{ARC Review} The Here and Now: Ann Brashares

Rating: 3/10

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Time Travel, Science Fiction,

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: April 8, 2014

Page Count: 288

Format: eARC

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Nobles ~ The Book Depository

Goodreads Synopsis: An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins. Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth. But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves. 

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.

Disclaimer: I received this book as an eARC from Netgalley which does not in the slightest effect my honest review of the book.

*My reviews, while they normally do not have spoilers, there are always exceptions when I NEED to get my feelings out about a book in a way that I don't have to feel like censoring them. Normally, I would compose separate posts, spoiler and non-spoiler versions, but in this case, I will just establish when there are spoilers*

*If this is your first time visiting Loving the Language of Literacy, I would like you to know that I don't actually sound like this (hashtags & sarcasm) usually in reviews but this book is unusual for me*

Before You Read: This book got a lot of bad pre-publication press, as in I was seeing review after review on my Bloglovin feed about it. Let's say I read 10 reviews of the book, eight of ten of those reviews were negative, at a 2.5 star rating or less. 

There was also one overall complaint on every single one of the reviews, even the positive ones: the mention of sex. There is a rule of the time travelers that states that time travelers cannot be 'intimate' with people that did not travel with them for fear of spreading the epidemic, because even though the time travelers themselves were immune, it was not certain if the people they might make out with had that immunity as well. So, the second Ethan and Prenna admit their feelings for each other, Prenna tells Ethan that they can't have sex.  

I, personally, did not have a problem with the whole "I just kissed you, but I need to establish that we can't have sex now." thing, but what I did have was numerous issues with the book itself in all aspects of the book. I am also aware that The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is an extremely well-regarded series, and is what established Brashare's merit as an author. I do think the numerous negative reviews I read of this novel impacted my opinion and low rating, but at the same time, if I had picked this book up knowing NOTHING about it, I would have still had complaints about it. 

My biggest complaint of all was that it seemed like a carbon copy of a book I read for a blog tour in February which was Unite by Jamie Campbell which I highly suggest you check out in order to understand my frustrations with The Here and Now, if not that, then at least to read the synopsis of it so you can recognize the parallels as well. 

While THAN has humans that time traveled to escape a pandemic, and UNITE has aliens from another planet that have come to this one in order to save the population, the idea of it is the same. 

DON'T REVEAL WHERE YOU'RE FROM

I hate to say it, but neither is very original. Time traveling to now may be creative, but the wide spread epidemic people had to escape from was not. Aliens trying to save the human race sounds very I Am Number Four. 

Another aspect that the two books have in common is KIDNAPPING (I feel like that word should be flashing in neon colors, what about you?). While it was Amery's best friend Lola in UNITE and Prenna herself in THAN, the girls still had to be saved by their boyfriends/best friend's boyfriend and the best friend. 

YOUR GOVERNMENT WAS LYING TO YOU

This is a pretty universal theme in dystopian novels, and it appears in both of them. 

***Spoiler Alert***

Another similarity with another book, which wasn't annoying, just a little confusing, and a "Why was that needed?" kind of factor was with the weird time traveling guy that serves as a HUGE plot twist for the story. In When You Reach Me it was Sal's older self that protected current Marcus and Miranda. In THAN, it was the very first time traveler that killed the #evil_scientist. I never understood why the older Sal was needed in WYRM and I don't understand now why having the killer as THE FIRST time traveler made such a huge difference in THAN.  
***End Spoiler Alert***

Characters: #It's_Honesty_Time The characters were such a deal breaker for me. Prenna and Ethan felt so unreal, and not even in the supernatural being unreal way, but the "Are people that boring?" kind of way. I hate to sound so uncompassionate, but they probably could have been kidnapped and murdered by Prenna's fellow time natives and I would have routed for the people killing them. My feelings towards the characters were a lot like my feelings towards America Singer, Prince Maxon, and Aspen from the Selection Trilogy. (I'm bringing up every review I've ever wrote practically in this one) When I was reading The Elite, I brought up Prince Maxon's dictator father was the saving grace of the story, and was also similar to Uther from the BBC show, Merlin. The actual point of all this sidetracking is to say that I didn't care about the main characters at all because they seemed like plot devices, and the villains of The Here and Now seemed more realistic.

