Akemi Dawn Bowman

'Mental health, family and friendship, and the circus: all told in a raw, engaging voice.' -- Kirkus Reviews The Greatest Showman meets This Is Us by way of Sarah Dessen in this heart-wrenching, hopeful contemporary novel about a multiracial teen who risks it all to follow her dreams by joining the circus, from the critically acclaimed author of Starfish. Harley Milano has dreamed of becoming a trapeze artist for as long as she can remember. With parents who run a famous circus in Las Vegas, she spends almost every night in the big top watching their lead aerialist perform, wishing with all her heart and soul that she would be up there herself one day. After a huge fight with her parents, who continue to insist she go to school instead, Harley leaves home, betrays her family, and joins the rival traveling circus Maison du Mystère. There, she is thrust into a world that is both brutal and beautiful, where she learns the value of hard work, passion, and collaboration. At the same time, Harley must come to terms with the truth of her family and her past -- and reckon with the sacrifices she made and the people she hurt in order to follow her dreams. From award-winning Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, unforgettable examination of love, loyalty, and the hard choices we must make to find where we truly belong. Praise for Summer Bird Blue: 'Raw, real and deeply hopeful. I will read anything Akemi Dawn Bowman writes.' - Alice Oseman, author of I Was Born For This and Radio Silence 'With this remarkable book, she has cemented her position as one of the most progressive and insightful authors of her generation.' - Samantha Shannon 'Summer Bird Blue is without a doubt one of the best books I've read this year. It grabs your heart and won't let go.' - Book Riot

Harley in the Sky

Denaiir

It was a typical YA including the theme that the author likes (mental health, difficiult family relationships) but I thought it would have more impact. I enjoyed it but it didn't feel very special

Cecilia Spencer 

HI I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK AND IT TOOK ME A DAY TO READ IT AND YOU SHOULD REALLY READ IT ALSKDKSLKDKD

Tiffany Robinson

Maybe I would have liked this book if Harley wasn't so annoying. This book was just tedious to get thorough

ashley hopkins

The Greatest Showman meets This Is Us by way of Sarah Dessen in this heart-wrenching, hopeful contemporary novel about a multiracial teen who risks it all to follow her dreams by joining the circus, from the critically acclaimed author of Starfish. Harley Milano has dreamed of becoming a trapeze artist for as long as she can remember. With parents who run a famous circus in Las Vegas, she spends almost every night in the big top watching their lead aerialist perform, wishing with all her heart and soul that she would be up there herself one day. After a huge fight with her parents, who continue to insist she go to school instead, Harley leaves home, betrays her family, and joins the rival traveling circus Maison du Mystère. There, she is thrust into a world that is both brutal and beautiful, where she learns the value of hard work, passion, and collaboration. At the same time, Harley must come to terms with the truth of her family and her past—and reckon with the sacrifices she made and the people she hurt in order to follow her dreams. From award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, unforgettable examination of love, loyalty, and the hard choices we must make to find where we truly belong.

Lauren

Five fucking stars! Akemi has done it again.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this book in a Once Upon a Book Club box! Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Harley in the Sky

Author: Akemi Dawn Bowman

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4.5/5

Diversity: Main character is a quarter Chinese and a quarter Japanese

Recommended For...: contemporary lovers, circus, running away from home

Publication Date: March 10, 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 15+ (running away, mental health, slight violence, TW mention of sexual violence, depression, suicidal thoughts TW)

Publisher: Ink Road

Pages: 410

Synopsis: Harley Milano has dreamed of being a trapeze artist for as long as she can remember. With parents who run a famous circus in Las Vegas, she spends almost every night in the big top watching their lead aerialist perform, wishing with all her soul that she could be up there herself one day.

After a huge fight with her parents, who continue to insist she go to school instead, Harley leaves home, betrays her family and joins the rival traveling circus Maison du Mystère. There, she is thrust into a world that is both brutal and beautiful, where she learns the value of hard work, passion and collaboration. But at the same time, Harley must come to terms with the truth of her family and her past—and reckon with the sacrifices she made and the people she hurt in order to follow her dreams.

Review: I really loved this story! I thought the plot was intriguing and while it was a spin on the old “fed-up teen runs away from home” the author managed to make it something new in my opinion. The character development of Harley alone was amazing and I loved how the author woved in details about Harley’s mental health. I also liked all the other characters developments, including the mother and how we explore her mental health in this story as well. The book was also well paced and extremely well written.

