I enjoyed this book and thought it was really good for a YA debut. I liked Sky and the side characters but I just wanted a little bit more from the story to make it a 5 star read for me.

I adored this sensitive, life-affirming queer romance by Couch. Character is at the core of this novel, and watching the protagonist grow throughout was a joy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I loved this book! Sky is awkward in a relatable, teenaged way. I also liked that this book shows the death throws of a crush because it felt so true and realistic, and we hardly ever see that in YA. The focus on friendship and community in this book was stellar! I loved seeing the students come together. There were small things I didn't love about this one, but overall it was a hit!

This one was so fun! As an educator, I can't wait to add this to my classroom library. These are the types of books I wished I had growing up, I can't tell you how meaningful to high school me it would have been to read about another gay high schooler. The Sky Blues specifically because I came out my junior year and had to deal with issues related to prom, just like the main character in this novel! This was a quick, enjoyable read and will pick up any subsequent book Robbie Couch writes!

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

I liked this book but felt like there were some far fetched plot lines. Sky is an openly gay teen in a small town full of not so accepting folks, including his family. I thought the way his bedroom wall list was exposed was a little forced and not super believable. Loved the core group of characters and lots of diversity in what they are struggling with. This made it more authentic and true to high schoolers. Overall it was fine but not super memorable.

I loved this little book! I could have spent a hundred more pages with Sky and his beautiful found family. The writing shows how deeply Couch cares about these characters and this story. I would love to scoop up Sky (and all of his friends) and take care of him (and them). And don't even get me started on Teddy.

CW for bullying, homophobic and racist slurs, a minor being abandoned for being LGBTQ+, underaged drinking, mentions of transphobia

A beautiful, buoyant, blessedly gay work of YA literature. I loved every single second that I spent blowing through this gorgeous novel. I devoured it in less than a day, simply unable to put it down.

In The Sky Blues, Robbie Couch tells the story of Sky Baker, a gay teenager trying to make it through his senior year of high school, and hoping to snag the guy he likes along the way. Sky’s life is filled with obstacles no teenager (or any person, really) should ever have to encounter, but that many sadly do, such as homophobic family members, lack of stable housing, and financial struggles. To top it all off, Sky and his friend become the victims of a hate-fueled social media attack that leaves them both feeling defeated... but not for long.

Sky’s character development throughout the story is lovely and heartwarming, and each of the secondary characters in the book (with the exception of Cliff- screw that guy) are just as lovable and relatable as the main character. I wish I could get this book into the hands of every LGBTQIA+ kid who’s struggling to find their way. This novel is a poignant and precious reminder that the best family is sometimes not the one that we’re given, but the one that we choose.

Special thanks to Netgalley, as well as the author and publisher, for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Sky Baker might be openly gay, but living in a small town has caused him to hide parts of himself in public. He decides to not hold back his senior year of high school and secretly plans a promposal for the boy of his dreams. His plans go awry when his plans are leaked to the school in a homophobic email blast and now him and his friends are on the hunt to figure out who did it.

What an adorable book! 🥺 This definitely falls into the “I wish I read this when I was younger” category of books.

It was so freaking cute and realistic. Couch hit on body issues, grief, homophobia, family dynamics, bullying, and toxic religion so well. For me, the standout was the found family theme throughout the book - Sky forms such a loving family around him that was so heartwarming to read about. His relationship with Charlie was my absolute favorite - I just wish we got to see more of it and the prom!

Thank you so much @philsbookcorner, @pageturningaj, @theboywiththeraventattoo, and @prksofbeingabibliophile for another wonderful gay af buddy read! 💕🌈

This book is a cute, quick read, if a little predictable in places. Some of the characters felt a little two-dimensional, and the conflict with solving who the hacker to me seemed a little far-fetched even though the author took the time to point out how it could be believable in the text. That said, Sky is a good unreliable narrator; some of my favorite parts in the book were when he realizes the struggles or issues others are going through, then changing his behavior and thoughts because of that.

To start with, I know a lot of books get compared to Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, but I feel confident in saying if you enjoyed that book, pick up this one (and you get to skip the traumatic forced outing!). I absolutely love this book. As a gay man who also grew up in a small Michigan lake town, I greatly related to Sky, though I did not have the courage he did to come out in high school. It was a little jarring to hear places I knew pretty intimately being mentioned casually, like Cadillac and Traverse City; is this what it feels like to live in New York or California where things are set, like, constantly? This book has truly everything I need: gays, a great sense of humor, family drama, found family, amazing friendships; I feel like this book was written with me in mind. Couch has solidified me as a huge fan, and Blaine for the Win has hopped up to one of my most anticipated reads of next year.

This was pretty okay! I think it will be very meaningful for young queer kids and I absolutely love that. I do think it was a bit tropey, especially with the secret photo-leak plot which seems like it has been done a million times in LGBTQ+ YA. Would have loved to have seen this book take on queerness and interracial relationships without a traumatizing subplot. Also there are a number of HP references in the year 2021 :,(

Lets talk about prom baby, that what sky and her best friend are talking. sky have thirty days to ask his crush to prom. He is not even sure he is gay but he is all in for his promposal. When his plan got leaked in front of all the school in homophobic ways all sky want is to let go of school, his town, and homophobic mother. But soon enough he learn he have to be TOUGH. Tough to fight back, tough to get accepted, not get humiliated by bullies and get what he deserves.