***Spoiler Alert***
Ending: Do I even remember the ending at this point? Now I remember.....Prenna and Ethan blackmailed the authorities in the community of time travelers. Good overcame evil. The virus hopefully won't spread now. Oh my gosh, everything is right with the world now. It was completely expected, and didn't leave a window for a sequel.
***End Spoiler Alert***

Conclusion: I was extremely disappointed with The Here and Now because of its cliche plot, stone-like characters, Oh-so-evil government, and overused ending. 

Skin and Bones, Smoke & Steelheart: Mini Reviews (1)

'Mini Reviews' is a new quarterly (every three months) feature where I will review books I haven't reviewed in that quarter that I know I'm not going to do a full review on so I can technically reach my old quota (inside joke for a future post) of reviewing every book I read. What's ironic is that all of these books start with the letter 'S'....maybe it's a sign, or a new aversion coming on. 

Synopsis: Sherry Shahan's SKIN AND BONES, pitched as ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST meets LOVE STORY set in an eating disorder hospital in which an aspiring ballerina and a quirky nerdboy fall desperately in love only to become each other's next deadly addiction, to Wendy McClure at Albert Whitman.

Skin and Bones: Sherry Shahan~ This was the 2nd book I have ever read off of Netgalley and being the naive blogger I was (and still am), I didn't write a review for it. I think the partial reason is that I didn't have that much to say. This sounds weird to say....but I like to read books about self-help/teen issues after someone close to me had a similar experience. The plot sounded amazing and I had never read a book before with a guy struggling with insecurity issues about his weight. The book had the potential to sneak into being one of the best contemporary novels of 2013. All I can say is that I was very dissapointed. A great majority of the plot was quite confusing and left me like: 😳. The characters were not relatable whatsoever. Jack or 'Bones' narrated the story and there was absolutely nothing prophetic about his dialogue and thoughts....or even that memorable. In a nut shell, anything that could resemble an astounding, eye opening quote was ruined by inserting overused phrases. 

"You're a survivor, not a victim." 

"Only you can exorcize your own demons." 

"Love sweeps you off your feet."

Bones's girlfriend -Alice- could have been a 'beacon of hope', or some other cliche turn of phrase. Instead she was the role model for what NOT to be. You know in sitcoms where the Grandma will point with the crook of her finger and tell the grandchild, "Now you don't want to end up like her/hi,mod you?" 

Lard (Bonss's best friend) also could have been something really special. He overrate and was overweight, which is something self-help, teen issues books don't commonly cover. 

Conclusion: Skin and Bones had heaps of potential but in order to do that, it had to be the three 'R's raw, real, and relatable. As readers we expect to be touched, not wonder what's airing on TV at that moment. We also have to have the emotions, if not the plot, be and stay true to something that could happen to anyone in our lives, any day of the week. And even though lots of popular novels nowadays are about aliens and the future, they still have characters that coincide with basic human nature, feel angry, .and are not porcelain dolls sitting on a shelf. I personally did not feel any of the 'R!s when reading.this.

Synopsis: Pattyn Von Stratten’s father is dead, and Pattyn is on the run. After far too many years of abuse at the hands of her father, and after the tragic loss of her beloved Ethan and their unborn child, Pattyn is desperate for peace. Only her sister Jackie knows what happened that night, but she is stuck at home with their mother, who clings to normalcy by allowing the truth to be covered up by their domineering community leaders. Her father might be finally gone, but without Pattyn, Jackie is desperately isolated. Alone and in disguise, Pattyn starts a new life, but is it even possible to rebuild a life when everything you’ve known has burned to ash and lies seem far safer than the truth?

