Name: Shaq H's review of The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch
Item: The Sky Blues
Rating: 4
Author: Shaq H

Robbie Couch

Sky’s small town turns absolutely claustrophobic when his secret promposal plans get leaked to the entire school in this witty, “earnest, heartfelt” (Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author), and ultimately hopeful debut novel for fans of What if it’s Us? and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Sky Baker may be openly gay, but in his small, insular town, making sure he was invisible has always been easier than being himself. Determined not to let anything ruin his senior year, Sky decides to make a splash at his high school’s annual beach bum party by asking his crush, Ali, to prom—and he has thirty days to do it. What better way to start living loud and proud than by pulling off the gayest promposal Rock Ledge, Michigan, has ever seen? Then, Sky’s plans are leaked by an anonymous hacker in a deeply homophobic e-blast that quickly goes viral. He’s fully prepared to drop out and skip town altogether—until his classmates give him a reason to fight back by turning his thirty-day promposal countdown into a school-wide hunt to expose the e-blast perpetrator. But what happens at the end of the thirty days? Will Sky get to keep his hard-won visibility? Or will his small-town blues stop him from being his true self?

The Sky Blues

Megan

Sky’s small town turns absolutely claustrophobic when his secret promposal plans get leaked to the entire school in this witty, heartfelt, and ultimately hopeful debut novel for fans of What if it’s Us? and I Wish You All the Best. Sky Baker may be openly gay, but in his small, insular town, making sure he was invisible has always been easier than being himself. Determined not to let anything ruin his senior year, Sky decides to make a splash at his high school’s annual beach bum party by asking his crush, Ali, to prom—and he has thirty days to do it. What better way to start living loud and proud than by pulling off the gayest promposal Rock Ledge, Michigan, has ever seen? Then, Sky’s plans are leaked by an anonymous hacker in a deeply homophobic e-blast that quickly goes viral. He’s fully prepared to drop out and skip town altogether—until his classmates give him a reason to fight back by turning his thirty-day promposal countdown into a school-wide hunt to expose the e-blast perpetrator. But what happens at the end of the thirty days? Will Sky get to keep his hard-won visibility? Or will his small-town blues stop him from being his true self?

Shaq H

3.75 stars rounded up

This was a fun read, and as a follow-up read to Blaine for the Win, I can definitely see a common thread connecting the two books in tropes, motifs, and writing styles.

At the heart of the book is a very endearing plot that follows MC Sky as he trudges through the last 30 days of High School with only one goal in mind; to ask Ali Rashid out in the most epic, spectacular, fantabulous promposal that Rock Ledge has ever seen. However, one awfully bigoted act of hate speech in the form of a mass e-mail sought to crumble Sky's plans and his self-esteem at large. But what happens next proves that it takes more than a slur to put a Queer down cus we're tough as fucking nails.

The characters, too, were a joy to read. I love the dimensions in Sky's character; Mars, his tragic backstory, his non-existent relationship/memory of his dad, his fear of being perceived through the cis-hetero lens etc. Bree and Marshall are spectacular friends, and the other side characters, Ali, Teddy, and Dan were also fabulous as well. The relationship between the core trio made me feel a bit nostalgic about my time in high school, which I think is a testament to Couch's ability to capture the essence of teenage friendship. 

The book has a handful of plot twists that genuinely made my jaw hammer to the ground and my eyes well up in tears. And the best part? I could not have called most of these. Especially the Marshall master planning Teddy's promposal and the yearbook reveal bit.. Those were incredible.

However, a glaring problem that the book has – in my opinion at least – is that it keeps leaving the best parts out. The chapters often end the moment a climax is achieved or, well, it just ends at really unfortunate timings. For example, the aftermath of the fight between Gus and Sky could have been explored instead of cutting to the next day and having Sky's feelings about yesterday's happenings be relegated to 2 mere lines. Furthermore, the Lake Michigan dip scene could have been so much longer because we never got to see how the others reacted to Mars and what that meant to Sky. It could have been so heartwarming to see the whole scene drawn out more. Next, the ending is pretty stupid because, at the core of the book, the central theme hanging over each character + the reader is prom! So to not have a glimpse into how their prom worked out, or how Sky felt about going to prom with Teddy instead of Ali, or how this could have been like a full circle moment for the gang is absurdddd to say the least. Lastly, Teddy and Sky's relationship is criminally underrepresented in the book which is insane? After Teddy's promposal we just cut to 30 days later LIKE ???????? 

I could keep going but I will stop here. This book could have easily been 4.5 or 5 stars but the missing in-betweens kept putting me off, but this is an otherwise decent book!

(EDIT: Aside from the missing in-betweens, I loved how most of the loose ends were tied up by the end of the book; like the aforementioned promposal master planning, and Bree's doleful mood at the time of Ali's party so that's another merit for the book!)

Please find another personality trait other than being gay and have a scar.

This only got two stars because I only liked two characters so a star for Ali and a star for Winter

Kat 

Dear sky baker, 

Please find another personality trait other than being gay and have a scar.

