a little shady, and they get rescued.
So Sky goes back to California, where everyone calls her Megan and tries to teach her what cars and TV are and she doesn’t care. That goes about as well as you’d expect because Sky just wants to find River and go back to the island. Sky isn’t interested in the shallow pursuits of modern society like television, she doesn’t understand why people lie to one another, and no one will tell her what’s going on because they’re afraid she’ll have a meltdown. Because Sky is unhappy for 95% of the book, and it doesn’t get better, one really wonders what we’re supposed to have learned here. Modern society is shallow? Okay, we already knew that. There’s this whole subplot about how Helmut was a cult leader who poisoned a bunch of his followers by having River feed them poisoned apples (channeling his inner Snow White’s evil stepmother) and that he probably took the poisonous mushrooms on purpose, thereby killing himself and Petal, but River was suspicious and didn’t let Sky or himself eat them, so they didn’t die. Now everyone thinks River is a murderer even though he was like FOUR when that happened, and he’s gone into hiding from the paparazzi, and is living like a hobo on the beach.
The plot, as you can tell, is kind of a mess but the style was what really irritated me more than anything else. Sky refers to everything as a proper noun and I swear, it was like she was about to burst out into song like Pocahontas and start singing about the riverbend. The ocean is “Ocean” as in “I walked to Ocean” or “I missed Ocean.” I get that the author was going for a “Sky is one with nature” thing but it didn’t work and every time she referred to Ocean, Beach, Bathroom Tree, etc. I just wanted to shake her. It took me out of the story a bunch of times, though it seems small, because it just read like the author was trying too hard to make this novel poignant and thoughtful.
The other thing is the ship. (Like the romantic ship, not the ship that rescues them.) River/Lucas pretty much disappears once they get to California, and no one will let Sky/Megan see him. Sky isn’t searching for herself; she’s searching for LUCAS, so the title is also just alliterating for no reason. (Sky knows exactly who she is, so it’s also not referring to any kind of self-discovery because Sky takes no crap.) But anyway, Sky wants River back and eventually she finds him and they decide to try to go back to their island.
So to sum up: Searching for Sky is pretty weird, the writing bugged me, and then the book is over and I’m depressed and so is Sky.
This review for "Searching for Sky" first appeared on StarlightBookReviews.com.
Sky and River are two teenagers who live on an uncharted island in the Pacific, where they and their respective parental figures crashed and apparently everyone else but the four of them died. Helmut and Petal (River’s dad and Sky’s mom) renamed them and taught them to take care of themselves, and they’re living a life of simple isolation. Then the parents die and it’s a little shady, and they get rescued.
So Sky goes back to California, where everyone calls her Megan and tries to teach her what cars and TV are and she doesn’t care. That goes about as well as you’d expect because Sky just wants to find River and go back to the island. Sky isn’t interested in the shallow pursuits of modern society like television, she doesn’t understand why people lie to one another, and no one will tell her what’s going on because they’re afraid she’ll have a meltdown. Because Sky is unhappy for 95% of the book, and it doesn’t get better, one really wonders what we’re supposed to have learned here. Modern society is shallow? Okay, we already knew that. There’s this whole subplot about how Helmut was a cult leader who poisoned a bunch of his followers by having River feed them poisoned apples (channeling his inner Snow White’s evil stepmother) and that he probably took the poisonous mushrooms on purpose, thereby killing himself and Petal, but River was suspicious and didn’t let Sky or himself eat them, so they didn’t die. Now everyone thinks River is a murderer even though he was like FOUR when that happened, and he’s gone into hiding from the paparazzi, and is living like a hobo on the beach.
The plot, as you can tell, is kind of a mess but the style was what really irritated me more than anything else. Sky refers to everything as a proper noun and I swear, it was like she was about to burst out into song like Pocahontas and start singing about the riverbend. The ocean is “Ocean” as in “I walked to Ocean” or “I missed Ocean.” I get that the author was going for a “Sky is one with nature” thing but it didn’t work and every time she referred to Ocean, Beach, Bathroom Tree, etc. I just wanted to shake her. It took me out of the story a bunch of times, though it seems small, because it just read like the author was trying too hard to make this novel poignant and thoughtful.
