Blog Tour: The Sky is Mine

Today, I’m honoured to be taking part in the blog tour for The Sky is Mine. Thank you so much to Rock the Boat for including me and sending me a copy of this brilliant, powerful and timely book in exchange for an honest review.

This tour is inspired by Desert Island Discs, honouring Issy’s obsession with the show, so every day Amy has picked a song and description. So my song is Coat of Many Colours by Dolly Parton, which I must admit I’d never heard before this tour but now it’s on my daily playlist!

Coat of Many Colors ~ Dolly Parton

Oh, Dolly! How to pick just one from so much brilliance? Every song is a tale. If I was stranded, her songs would not only give me music but story too. And memories. This track is powerful for Dolly’s refusal to be shamed. She rallied us, my friend Laura and me, in France, that summer of ’93, when we were fourteen and fuelled-by-Dolly fierce. Fierce with boys, or at least our fantasies of them. Fierce in our diaries, about ourselves and sometimes each other. Fierce in our books, which were Hollywood and incestuous. And fierce in our friendship, which was as long and playful as our French summers when, yes, there were thunderstorms too. Dolly Parton’s childlike yet soulful voice soundtracked that summer and injected sweetness into even the most thunderous of summer loves.

Trigger warnings: discussions of rape, coercive behaviour, domestic violence, sexual abuse, physical abuse and abortion

Synopsis:

No one has ever asked Izzy what she wants. She’s about to change all that…

In a house adept at sweeping problems under the carpet, seventeen-year-old Izzy feels silenced. As her safety grows uncertain, Izzy know three things for sure. She knows not to tell her mother that Jacob Mansfield has been threatening to spread those kinds of photos around college. She knows to quiet the grief that she’s been abandoned by her best friend Grace. And, seeing her mother conceal the truth of her stepdad’s control, Izzy also knows not to mention how her heart splinters and her stomach churns whenever he enters a room.

When the flimsy fabric of their life starts to unravel, Izzy and her mum must find their way out of the silence and use the power in their voices to rediscover their worth.

My Thoughts:

I loved this visceral, gut-wrenching book and will be recommending it to everyone I know. At its core, the story is about finding and reclaiming your own voice and that’s something that everyone should listen to.

This is a hard but powerful read, examining rape culture and domestic abuse. The issues discussed are handled with the utmost care. The publishers even got the sexual health and wellbeing charity Brook to do a sensitivity read, which is a really good thing to hear about. The dialogue it opens about coercion, consent and control is sorely needed and honestly, I think every young person should read it. One character dismisses a lot of abuse as just being ‘banter’ and sadly, I’ve seen this attitude reflected so many times with people that I know.

Beashel is a shining new voice in YA, with brilliant dialogue and character craft. I emphasised so much with Izzy and her lack of confidence, which is exploited and used to trample on her. The long-term effects of containing abuse are examined so well here with both Izzy and her mum. Watching both of them realise their own inner strength was so empowering, considering the heart-breaking darker moments earlier in the book.  The writing style was so accessible and different for me, making me fly through the pages.

Honestly, all I can do is implore you to read this fantastic, insightful book and I know I’ll be shouting about it for a while to come.

Thank you again to Rock the Boat for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review and please check out the other amazing posts on this blog tour!