This only got two stars because I only liked two characters so a star for Ali and a star for Winter

Teodora Nagy

Rachel Evans

(4.75/5) Audiobook - 4 hours 27 minutes - I absolutely adored this book. I love all of the characters a lot, especially Sky, the main character. When I first started reading this, I thought his voice and narrative might be annoying but I ended up loving reading from his perspective. All of the side characters were incredibly likeable and 3-dimensional as well, and didn't feel like diversity for the sake of diversity. The plot was also a pleasant surprise - often LGBTQ YA contemporary books have a similar sort of plot, which isn't inherently a bad thing, but this book was a refreshing change. While it wasn't that dissimilar to the standard plot, there were multiple side-plots that focused on different sets of characters which made the book feel more realistic. And I loved the ending with my whole heart.

Sebastián

The cover was what caught my eye and the book is so well written making it easy to read and to empathize with.

Ethan Hill

I don't want to be too critical so I will say this is a very well structured debut that has a very satisfying conclusion and a very likable protagonist.

That being said...

It very much feels like one of those stories Netflix buys to turn into one of its summer releases that gets a bit of attention and multiple Buzzfeed quizzes in the vein of Tell us your favorite pasta dish and we'll tell you what Sky Blues character you are but that everybody ultimately forgets about in a few months. 

Still a fun read though!

Rania Singla

this was too effing cute 🥺 i’m crying.

also now i have an urge to keep saying franch fries (iykyk)

rtc.

Gabriel Noel 

ARC given by Edelweiss+ for Honest Review

When I started "The Sky Blues" I was quickly worried that this story was going to be a "look at me I'm gay and the world is straight and I'm going to be dramatic about it and it's going to be my entire personality" kind of read. Luckily, as I kept reading I was proved wrong. This is not to say that Skye did not have this kind of outlook at first but his character development as well as realizing that people aren't always as they seem really gave the story the boost above middle of the road for me.

The first few chapters dragged as the story got started, but as soon as Skye's secret got leaked the story was fun, interesting, and I finished the second half in one sitting.

The characters are funny, well rounded, and all have lovely stories. The balance between teen romance and dealing with hardships is very well done. The representation is top notch throuought. Trans rep, POC rep, and trauma rep where all written very well.

I'm glad I decided to stick with this book. Definitely something I'll be recommending for our YA section and to my friends for a read!

Ahaana Bhargava

Read the full review on my blog!

Overall, The Sky Blues is a hard-hitting contemporary novel that deals with themes present in today's society such as homophobia, racism, and just bullying as a whole. After both sobbing and completing tissue boxes whole, as well as laughing until I got hiccups, I can (from experience) tell you that this book is a wild ride (in the best way possible). Seeing found family, and great, loving, supporting friendships was one of the best parts of this book. But what really stole the show for me was the natural diversity. Through this novel, so many marginalised voices are uplifted, and it shows us how being from a specific ethnic minority can impact your identity, and your actions. It also shows us how deeply ingrained racism is in our society, and how a person of color, a queer person, or a disabled person just doesn't have the same freedom and safety as a straight, white, fit one. The Sky Blues tackled so many real-life issues high-schoolers face, such as misgendering, and basic shaming because of the minority they come from without looking back. 

TL;DR - 
go read this right now because it's perfect thank you; also brb i need to go re-read it again because it gave me ALL the feels!!!

Candyce Kirk

Belle Ellrich

*I RECEIVED A PHYSICAL ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY OPINION*

"The Sky Blues" is like that friend you've been waiting for a hug from. It has the connection, the warmth, and the giddiness in it that you just can't help but fawn over, and Robbie Couch's voice throughout the story is impeccable.

Beginning this book, I'd known from the first few pages that I'd really love it. Sky is an easy character to love and connect to, just from the way he interacted and spoke with the people and things around him. Sky's personality is so loving, and it was pretty refreshing to experience while reading.

I loved the Michigan setting in this book. With the theme of "blues" going, I don't really think there would've been a better place to choose for it. Though, I will say, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron can sometimes be more green than blue, I loved the setting it added to the story and the overall feeling of home it gave.

With LGBTQIA2+ books, we want to see happy stories that don't always focus on the pain and harm, but we also want to see books centering around those topics too. This book was the latter of the two, and I felt like it was handled extremely well and with gentle care throughout. It was clear that there was a lot of thought, and maybe even a bit of experience, put into it, and--even as someone with a different sexuality from Sky--I was able to relate a bit and understand each and every struggle, concern, etc.

I also want to capitalize on the emotions and feelings this book gave. Not only did it have my full attention from the first few pages, but it entirely captured my heart too. Sky, his friends, his guardians, the people that stepped up to support him---they all captured my heart. Robbie Couch clearly wrote his characters in a way I feel is often missed out on in other books, and it made the reader easily able to fall in love with who they are.

Lastly, the plot. Though I sometimes felt like there were a few things that were just too cliche for me, I loved everything about the story that Couch crafted. It's one I definitely won't be forgetting anytime soon, and one I will be returning to in the future.

For that, I rate "The Sky Blues" 4.5 stars. I cannot wait for whatever Robbie Couch might release next, and I'll be eagerly awaiting the day when we do have more books to read from him. If you haven't already picked up "The Sky Blues," I would highly suggest doing so as soon as possible.

Megan &
The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch

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