Book Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Oh. My. God. The Sky is Everywhere has been one of my favorites for two years now, but I never had the courage to review it. Simply put, this novel is just too good to review. When every single word of the book has been groomed to perfection, it’s kind of scary to write a review for it.

Here. Goes. Nothing.

In The Sky is Everywhere, Lennie Walker must face the consequences of her sister’s death. Having spent her whole life under the shadow of her “better” sister, she must now take the stage and be herself. Add in a gorgeous new trumpet-playing boy and her sister’s past boyfriend, and you’ve got tons of romance. Lennie’s got a lot of choices to make. Will she finally be able to become her own person?

What I love about The Sky is Everywhere is the poetic feel through the book. Every chapter begins with a poem. The writing throughout the novel seems poetic. You can tell Jandy Nelson is a poet just by the way Lennie talks. It’s glorious. It’s marvelous. It makes you laugh because poetry is just so much fun, especially the way it connects Joe and Lennie.

Joe. Oh my God, he is a god. As in I want to bring him to life so I can have a Joe of my own. He’s passionate, serious, beautiful, understanding, smart and musical. What I love most about him is the way he understands Lennie. He’s real and smart and perfect. Honestly, he treats Lennie so well, and oh God, I’m getting jealous over the protagonist of the whole novel….

Kill me now.

Lennie is relatable. We all experience that feeling of being worse than someone. She’s that sister that’s second chair clarinet. She’s the one that is less known. But she also is a warrior. She’s strong, but it takes her a bit to realize that. What I love about Lennie is that she develops into the independent 21st century teenager that she is. Her transformation is real and realistic, unlike those of many YA characters.

As for the story itself, let’s just say it’s pretty awesome at the least. Jandy Nelson ties up all the knots, if you know what I mean. She goes full circle with all the poetry. Every single moment is used up, and I love the efficiency of the whole novel. Honestly, if she weren’t a poet, I’d tell Jandy Nelson to be an engineer.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Publisher: Dial (March 9, 2010)

Length: 288 pages (Hardcover)

Genre: Poetry, YA, Contemporary, Romance

ISBN Number: 9780803734951

Valerie Zhang

Valerie is sixteen. She attends a boarding school near Boston, where she writes, reads, and attempts to be a studious student. She's too lazy to write the rest of this bio, so follow her on Twitter @torquoiseworld because shameless self-promotion is alive and thriving!