The other thing is the ship. (Like the romantic ship, not the ship that rescues them.) River/Lucas pretty much disappears once they get to California, and no one will let Sky/Megan see him. Sky isn’t searching for herself; she’s searching for LUCAS, so the title is also just alliterating for no reason. (Sky knows exactly who she is, so it’s also not referring to any kind of self-discovery because Sky takes no crap.) But anyway, Sky wants River back and eventually she finds him and they decide to try to go back to their island.
Spoiler
And then the author freaking kills River/Lucas off, and you find out that the sweet neighbor Sky/Megan has been hanging out with was getting paid by her grandmother to teach her how to be a teenager, and since I wasn’t really shipping them anyway, I didn’t even CARE. Cantor blew a death cannonball right through my ship and now Sky/Megan has to stay in California and learn to use forks and it is just pretty darn depressing.So to sum up: Searching for Sky is pretty weird, the writing bugged me,
Spoiler
Cantor sinks the sweetest, most innocent little ship in the world,This review for "Searching for Sky" first appeared on StarlightBookReviews.com.
Read reviews, see awesome GIFS and see my rambling thoughts at my blog, The Loony Teen Writer
The voice in this book is absolutely amazing. Sky’s confusion at the new world, her complete “other-ness,” is shown through her frightening experience of California. It was like a much more negative Enchanted.
We have Sky, falling headfirst into California, leaving behind everything she’s ever known. She can’t wrap her head around everything. A handbag is a “rabbit pelt container.” A car is a “cave.” Her grandmother is “the grandmother woman.” I believed her story because it was so vividly and truthfully told.
The best thing when reading, for me, is when I’m completely invested in a character’s story, and sympathising with them. And Sky is a character who’s easy to feel sympathy for – I could not even imagine the kind of upheaval she experienced, and the heartache she felt at losing River. The ideas that turned out to be completely wrong.
So that’s the sad part about this book. I didn’t cry because I very rarely cry at books, but still – it is sad. It is very sad. Sad that Sky doesn’t belong, that she’s lost River, that everyone expects her to be someone she’s not.
It’s such an interesting and unique novel. I’m amazed Sky didn’t start trying to kill animals for food, really.
Instead, she’s forced to conform, to play by California’s rules. It really annoyed me how nobody wanted to call her “Sky,” because that’s not her real name. They were not helpful at all in her process of getting used to society. That made me so angry at them. I really did like Ben, though, the guy who lived next door to Sky’s grandma. He was sweet and let Sky be herself.
Throughout this book, I couldn’t help but think that even though this is fiction, the same thing has happened so many times. Maybe not like this, but culture clashes are so real, and this was a really amazing reflection of that, I think.
The writing is simple but beautiful, and there are a bunch of quotes that I read a few times over.
If you enjoy stories about belonging, stories that will break your heart, or stories that are unique in their concept and voice. Sky is a narrator you won’t forget.
The voice in this book is absolutely amazing. Sky’s confusion at the new world, her complete “other-ness,” is shown through her frightening experience of California. It was like a much more negative Enchanted.
We have Sky, falling headfirst into California, leaving behind everything she’s ever known. She can’t wrap her head around everything. A handbag is a “rabbit pelt container.” A car is a “cave.” Her grandmother is “the grandmother woman.” I believed her story because it was so vividly and truthfully told.
The best thing when reading, for me, is when I’m completely invested in a character’s story, and sympathising with them. And Sky is a character who’s easy to feel sympathy for – I could not even imagine the kind of upheaval she experienced, and the heartache she felt at losing River. The ideas that turned out to be completely wrong.
So that’s the sad part about this book. I didn’t cry because I very rarely cry at books, but still – it is sad. It is very sad. Sad that Sky doesn’t belong, that she’s lost River, that everyone expects her to be someone she’s not.
It’s such an interesting and unique novel. I’m amazed Sky didn’t start trying to kill animals for food, really.
Instead, she’s forced to conform, to play by California’s rules. It really annoyed me how nobody wanted to call her “Sky,” because that’s not her real name. They were not helpful at all in her process of getting used to society. That made me so angry at them. I really did like Ben, though, the guy who lived next door to Sky’s grandma. He was sweet and let Sky be herself.
Throughout this book, I couldn’t help but think that even though this is fiction, the same thing has happened so many times. Maybe not like this, but culture clashes are so real, and this was a really amazing reflection of that, I think.