Smoke: Ellen Hopkins~ I had a lot planned for this book. I wanted to do a series overview, maybe even a discussion, or a playlist. What happened was my review slump. Anyway, Ellen Hopkims rights about the 'hard stuff', people will love or hate her books depending on their personal experiences, understanding, and maturity. I remember reading 'Burned' and thinking it wasn't quite as Powerfuk as 'Crank' or 'Identical'. I also think that her books make such an impact by themselves....that they don't need a sequel to continue a characters story. Smoke took me a long time to read, I'm talking about SIX days. For those of you that don't know, Ellen Hopkins writes in verse, so her word-count of 550 page novels is probably the same of a 200 page book. Smoke seemed so ordinary to me, like any other book I would pick up off the library bookshelves, not like the wonderful works of art I have had pleasure of reading before by an author that has earned my respect.

Smoke was also written in dual-POV instead of just first person like 'Burned' was. We got glimpses of who Pattyn's sister Jackie was. I don't think that was needed. We already got to know and see Pattyn grow up into a strong young woman that could think for herself and didn't need a husband or LDS community telling her what to do (not that there's anything wrong with them). I feel that Jackie's narration was there solely for the purpose of letting us know what was going on at home. To make us feel glad that Pattyn had escaped from the horribleness she left behind, to remind us why killed her father.
Pattyn sets off into the world as a criminal to try and make a new life for herself. She becomes a sort of maid in a rich Californian household and develops relationships with Hispanics that spend hours in the fields and crops (a type of Esperanza Rising scenario).

Conclusion: This is not eloquent at all but basically, stuff happens, love is discovered again, people learn to depend on others, secrets and horrifying truths are revealed. This sounds like a cross between a cheery Christmas movie and bad reality television, yet that is the significance Smoke has to the main character's threads. 

Synopsis: There are no heroes.

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.

But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics... nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Steelheart: Brandon Sanderson~ I remember reading this book and thinking, "I have a heck of a lot to say about this and I have no idea where to start." That no-idea-where-to-start issue is the reason that I never talked about Steelheart in a full-length review. Anyway, I did not like this book....at all. That is simply pretty much (so articulate)
all I can say about this. Point-blank, I had considered multiple times making this a DNF. The story, although you would think that it would be fast-paced and thrilling went achingly slow for me.

David was like a super geeky nerd when it came to the Reckoners and the Epics on the same level that I am with the Legend Trilogy. I mean, as the readers, we find out that he has several notebooks full of information on them and has dedicated his life to trying to find their weaknesses and defeat them. He has seen Steelheart bleed because his father shot him with a gun. And David wants to see Steelheart bleed again.

Bla bla bla. David wants revenge. Bla bla bla. No one is willing to give him a chance and then he accuses the Reckoners of being cowards. Bla bla bla.....well you get the idea.

“I've seen Steelheart bleed.And I will see him bleed again.” I know I'm being judgemental, but this quote is so cliche.

Random Quirk: David can't use metaphors. Most of the time, an author sneaks subtle humor into their novels and Brandon Sanderson does it by David having the inability to come up with a good metaphor....or even a socially adequate one. I wish I had written this review right after I finished the book and still had the book in my possession, but I don't so all you can settle for are some Goodreads quotes.

“They looked so dangerous, like alligators. Really fast alligators wearing black. Ninja alligators. I decided not to use that one on Megan.” Just one example of David's metaphors.

The strangest part about this is that I want to read the sequel because of the last  20 pages. That's right, the book has 386 pages, on page 350 I still wasn't enjoying the book. I remember reading on somebodies blog post that they would peak ahead to the last chapter/20 pages to see if there was anything worth reading -and if there was- then continued reading to see how the plot had built up to that. The ending was spectacular and caught me waaay off guard. All I can say is #plottwist because that is truly what happened and I had and would never have guessed in a million years that the story would end the way it did.

