Books that are narrated by multiple characters are often difficult for me to read, simply because I have a hard time keeping track of which characters are narrating the chapters and what is happening to them. So, I’m always pleasantly surprised when I begin a book with lots of different character perspectives that I can get into right away. That happened to be the case with this book, which is great because I like to be able to be honest and write positive reviews of the books I read and it’s difficult to do that if the story is too confusing! 

The Sky Above Us starts off right away with a very important piece of the story–a plane crashing into the ocean. This tragedy is witnessed by a group of teens who spent the night partying on the beach and wake up to the sound of a plane flying low overhead. It turns out that several of the teens that saw the plane crash are related to, or are close friends with the individuals who were flying the plane, and yet none of them know how the individuals knew how to fly or how they even had access to an airplane in the first place. 

The individuals who were in the plane die in the crash, and they leave behind grieving family and friends who are looking for answers that they may never find. But one of the girls who saw the crash lost her twin in the ocean that day, and she and two of her friends are determined to figure out what really happened and why. This is where the book got a little supernatural and went into some deep information about mysterious memories of past lives and reincarnation. 

This book won’t be for everyone, but it is definitely one to try to get into if you’re feeling adventurous. It’s not quite a mystery or suspense and not really a ghost story; in fact, I can’t really put a finger on what genre this book fits into. Sometimes those are the best books though, and I think this book is unique in the way it explores death and what may or may not come after. 

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Philomel Books

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  4 religious exclamations; 9 mild obscenities; 4 derogatory names; 5 scatological words; 7 anatomical terms; 21 F-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore:  A plane crash is witnessed by minors and described briefly in detail; bullying is recalled in one brief scene; a mention is made of a woman being harassed for working at a clinic that performs abortions, she is mentioned to have a cement chunk thrown at her and bloody pig intestines left on her doorstep; a minor is injured playing sports; a minor recalls a time when he was physically assaulted and had items stolen from him; a recollection of a car crash with the vehicle starting on fire and a casualty is mentioned; a person is mentioned to have been shot in front of their child with no detail; a war scene is briefly described with a man and his horse shot and bleeding on the ground.  

Sex/Nudity:  Minors kiss multiple times throughout the book; a minor realizes their lips are swollen from kissing; a minor boy describes noticing a girl and her body, how she is wearing tight shorts and that her shirt is low cut so he can see her bra; sexual activity is referred to briefly by minors; a minor looks down the shirt of a girl at her breasts in one brief scene; a minor girl cheats on her boyfriend and tells him that she slept with someone else; sexual activity is referred to as “banging”; flirtatious texts are sent between a minor boy and girl; a girl thinks about losing her virginity; girls dance at a party and a boy grinds with a girl and is later led up to a bedroom with her, sex is implied to almost occur, but the boy realizes he has had too much to drink; a minor boy recalls a day when a girl took her shirt off in front of him and he could see the tops of her breasts.

Mature Subject Matter:

Loss of loved ones; death; depression.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Weed is mentioned; drugs and alcohol are mentioned to be a concern at a party; a minor has someone legal buy them some vodka; a red Solo cup is referred to; a keg is mentioned to be at a party; minors smoke cigarettes; a man is mentioned to drink a lot.