Reviews

Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

ssweetrose's review against another edition

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4.0

****3.5 Or 4? not sure yet*****

Review to come

lioness20's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

misajane79's review against another edition

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3.0

There's a certain genre of historical fiction where it hits all these big themes in a way that may or may not be plausible. So, here we have an extremely diverse group of young people heading west on the Oregon Trail. Oh, and two girls are pretending to be boys in order to escape murder chargers. There is action and adventure romance and some outlaws and well. . . you get the idea.
Nothing about this should have worked, and yet it kinda did. I enjoyed Sammy's Chinese perspective. And at least everyone realized that this whole love across racial lines wasn't easy. It ended very tidily, but I can live with it since I liked the characters so much.

trisha_thomas's review against another edition

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4.0

"Maybe what matters is not so much the path as who walks beside you."

What an amazing and well told story. I didn't really know what I was getting in to. I just picked this one up for the cover - having no idea the little gem of a story hiding inside.

I couldn't help but love this family - brought together my circumstance and necessity. The moments that make you laugh, and cry and remember what all is at stake. Their strengths and weaknesses raise each other up. You can't help but love Sammy and Andy. And each "cowboy" moment with West, Peety, & Cay shows what a diverse and amazing group of boys they are.

Pick this one up. You won't regret it.

txjpjenny's review

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4.0

Another fun read. I have really enjoyed all of Stacey Lee's YA novels so far -- Downstairs Girl, Outrun the Moon, and now Under a Painted Sky. Part of that enjoyment is finding well-written historical fiction about Asian Americans! I love Stacey Lee's ability to incorporate Chinese culture into her novels, how that interacts with her American identity, touching on the experience of racism without making that the dominant subject of her story, something I resonate with in my Asian-growing-up-in-America experience. Racism is part of the story, and certainly an important part, but not the whole. Lee is a beautiful writer and a wonderful storyteller, and I appreciate learning more about the historical time periods she writes about through her Asian-American lens. I look forward to her new novel about the Titanic and hopefully more to come.

jennifermreads's review against another edition

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4.0

Sammy and Andy both have their reasons for fleeing 1849 Missouri. They set out on the Oregon Trail trying to escape their pasts and find their future. But the Trail doesn’t just bring the migrant troubles of bandits, stampedes, and dangerous weather. The girls also decide that disguising themselves as boys will provide the most safety and then they fall in with another group of travelers for the rest of the journey.

Entries in the YA western genre are few and this one is top-notch. A terrific look at migration along the Oregon Trail with a strong dose of immigrant and slave history. Sammy and Andy’s backgrounds and struggles are heartbreaking but their approach to changing their station in life is uplifting. Sammy struggles with her feeling of being followed by bad luck; Andy, while running from her own slavery, longs to find her surviving brother. The three young men they join in their travels are colorful and provide some light-hearted moments. The bit of romance that sneaks into the tale is so minor to the overall plot that I did not find myself going “why always with the romance!”

Rich in environment, culture, and immigrant, migrant, & American history, this is a not-to-be-missed tale.

momreaderh's review against another edition

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1.0

This started out really good but ended up pretty weird.

rachelle_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful tense

4.0

In this book, we follow two teen girls, disguised as young men, as they venture across the Wild West with three young cowboys. There is quite a lot of danger to the main character and her compatriots, and a lot of trauma all around in the characters’ pasts. I wouldn’t say this book sugarcoats anything. I found the romantic subplots to be a bit annoying but maybe they’re necessary since this is a YA book? 

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meks17's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

poorashleu's review against another edition

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3.0

Originally posted here

I went into Under a Painted Sky knowing just about nothing about it. All I knew as that, my friend Jen, adored it and that my friend Lauren wanted to read it for our book club. I also know that it was well talked up at ALAMW15 and that the cover is awesome. Otherwise I knew nothing. I was the Jon Snow of this book.

Under a Painted Sky did not disappoint. Under A Painted Sky is the story of Samantha, a girl who wants to be back in New York, and not in Missouri. Nothing is going right in Missouri. Missouri is wear people aren’t equal, particularly if you’re a Chinese girl who’s father just died in a fire. As soon as her father dies in the fire, Samantha trusts her landlord, who is not trustworthy..at all. He’s a vile man, and thankfully Samantha stands up for herself. But, by standing up for herself, she ultimately kills him. With the help of a runaway slave, Annamae, Samantha is able to clean up her mess and ultimately free for the Oregon Trail.

I struggled with this book, as a mood reader, I couldn’t get into the story for the longest time and that hurt, because I wanted to be into it! I wanted to love it like everyone else in my life loved it! And I did. Although it took me a bit, I did ultimately fall in love with the characters, Sam and Andy and those who they find on the road to California.

The two find out that the journey was not as simple as they expected it to me. From forks in the road, to cops on the look out, to the fact that their diversity is extremely noticeable. Sam is Chinese and Andy is African American and this added multiple layers to Under a Painted Sky. While discrimination is still something that people are fighting, it was even a bigger war in the mid-nineteenth century where a Civil War had yet to be fought. Andy gets asked for her papers, and Sam gets asked how she (he) speaks English so well, because this was not something people were used to.

Although I was hesitant to enter this world, Under A Painted Sky did not disappoint. If anything, I ended this story wanting more of it. Lately I’ve been enjoying books with strong female friendships. I understand, you are all shocked! But I have been. I love them all! And Under A Painted Sky did not disappoint in this matter. While there are romantic undertones to the novel, not once did I feel that was the main point of Under A Painted Sky. Instead the concentration was on the strong female friendship and the growth of two girls who did not have an easy life. They both have very different backgrounds, but those backgrounds make both of the characters so much stronger and the two slowly become their own family. It also did not disappoint in how well researched it was. As a librarian with a history background, I can point out what a well researched book looks like, and Under a Painted Sky is so well researched I want to hug Lee for doing due diligence and making this beautiful novel. I cannot see what she makes next.