The last thing I would like to say (that I did in fact tell @codesandwrites @The_Book-Lander @MmalalcalaS) is that the premise sounded amazing, and Steelheart is the type of book I would normally fall in love with. I know this review sounds negative but I would like it to be known that I think that others would call this one of their best books of [insert year here], but it just didn't work for me and that's my personal opinion.

The Elite: Kiera Cass

Rating: 5 out of 10. 2 stars.

Series: The Selection Trilogy #2 

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Dystopian Romance 

Publication Date: April 23, 2013  

Recommended For: Fans of the Bachelor (this isn't a book, but it is exactly like the show ) 

Publisher: HarperTeen 

Page Count: 323 

Format: Physical Hardcover Book lent to me by a wonderful friend

Goodreads Synopsis:
The hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller The Selection.

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

*I normally do not have spoilers in my reviews, but on this particular reviews, I have spoilers for "The Selection" and a few other miscellaneous ones*
*I'm really sorry I haven't been posting this week, but I have been sick and miserable, and its a miracle I've put together this review without saying, "Get me tissues" for my ever-conjested nose or "Make me hot tea" for my sore throat. On a 99.9% basis I'm a nice person, but when I'm sick I turn into all the evil Disney stepmothers combined* 


My Background: So I was in love with "The Selection" when I read it last August, but "The Elite" is a whole different story (in more ways than one). I am going to try my very hardest/best not to make this into a negative rant, but I was extremely frustrated with this book. Let's just say I would have been happier if the romance had been removed, leaving only the plot, but that isn't possible because the plot is centered around romance.

Plot 6/10:  Romance, and Characters aside, the plot was okay. Although anyone who says that the Selection Trilogy is dystopian is sorely mistaken. I admit that I did like the idea of  "The Selection" a Hunger Games-without-the-blood seeming very interesting to me, and I really wanted to see how the author would set everything up. "The Selection" was a 4 star book for me,  although I now want to change that rating to 3 stars, and it was a very good book when I read it back in August of 2013. Now my feelings about the plot itself of "The Elite" are very mixed because when reading the book, I kept saying "this romance is annoying me so much, but the plot was good" that reigned true for the first half of "The Elites", although after that point, the book became a battle between Aspen and Maxon for America's two-timing little heart. 

Without completely bashing the book, I will say that "The Elite" is a fun. A fun story. Fun concept. Fun relationships. Because there were not many eliminations, "The Elite" wasn't really needed, and although I haven't read "The One" I believe "The Selection Trilogy" could have been "The Selection Dystology". To enjoy this book, I believe one has to go into it with little or no expectations, merely thinking of it as a quick-read and an almost filler second novel.

Characters 4/10: America Singer COULD NOT STOP whining, and acting like a little brat.  She was weak, spineless, and rash, three qualities the supposedly strong female heroine in a book should have. She was too indecisive, but when it came down to the things that mattered, she made the wrong, impulsive choices. She pushed away Maxon, then wondered why he was avoiding her, all while making out with Aspen behind supply closet doors. I cannot say enough about her, and why I didn't like her. She didn't pass as helpless, far from it actually, and she didn't pass as an independent being either. The problem also associated with her character was that she was the only remaining girl in the "Fives" caste. At the same time she wasn't stooped TOO low being a six, seven, or right. This is the part where I would ramble all day. 

Maxon is a big sissy that happens to wear pants. His knowledge about his own kingdom seemed smaller than something you would get in a history textbook. He was too timid, too shy, and too nice for his own good. I couldn't feel sorry for him, although I could sort of understand where he was coming from, but not enough to actually feel like I wanted to ride in on my white stallion and save him from destroying himself.

If there was one character that I changed my mind about in "The Elite" that character would have to be Aspen. I didn't like him one bit in "The Selection" because he broke up with America, but when he became a palace guard, begged her to take him back, I thought he was horrible. In this book, we get to see other sides of him, and some of his good qualities, which include overprotectiveness, courage, spirit, and acceptance. Which is a hec of a lot more than Maxon portrayed.