The writing is simple but beautiful, and there are a bunch of quotes that I read a few times over.
If you enjoy stories about belonging, stories that will break your heart, or stories that are unique in their concept and voice. Sky is a narrator you won’t forget.
Originally published at http://abooksofathomless.blogspot.com.au/
This was sent to us by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Searching for Sky is described as being a ‘reverse dystopian’, personally I think it’s more of a reverse survival story. Sky and River have lived on ‘Island’ for most of their lives, but one day they are rescued and taken back home, to California. From there, Sky has to learn to survive everything her new life throws at her.
The moment I heard about this book I was incredibly excited to read it. The premise of it sounds amazing and it’s so incredibly unique- I definitely was not disappointed by it. I loved both Sky and River (and Ben!). I think the thing I liked most about the book was seeing how Sky coped with her new life. It was really interesting to see her learn about things that we often take for granted, like the internet and iPods, but also the more basic things like reading and proper beds. It was amazing to see what somehow who had grown up without all those things thought about them. I especially loved seeing the difference between Sky and River’s experiences in California.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve sorted of conditioned myself to expect romance in every YA book I read, and don’t get me wrong, there’s some romance in here but that’s not what the book is about. The book is really about survival, and I think because it’s not in the typical ‘deserted island’ type of way, the book is even more meaningful. I’m sure, like me, you probably have been stranded on an island recently but Searching for Sky still has that sense of familiarity. I was able to connect to Sky because there have definitely been moments where I’ve felt a little bit different or haven’t understood something that others have. It’s also about finding yourself (yes, the title does make sense) and learning to trust yourself and others, this is sometimes left out of YA but I definitely think it’s a very important message. It’s a very beautiful story, and that there are definitely things to be learnt from it. Briefly, back onto the romance part. I was sort of expecting a bit of a love-triangle direction, and I don’t mean to spoil anything but I think this is important. It is definitely NOT a love-triangle, which is incredibly refreshing for YA, is it not? I can’t even explain how relieved I was that this differed from that.
So, I suggest that you go out and buy this book, or put it on hold at the library or something. I would recommend it highly to everyone, and it’s definitely one YA book that you don’t want to miss.
Thanks again to the lovely people at Bloomsbury for giving us a chance to review this book.
This was sent to us by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Searching for Sky is described as being a ‘reverse dystopian’, personally I think it’s more of a reverse survival story. Sky and River have lived on ‘Island’ for most of their lives, but one day they are rescued and taken back home, to California. From there, Sky has to learn to survive everything her new life throws at her.
The moment I heard about this book I was incredibly excited to read it. The premise of it sounds amazing and it’s so incredibly unique- I definitely was not disappointed by it. I loved both Sky and River (and Ben!). I think the thing I liked most about the book was seeing how Sky coped with her new life. It was really interesting to see her learn about things that we often take for granted, like the internet and iPods, but also the more basic things like reading and proper beds. It was amazing to see what somehow who had grown up without all those things thought about them. I especially loved seeing the difference between Sky and River’s experiences in California.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve sorted of conditioned myself to expect romance in every YA book I read, and don’t get me wrong, there’s some romance in here but that’s not what the book is about. The book is really about survival, and I think because it’s not in the typical ‘deserted island’ type of way, the book is even more meaningful. I’m sure, like me, you probably have been stranded on an island recently but Searching for Sky still has that sense of familiarity. I was able to connect to Sky because there have definitely been moments where I’ve felt a little bit different or haven’t understood something that others have. It’s also about finding yourself (yes, the title does make sense) and learning to trust yourself and others, this is sometimes left out of YA but I definitely think it’s a very important message. It’s a very beautiful story, and that there are definitely things to be learnt from it. Briefly, back onto the romance part. I was sort of expecting a bit of a love-triangle direction, and I don’t mean to spoil anything but I think this is important. It is definitely NOT a love-triangle, which is incredibly refreshing for YA, is it not? I can’t even explain how relieved I was that this differed from that.
So, I suggest that you go out and buy this book, or put it on hold at the library or something. I would recommend it highly to everyone, and it’s definitely one YA book that you don’t want to miss.
Thanks again to the lovely people at Bloomsbury for giving us a chance to review this book.
