“Each time someone dies, a library burns.” I have always believed that the most depressed minds think the creative-est. Cause they feel everything ten times amplified as if their sensory devices are cranked up to the max and they are very sensitive towards eveything. They draw sarcastic humour from the drama that is their life or just fade into nothingness (read suicidal tendencies)Take Jimi Hendrix.Or Kurt Cobain.Or Alexander McQueen.Or Georgia Nicholson (Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging).Yeah, she's always living beyond the valley of despair cause of her 'boy troubles' and she's bloody hilarious.Or take Lennon Walker in this case.Lennie (named after the legendary John Lennon) is devastated here cos her elder sister (half-sister?) Bailey, just dies one day.She's developed the Cosmic Horn (having hots for (almost) all guys in the world) and starts to have the urge to make out with someone or something all the time. Grief Sex. That's what her bestie Sarah (badass goth chick) tells her.Got an Obsessive Compulsive habit of scribbling random notes always related to her dear dead sister and leaving them in the oddest places- notes scribbled on candy wrapper, on take-away cups, on paper napkin in a deli,on the walls of her school's bathrooms,on the soles of her shoes, notes tucked beneath a rock....“There once was a girl who found herself dead. She peered over the ledge of heaven and saw that back on earth her sister missed her too much, was way too sad, so she crossed some paths that would not have crossed, took some moments in her hand shook them up and spilled them like dice over the living world. It worked. The boy with the guitar collided with her sister. "There you go, Len," she whispered. "The rest is up to you.” I really love the concept of Lennie writing random things about her sister and their life together and leaving the notes everywhere cause her's is a grief that doesn't dare speak (it's the most creatively sweet thought i have ever encountered) And how Joe's the person who has been collecting them and meanwhile falling in love with her.She's always looked upto Bailey for direction, been like a side-kick to her super hero, a pony to her race horse,had a bond so strong that no force(not even Death) could not break it.She's sad,confused,lost ,depressed. More than her Gram (the Garden Guru) or her Uncle Big (Modern day Casanova- invites women to lunches whose dresses fall off as quickly as leaves from a tree) or definitely her mother with a serious wanderlust who ran away (or better put, ran towards) when Lennie was a year old.The only one who resonates Lennie's grief with an equal intensity is Toby, Bailey's boyfriend.So at some emotional level, these two connect.Their relationship is crazed,almost bordering on addiction, as if they need each other to breathe. "The only time when I don't almost die missing her is when i am with you"- Toby Shaw.Of course Lennie feels ashamed.Guilty.Of what she's been doing with her dead sister's boyfriend.Swears every time that it's not going to happen again.But runs back to him every time and he as always meets her halfway. In short, sweet, innocent Lennie is transforming into a sex-crazed nympho.And then comes Joe Fontaine from Paree,the musical prodigy,the boy through whose veins light pulses instead of blood, who's on an overdose of glee pills. Who makes her forget her pain.She keeps shuttling between Joe and Toby,the former being the only guy she's ever fallen in love with, who makes her smile even on the most soulless days, whereas the latter seems to be an obligation. Cause she knows what their loss feels like..she can't simply abandon him.(Don't confuse her to be two-timing although that's what she's doing. I totally understand what a mess she's become despite (thank God!) not "been there, done that")And then while cleaning up their bedroom (Bailey's and Lennie's) christened the Sanctum, she comes across Bailey's secret which sets her off on a quest of her own.Now hopping onto the characters, Lennie comes from a hilariously dysfunctional family- Grandmother for a serious shine for hard core gardening (she grows these awesome roses which are rumoured to make any person fall in love with you)- she's always painting portraits with every imaginable shade of green (secretly mourning her runaway daughter)A ginormous uncle, Big (yeah, that's his name) with five failed marriages in his repertoire, a handle bar moustache which looks as if a squirrel is having a sleep there, with the wackiest idea of resurrecting dead bugs using the mystical powers of the replica of the Great Ancient Pyramids. Not to mention her mother (Lady Columbus) who leaves her two daughters to explore the world (or to run away from her troubles as the less nicer people might put it).And then there's JOE . The Sun. Quel Quel major Hottie."If there was ever a boy who loved, it was Joe Fontaine" I am already nuts about his Bat.Bat.Bat. (Killer eyelashes and as Lennie says, he doesn't blink, he bats). That guy is a freaking butterfly with beautiful shimmering wings the size of a Great Bustard. Devastating good looks with a dream of levitating and a FLIPPIN' DAMN GREAT MUSICIAN (I don't geddit why I always fall for the music types).