*Spoiler Alert for this paragraph* My one saving grace was actually the villain of "The Elite". What we learn in "The Elite" is that Maxon's father beat his son on multiple occasions, and is a total dictator, totalitarian that thinks Maxon is as unfit to be king as a piece of raw lettuce. He was just one of those bad guys that we Fangirls/boys love to hate. We love wanting to have the main character overcome evil, and seeing them being defeated. I can't find it, but on someone's Goodreads compared Maxon's father to Uther from the five season BBC drama "Merlin". I think this is the best analogy/connection someone has made about a villain in a 'dystopian' novel. If you have seen the show, I needn't say any more. I was passionately angry about Maxon's dad and his decisions. This one character evoked so much emotion from me that should have been coming from Maxon, America, Aspen, and pretty much anybody else.

Romance 4/10: So I started out as a Maxon+America shipper, and while that fact still remains true, I like Aspen a whole lot more now. In the romance category, I flat out hated America. One moment, she was saying, "Oh my gosh I love you Maxon. You're so dreamy and kind and compassionate." The next she was saying, "How could I ever have thought about Maxon, when Aspen is the one I truly love. He knows me so well, we're destined to be together." That was LITERALLY the story. For 20 pages she likes Aspen, 20 pages she likes Maxon and all of that doesn't change or get resolved in the slightest by the end of the book. When you think about it, this books romance should have been Kiera Cass's TOP priority, making the story suspenseful, and to keep the readers guessing. We already know America is destined to be with Maxon. But what we should have been doing was asking ourselves, "What about Celeste, what about Chris, what about Marlee? Besides the main America/Aspen/ Maxon love triangle, there were the five other 'elites' fighting for the crown and Maxon's heart (although Celeste made it obvious she only wanted the crown). All things considered, I think the romance was the most ungripping, poorly-written one I have read since...I don't even know when. 

Cover 8/10: I may not think this trilogy is the best thing since sliced break, or new books, but the cover is certainly a fun thing to look at. I personally have always loved fashion, and especially elegant ball gowns I would never have an event to go to. Personally, I like the third book "The One"'s cover the best because the white makes her look like a swan...in a good way. The petal-looking details on the skirt look too much like my garage roof slats for my own taste, but is still beautiful nonetheless.

 

Title 7/10: My feelings about the title "The Elite" are...shall we say, mixed. I understand 100% how this could have been very creative if you're going with the whole Selection theme: The Selection, The Elite, The One. Yet, if they were trying to follow that trend (and although I understand the reasoning-both with the plot and grammatically-it still doesn't make sense) of the people in the selection, with the "Elites" and the "One", but wouldn't the first book have to be titled "The Selected"? I actually think that sounds better and more mysterious, but I'm leaving it open for discussion.

Feels 3/10: If he 'feels' category was based on how agitated, bothered, displeased, and exasperated I was with this story, then it would receive a whopping 10 out of 10. Although, I am sorry to say that this category is not based on negative feels. I wanted to feel emotion about this novel. I wanted to feel compassion for characters when compassion was due. Hec, I wanted to route for the guy in the oh-so-cliche love triangle.

Writing Style 2/10: Basically, this book was not written for anything other than entertainment purposes, and is not going to be on-par with Shakespeare any time soon. Everything I didn't like about America was translated through the seemingly flat, emotionless void that was her character.

Ending 7/10: The ending was one of this story's saving graces. Without spoiling it (I seem to say that every time I'm writing this category) I will admit that Kiera Cass almost had me fooled, and that the ending was somewhat of a surprise. To sum my thoughts up, I thought it was...well...the end, but there is a third book so we all need to watch out for that coming out on the 6th of May.

Quotes 2/10:  I have to say I was not impressed with the quotes in this book. The lone two-even on what I consider a non-quotable book, there's always more than three-I used when describing my annoyance with the plot and the characters, so there's really nothing to put in this category.
 