This novel is very clever, not just in what it says and how it says it, but what it leaves unsaid. As a reader, you examine the gaps in Sky's story, and come to your own conclusions--which makes the eventual reveal at the ending more powerful. Sky is a wonderfully built character and her response to her complex situation is masterfuly written. Ther could have been further development, but in many ways I liked the spaces Cantor leaver for us to decipher. An engaging story of friendship, belief, trust, and new beginnings.
Grade: B
This e-galley was provided by NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Sky and River have always lived on Island, the only world they’ve ever known. Until the day River spots a boat. Across Ocean, in a place called California, Sky is separated from River and forced to live with a grandmother she’s just met. Here the rules for survival are different. People rely on strange things like cars and cell phones. They keep secrets from one another. And without River, nothing makes sense. Sky yearns for her old life where she was strong and capable, not lost and confused. She must find River so they can return to Island, but the truth behind how they ended up there in the first place will come as the biggest shock of all.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Searching for Sky was definitely interesting. The narrative and words used were very simple, which I think fit the story very well. However, were it not for some of the subject matter touched on and the age of Sky, this would almost be a better middle grade book.
The title fits very well because this book is very much about Sky finding herself. She has to learn about her former life (although she was only in California for about 2 years prior to Island), and who her parents and Helmut were, and about everything in the United States. River was an interesting character, and I felt his story was handled well. I really enjoyed Ben, and I do think Sky's grandmother meant well, although she was a bit stereotypical in ways. I enjoyed how certain things were revealed, and it was interesting how much trouble Sky had settling into her new life in California. I almost would've liked to learn more about Helmut and what he created, and I wanted to see more of Sky's life in California once she actually seemed to settle in at the end. Open endings have been popular lately, and I'm not always a fan of them.
There's some mild language (the s-word is used maybe half a dozen times), but that's the worst of objectionable content.
The Verdict: An interesting read that's definitely worth a try.
This e-galley was provided by NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Sky and River have always lived on Island, the only world they’ve ever known. Until the day River spots a boat. Across Ocean, in a place called California, Sky is separated from River and forced to live with a grandmother she’s just met. Here the rules for survival are different. People rely on strange things like cars and cell phones. They keep secrets from one another. And without River, nothing makes sense. Sky yearns for her old life where she was strong and capable, not lost and confused. She must find River so they can return to Island, but the truth behind how they ended up there in the first place will come as the biggest shock of all.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Searching for Sky was definitely interesting. The narrative and words used were very simple, which I think fit the story very well. However, were it not for some of the subject matter touched on and the age of Sky, this would almost be a better middle grade book.
The title fits very well because this book is very much about Sky finding herself. She has to learn about her former life (although she was only in California for about 2 years prior to Island), and who her parents and Helmut were, and about everything in the United States. River was an interesting character, and I felt his story was handled well. I really enjoyed Ben, and I do think Sky's grandmother meant well, although she was a bit stereotypical in ways. I enjoyed how certain things were revealed, and it was interesting how much trouble Sky had settling into her new life in California. I almost would've liked to learn more about Helmut and what he created, and I wanted to see more of Sky's life in California once she actually seemed to settle in at the end. Open endings have been popular lately, and I'm not always a fan of them.
There's some mild language (the s-word is used maybe half a dozen times), but that's the worst of objectionable content.
The Verdict: An interesting read that's definitely worth a try.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. Between Sky's attitude and fixation on River and Grandmother I wanted to slap them both. Mostly the Grandmother - She really thought is was a good idea to give a bunch of cash to a kid (I know 18 but still a kid) who has lived on an island away from civilization since he was 4 and tell him to go away? The media was driving her nuts how did she expect River to handle it? And he is famous for helping his father poison his cult as a small child? Head in a sand a bit there. She also seamed more concerned about how Helmut might have abused Sky rather than helping her adjust. This all means I wanted to shake the grandmother even as I wanted Sky to stop fixating on River let go. I just wish the adults in this story acted more like grown ups than they did.
I like the idea of the two teens growing up on Island and being rescued. I had trouble believing the life Sky lived in California--she seemed to know more than she should have since she grew up on Island. Perhaps this is more a struggle of writing than the plot, as the author must tell the story. I struggled with this.
I do think teens would like the story with it's utopian island and cult connection.
I do think teens would like the story with it's utopian island and cult connection.