“He murmers into my hair, "Forget what I said earlier, let's stick with this, I might not survive anything more." I laugh. Then he jumps up, finds my wrists, and pins them over my head. "Yeah, right. Totally joking, I want to do everything with you, whenever you're ready, I'm the one, promise?" He's above me, batting and grinning like a total hooplehead. "I promise," I say. "Good. Glad that's decided." He raises an eyebrow. "I'm going to deflower you, John Lennon.” Love the way he calls her John Lennon.And he's equally cute and charming. Befriends Lennie cause he sees how sad she looks, falls for her and is totally on the same wavelength with her zany family- Shows up at her door every morning with croissants for Grams, dead bugs for Uncle Big's psycho experiment and a dazzling million wattage smile for Lennie- cause he passionately cares for her. (Oo-er!) And on top of that, HE IS HALF FRENCH(!!!) I know i am being shallow but whatev.JOE.JOE.JOE. I THINK I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU.*smitten silly here*I guess my mind has gone off on a vacation to Mexico.(Not that it's of any use even when it's here) TOBY . The Moon. Hunky on a skate-board.Sun-kissed hair. Got a rapport with dogs :) Mourning over his dead girlfriend and their unborn baby. Starts getting inappropriate feelings for Lennie cos "The only time when I don't almost die missing her is when i am with you" (read grief sex)SARAH Certifiably the Coolest Best Friend Ever. Has a knack of hurling an assortment of animals while cursing. Loves Lennie and it hurts her to see her best friend ebbing away. DIE HARD FEMINIST. Drives a car called Ennui (How cool is that? The answer to this mes amies is Very)Anyway, The Sky Is Everywhere was definitely the pill i needed. I have been soooooo depressed since i finished Sing Me To Sleep by Angela Morrison two days ago.And I have been hooked to this book like a hard-core junkie on a constant dose of cocaine. I know shitty simile, but i just can't help it.This book completely ripped me off my bones.It's so effing sensual.Verging on being poetic even.Ah, the imagery.Funny.Quirky.And you get this tingly feeling in your toes and um, other regions.Ms Nelson, I am your #1 fan!I cried, I smiled, I laughed, fell in love with Joe as Lennie did, felt the joys of having a sister (di, I hope you are reading this), and the pain of losing someone you really love (been there, felt that)Forget everything. This book is here to stay. Uh-huh Uh-huh. *Nods her head like a freaky deaky rockstar* Deffo a quel quel amazing book.
Anna in Nerdvana
My honest opinions with nothing to back them up with but my primal sincerity.
“Each time someone dies, a library burns.” I have always believed that the most depressed minds think the creative-est. Cause they feel everything ten times amplified as if their sensory devices are cranked up to the max and they are very sensitive towards eveything. They draw sarcastic humour from the drama that is their life or just fade into nothingness (read suicidal tendencies)Take Jimi Hendrix.Or Kurt Cobain.Or Alexander McQueen.Or Georgia Nicholson (Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging).Yeah, she's always living beyond the valley of despair cause of her 'boy troubles' and she's bloody hilarious.Or take Lennon Walker in this case.Lennie (named after the legendary John Lennon) is devastated here cos her elder sister (half-sister?) Bailey, just dies one day.She's developed the Cosmic Horn (having hots for (almost) all guys in the world) and starts to have the urge to make out with someone or something all the time. Grief Sex. That's what her bestie Sarah (badass goth chick) tells her.Got an Obsessive Compulsive habit of scribbling random notes always related to her dear dead sister and leaving them in the oddest places- notes scribbled on candy wrapper, on take-away cups, on paper napkin in a deli,on the walls of her school's bathrooms,on the soles of her shoes, notes tucked beneath a rock....“There once was a girl who found herself dead. She peered over the ledge of heaven and saw that back on earth her sister missed her too much, was way too sad, so she crossed some paths that would not have crossed, took some moments in her hand shook them up and spilled them like dice over the living world. It worked. The boy with the guitar collided with her sister. "There you go, Len," she whispered. "The rest is up to you.” I really love the concept of Lennie writing random things about her sister and their life together and leaving the notes everywhere cause her's is a grief that doesn't dare speak (it's the most creatively sweet thought i have ever encountered) And how Joe's the person who has been collecting them and meanwhile falling in love with her.She's always looked upto Bailey for direction, been like a side-kick to her super hero, a pony to her race horse,had a bond so strong that no force(not even Death) could not break it.She's sad,confused,lost ,depressed. More than her Gram (the Garden Guru) or her Uncle Big (Modern day Casanova- invites women to lunches whose dresses fall off as quickly as leaves from a tree) or definitely her mother with a serious wanderlust who ran away (or better put, ran towards) when Lennie was a year old.The only