Continuation: 75% Despite the many qualities of this book I wasn't very fond of, I still want to see how Kiera Cass wraps up the plot, leaving America with the man she is obviously destined to be with *HINT* Maxon. The plot and events in it were interesting, and although the sequel was no where near my expectations, I do hope that the conclusion it better.

Conclusion: Even though I think Kiera Cass hit the horrible sophomore slump in her second novel "The Elite", some people may enjoy this book if they're just looking for a fun novel, without any thought to writing style, character development, and a good love triangle. 

The Sky is Everywhere: Jandy Nelson

The Sky is Everywhere: Jandy Nelson

Rating: 5/10. 2 Stars

Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult Romance
Publication Date: March 9, 2010
Publisher: Dial
Page Count: 288
Format: Hardcover Library Book

 
Goodreads Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life - and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

This remarkable debut is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block. Just as much a celebration of love as it is a portrait of loss, Lennie's struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often hilarious, and ultimately unforgettable.

*I'm sorry this is going up today, because it was supposed to go u yesterday, but I had a major headache, so I didn't want to use my computer*

My Background: The first thing I want to say is that these are just my feelings, and this may be a great book for some people, but my feelings...well...just keep reading. I know not everyone will like a book, and that's perfectly fine, this time it is me. Sidenote: Emma @ Spun With Words is going to kill me because she loved this book, she has a fabulous blog by the way. If there were ever a book I had mixed feelings about, and if there were ever a book I changed my opinion of, it's this one. This review, although the format makes it a "Literacy Lover", with its 13 categories, it is more like a "Language of Love" review, although it is not necessarily love I'm giving it.

Plot 6/10:  I personally think that the idea of the plot was good, and could have made "The Sky is Everywhere" really enjoyable for me. The beginning of the story stars out with us, as the readers, knowing that Lennon or "Lennie" has just suffered the loss of her older sister Bailey, and because of that, she is now a somewhat sex-crazed teenager whose Grandmother thinks she's doing poorly because the "Lennie Plant" is getting white spots on it. Lennie ends up torn between Bailey's former boyfriend and fiance Toby Shaw, and the new French guy at school with glorious eyelashes (inside joke), and a talent for almost every musical instrument on the planet. 

The quote in the blurb, "one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it" basically sums up everything having to do with the story, period. 

The entire book, the entire story, the entire plot revolves around Lennie being torn between the two guys, and her feelings about them. 

I have already said it before that I'm pretty new and unaccustomed to pure contemporary romance. I usually read dystopia, historical fiction, fantasy, teen issues, you name a genre that has a solid plot, and some romance on the side. Having romance be the main course of a book make me somewhat frustrated, although this may the exact kind of "chick flick" book some people love. For example in "The Sky is Everywhere" Lennie's biggest problem is which guy to choose, in "The Hunger Games" Katnisses biggest problem is surviving a game she has a less than 5% chance of winning, and she has to pretend to be in love with someone to survive.

Characters 4/10: Lennon annoyed me a lot, mainly because of how weak she was. I know her sister died, and her mom was off in la-la-land that could have been a drug den, or the Colosseum in Rome. Plenty of characters have deep losses, some more even painful than death, and still they went on with their lives. In my mind, Lennie made the wrong choices, decisions, and had the wrong reactions to her sister's death. I know I probably wouldn't have reacted much better, but I'm used to characters in books behaving valiantly, and courageous to anything the world throws at them, and when they do break down, it's beautiful. I suppose actually that's what makes Lennie good, her old, poet soul, that she's raw and real. Still, Lennon pushed her friends away, ignored the feelings of her grandmother, and cheated on a guy that would have gone to the moon and back just to make her smile (cliche, I know, but the term goes right along with the plot). The last thing about her that really was the defining factor of my disliking her, and if this hadn't been a part of the book, I would have liked it better is that she was the companion pony. Without Bailey, Lennon didn't know who she was. She was a dependent on her, and thought she was plain Jane compared to colorful Bailey. The whole reason why my mom doesn't like Twilight is because she thinks that Bella lost all self-preservation, and strength by submitting herself to Edward. I feel that that is the situation Lennie goes through with Bailey, except it's been for her entire life, and she doesn't know any better. Lennon Walker was the little companion pony compared to the sleek racehorse known as Bailey Walker, and she didn't know how to stand on her own as an individual.