However, I do feel like the author could have done better at the end. While I think that everyone’s mental health is their own personal exploration, I think that Harley and her mother need outside help from a therapist to help them develop skills and tools to help them reach equilibrium with their mental wellbeing.

Verdict: A well done novel!

Kate

I will forever and ever be in complete awe of Akemi Dawn Bowman's talent for writing. The way she uses words is truly something else. She portrays everything with a clear, beautiful, simplicity that can only be achieved with pure talent and artistry.

So, what did I love about this book?

- Harley. Harley might have one of the most honest, raw voices I've read this year and reading through her POV was such a fantastic experience. Her ambition, passion and drive were intoxicating and the thought processes and actions it led to made her such an interesting character to follow and one unlike many I've come across. She was imperfect, confused and selfish at times but also cared so deeply. I loved following her journey as she grappled with the consequences of her actions causing both hurt and happiness for different parts of her heart. She had a ruthlessness I often come across in YA fantasy but rarely contemporary and I hugely admire Akemi for the way she crafted Harley's character. 

- Vas. Vas was another characters who's growth and journey throughout the book was so enjoyable but also incredibly interesting to follow. Somehow this motor cycling, leather wearing bad-boy turned into a soft, kind hearted, socially anxious conductor and I loved him all the more for it. 

- Harley's Family. Harley's family, but especially her mother, were some of the most interesting, complex characters throughout the book. I loved watching as their stories and motives were slowly unveiled throughout the book.

- Mother/Daughter Relationship. Going into this book, the last thing I expected was for one of my favourite part of it to be a mother daughter relationship but that's exactly what happened. Harley's relationship with her mother and the consequent conversations that came out of it blew me away. I felt every piece of raw frustration, pain and love they had for each other so deeply. Their relationship was somehow so complex yet so simple in that it bottled down to a mothers protectiveness over her child and a hesitancy towards/lack of communication causing an ever growing rift between them. 

- The Romance. Harley and Vas's relationship made my slow burn romance loving heart oh so very happy. It built over time from instant intrigued to wariness to cool acknowledgement to friendship to 'we're something different than friends but let's not talk about it' to eventual 'yeah, you're cute and mine' romance. Yes, they were cute but they also felt brilliantly read and I loved their open discussions surrounding mental health, sex, identity and family. 

- The World. The circus setting was just as atmospheric and magical as I'd hoped. This is the first contemporary circus set book I've read and I almost think I enjoyed it more? The fact that these were real people, working a real job and living in a life that was equally as unglamorous as it was glamorous, somehow made it all the more captivating. The descriptions of the setting and the circus acts themselves were truly cinematic.

- The Discussions Surrounding Mental Health. As always, Akemi explores the complexities of mental health and mental illness with care, sensitivity and nuance. Harley and Vas's honest and positive dialogue about their struggles with mental health was so encouraging to read. Scenes that encourage open dialogue about mental health that are met without stigma or judgement are so necessary and I thought Akemi did an excellent job at highlighting the positive impact having those kinds of discussions can have. In contrast, Harley's parents' hesitancy towards having this same discussion was explored brilliantly although (view spoiler)[I thought the eventual conversation Harley has about their mental health with her Mother was superb (hide spoiler)]. From Harley's extreme highs and lows (which, despite the word never being used, were heavily indicative of bipolar), to Vas's social anxiety, to Harley's mothers own struggles with what Harley thinks is the same issues she struggles with (i.e. depression and maybe bipolar), each issue was approached with care and honesty. 

- The Discussions Surrounding Identity and Race. As the daughter of two biracial parents, with the Chinese, Japanese, Irish and Italian parts of her family and heritage often clashing, Harley struggles to find a sense of self and belonging within her identity and family. I'm white, so I can't speak from personal experience but the open and honest way in which this topic was approached, very much gave me he sense that this part of Harley's person and story was given the nuance, time and care it deserved and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have a feeling this might be the longest review I've written all year but honestly? There was so much excellence in this book. Its pages are filled with magic, pain, love and ambition. It's a story of complexities; the complexities of family, relationships, ambition, growing up and mental health. Akemi Dawn Bowman has once again solidified her place in my mind as not only of my favourite authors, but one of the most talented voices and writers in YA.

TW: depression, references to suicidal ideation, racism