one who resonates Lennie's grief with an equal intensity is Toby, Bailey's boyfriend.So at some emotional level, these two connect.Their relationship is crazed,almost bordering on addiction, as if they need each other to breathe. "The only time when I don't almost die missing her is when i am with you"- Toby Shaw.Of course Lennie feels ashamed.Guilty.Of what she's been doing with her dead sister's boyfriend.Swears every time that it's not going to happen again.But runs back to him every time and he as always meets her halfway. In short, sweet, innocent Lennie is transforming into a sex-crazed nympho.And then comes Joe Fontaine from Paree,the musical prodigy,the boy through whose veins light pulses instead of blood, who's on an overdose of glee pills. Who makes her forget her pain.She keeps shuttling between Joe and Toby,the former being the only guy she's ever fallen in love with, who makes her smile even on the most soulless days, whereas the latter seems to be an obligation. Cause she knows what their loss feels like..she can't simply abandon him.(Don't confuse her to be two-timing although that's what she's doing. I totally understand what a mess she's become despite (thank God!) not "been there, done that")And then while cleaning up their bedroom (Bailey's and Lennie's) christened the Sanctum, she comes across Bailey's secret which sets her off on a quest of her own.Now hopping onto the characters, Lennie comes from a hilariously dysfunctional family- Grandmother for a serious shine for hard core gardening (she grows these awesome roses which are rumoured to make any person fall in love with you)- she's always painting portraits with every imaginable shade of green (secretly mourning her runaway daughter)A ginormous uncle, Big (yeah, that's his name) with five failed marriages in his repertoire, a handle bar moustache which looks as if a squirrel is having a sleep there, with the wackiest idea of resurrecting dead bugs using the mystical powers of the replica of the Great Ancient Pyramids. Not to mention her mother (Lady Columbus) who leaves her two daughters to explore the world (or to run away from her troubles as the less nicer people might put it).And then there's JOE . The Sun. Quel Quel major Hottie."If there was ever a boy who loved, it was Joe Fontaine" I am already nuts about his Bat.Bat.Bat. (Killer eyelashes and as Lennie says, he doesn't blink, he bats). That guy is a freaking butterfly with beautiful shimmering wings the size of a Great Bustard. Devastating good looks with a dream of levitating and a FLIPPIN' DAMN GREAT MUSICIAN (I don't geddit why I always fall for the music types).“He murmers into my hair, "Forget what I said earlier, let's stick with this, I might not survive anything more." I laugh. Then he jumps up, finds my wrists, and pins them over my head. "Yeah, right. Totally joking, I want to do everything with you, whenever you're ready, I'm the one, promise?" He's above me, batting and grinning like a total hooplehead. "I promise," I say. "Good. Glad that's decided." He raises an eyebrow. "I'm going to deflower you, John Lennon.” Love the way he calls her John Lennon.And he's equally cute and charming. Befriends Lennie cause he sees how sad she looks, falls for her and is totally on the same wavelength with her zany family- Shows up at her door every morning with croissants for Grams, dead bugs for Uncle Big's psycho experiment and a dazzling million wattage smile for Lennie- cause he passionately cares for her. (Oo-er!) And on top of that, HE IS HALF FRENCH(!!!) I know i am being shallow but whatev.JOE.JOE.JOE. I THINK I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU.*smitten silly here*I guess my mind has gone off on a vacation to Mexico.(Not that it's of any use even when it's here) TOBY . The Moon. Hunky on a skate-board.Sun-kissed hair. Got a rapport with dogs :) Mourning over his dead girlfriend and their unborn baby. Starts getting inappropriate feelings for Lennie cos "The only time when I don't almost die missing her is when i am with you" (read grief sex)SARAH Certifiably the Coolest Best Friend Ever. Has a knack of hurling an assortment of animals while cursing. Loves Lennie and it hurts her to see her best friend ebbing away. DIE HARD FEMINIST. Drives a car called Ennui (How cool is that? The answer to this mes amies is Very)Anyway, The Sky Is Everywhere was definitely the pill i needed. I have been soooooo depressed since i finished Sing Me To Sleep by Angela Morrison two days ago.And I have been hooked to this book like a hard-core junkie on a constant dose of cocaine. I know shitty simile, but i just can't help it.This book completely ripped me off my bones.It's so effing sensual.Verging on being poetic even.Ah, the imagery.Funny.Quirky.And you get this tingly feeling in your toes and um, other regions.Ms Nelson, I am your #1 fan!I cried, I smiled, I laughed, fell in love with Joe as Lennie did, felt the joys of having a sister (di, I hope you are reading this), and the pain of losing someone you really love (been there, felt that)Forget everything. This book is here to stay. Uh-huh Uh-huh. *Nods her head like a freaky deaky rockstar* Deffo a quel quel amazing book.
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