Although I am complaining a lot about Lennie, she does have some good qualities. She goes through a period of self-discovery, and molding herself into a person she would have become a long time ago if Bailey hadn't been around. The "Lennie Plant" wouldn't revive itself like it had so many times before, and her explanation of it actually made me smile. She said that it was because her old-self died, and with that made the plant die. Another huge part of her was that Lennie kept writing bits of writing and poetry on things as random as candy wrappers to Styrofoam cups that she found on the ground. 

The last thing about the characters in this book that agonized me was Joe Fontaine because he would not stop the perfect guy that never did anything wrong.  

Romance 7/10: I almost feel like I should have combined 'Romance' and 'Plot' because the plot was so fueled by romance. If the romance factor would have been taken away, the book would be about a girl getting over the death of her sister, and played the clarinet. This wouldn't have been a problem if the love triangle was unique. Instead it was 95% cliche plot line. There was the bad boy, darker sort of figure. Then the perfect golden boy without a care in the world, or a sliver of fault in his character. *Mini-spoiler alert* Of course Golden-Boy caught Lennie in the middle of a moment with Bad boy, yada yada yada, spends the rest of the book trying to get him back because they are soul mates and will never find another human being on the entire planet that will be the same.

Cover 2/10: In my "Love it, or Hate it" challenge for the "Last Minute Readathon" I already discussed my feelings so I am just copying and pasting. So my feelings about the version I was reading off of are in the 'Hate it' but I did love the other if that counts for anything.

Love it: I personally think this paints a perfect picture for the story. The sleeping figure of a girl on the wooden porch slats, with ivy streaming down from the ceiling. It sounds like a total cliche love story, but that was what I think fit the story, and in my mind it's visually beautiful. The girl could be sleeping, or crying, or even be dead, and all three of those would have fit the story. 

Hate it: A huge red heart in the middle of an ombre blue sky. How original *sarcastic expression and hand on hip*  I sort of understand the symbolism, how it is essentially a love story, then the sky because of the whole "The Sky is Everywhere" thing, but I think the designers could have been more original. I know that's just the certain cover, but I still think it could have been a lot better. 

Title: There actually is a quote about the sky being everywhere which is where the title cane from, and although I don't really understand it, it was a pretty good title for the sappy romance novel it is.

"The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet."

Writing Style 8/10: Even though I loved Lennie's voice, even if I didn't love what that voice was saying. There was some almost indescribable way that it flowed, and the word choice she used that I actually enjoyed. 

Feels 8/10: I did not like the feelings "The Sky is Everywhere" gave me, but it did give me feels, no matter what they were. I felt annoyed throughout most of the book, and agony when Golden Boy caught Lennie with Bad Boy because I was just starting to like her and Joe as a couple, but it was ruined (oops!). Everything else is explained in my thoughts about the romance, thoughts, and characters, but the reason "Feels" has such a high rating is because it did give me so many feelings, just not the "Oh my god, my life is over" ones.

Ending 5/10: The ending was just so aggravating, annoying, and agonizingly cliche and expected, but it was a happy one if that counts.

Quotes 8/10: There were actually some pretty good quotes in this book, mostly from Lennie's poetry, and the way her love (however cliche) was for Joe that makes you feel how every girl should.

Conclusion: This book certainly wasn't for me, but it would definitely be for any die-hard romance fans, so that is the target genre and type of people I would recommend the book to. 

This if my first controversial, negative review, and I hope I did it well enough for my first time.