📖 I loved this book so much, funny and crazy but realistic in the same way. Cause lets be honest, being from the lgbtq+ is not accepted by everyone. There's still hate. People are being bullied, violence etc. But fortunately there those people too that accept you, love you, and respect you for who you are. So hands up for those. You make a better world.

🌈 There no gay ways to be gay, if you wanna play football, or talk about "to all the boys i loved before" or both , its all good , just be you 😘

Sky may seem like your typical high school senior, but his life has been difficult. His father passed away in a car accident when Sky was little and he has no memory of the man. The one thing Sky does have is a scar from being in the car as well. His relationship with his mother and brother were always tenuous, but when Sky comes out, his mother asks him to leave. He has a safe place to live with his best friend, Bree, and her family, but graduation is approaching and Sky knows he will be left behind in their small town.

Sky is out in school and, while his friends are supportive, not everyone is, and Sky is constantly checking himself to blend in better and diffuse the bullies. But Sky is determined to enjoy his senior year and his plan is to publicly ask his crush, Ali, to the prom during the senior beach party. The party is 30 days away and Sky is busy making plans.

His plans are blown sky high when they are leaked in an embarrassing and intrusive way over an eblast that gains a lot of traction. Sky is prepared to never set foot in school again, but support from his peers is the last thing he expected. With his promposal plans on hold, the countdown continues to find out who hacked the eblast. But Sky is now unsure what happens when the thirty days are up and Sky’s life is about to move in paths that he never expected.

Robbie Couch offers his debut novel with The Sky Blues and I think fans of YA will find a lot to like here. The story here draws on inspiration from Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, (or the adapted movie Love, Simon) with even a brief reference made to Simon, and has some 80s movie vibes woven in. Sky is an easy character to like from the start and if high school isn’t sometimes difficult enough, Sky has a few more layers of difficulty piled on. He’s self-conscious of being able to blend in at school and he’s self-conscious of his scar and although he knows he has a place to live during high school at his friend Bree’s house, no one has talked yet about what happens after graduation. Sky’s crush on Ali has reached epic levels and even Sky feels like he’s too invested, but figuring out how to ask Ali to the prom has been his current life goals.

The book has a movie feel to it, where some scenes might have been more impactful if I had been able to see them due to the way they were structured. The positive people in Sky’s life are definitely there to prop him up and don’t have nearly as much dimension or depth as Sky himself does. When things do go wrong for Sky, he realizes he had more support in places he never thought and is disappointed in the places he thought he should have support, and his perspective starts to change as he grows up.

Some things were too convenient and too well placed in his quest to uncover the truth behind the online leak and, as the 30-day countdown wound down and Sky became unsure of his plan, it seemed the storyline suffered the same fate with not knowing where to position itself as it ended. There is a romantic interest for Sky and it becomes a plot line that is in addition to the rest of his story and keeps to the YA feel. There is a loose ending here, as Sky’s journey is still a work in progress and some aspects of his story are not tightly tied up. While I was okay with that in some areas and it worked for his age, I also felt that other areas needed more follow through.

Robbie Couch would be an author to watch as his writing moves beyond this debut. The one thing I think most readers would agree on is that Sky is a character that you will want to cheer on as he navigates his last year of high school.

Personal Note: The Sky Blues was first selected by Sammy to review. When she passed away in April, I then took over the review opportunity in her honor. Sammy had a special fondness for young adult books and was a champion for young heroes finding their way. I would like to think that she also would have been cheering on Sky.

The Sky Blues is an incredibly necessary story (I like YA stories that tackle heavy topics), but also a challenging one. I saw all the good reviews for this one, and I am super sad to say that I just did not enjoy as much as I hoped. The beginning was good, if a little slow, I started to really enjoy it in the middle and the end just. went down hill for me personally.

One of the positive things about this book was that the plotting was fairly good! By that I mean there were a few good twists, some fun friendship arcs and Sky's own character evolved a lot! He became more sure of himself, that's for sure.

But, in the end, the bad outweighed the good for me. I didn't love any of the characters, to be honest. Usually there's at least one minor character that I like/relate with but there just was not anyone, sadly. And the story was not believable for me, I felt that there was a lot of overly convenient parts.

Anyway, since this isn't a book that I loved, I'm not going to go on about it, because I really don't have anything else to say except: this book wasn't for me! But that doesn't mean that it was bad, and I am super happy that so many people are loving it!

I received an advanced copy of The Sky Blues as a host for Turn the Page Tours so I could share my review with you!

Content Warning: The Sky Blues contain scenes and discussions of homophobia, racism, body dysmorphia from a past injury, death of a parent, anxiety, and a negative parental reaction to coming out.

Sky Baker knows a thing or two about invisibility. Though he is openly gay, his small-town world never fails to remind him that he doesn’t belong. Sky won’t let this atmosphere of homophobia bring him down, because nothing can stand in the way of his perfect senior year. At least, Sky thought that nothing could until someone leaked his plans to surprise his crush with a spectacular promposal. Sky is left picking up the pieces of his life after undergoing such a mortifying ordeal until he formulates the perfect plan to get back at the person responsible for sharing his personal life with the entire school. With the help of his friends and some unexpected allies from school, Sky will make his senior year count, even if it doesn’t go exactly as he expected.

You can get your copy of The Sky Blues now from Simon Teen!

Every once in a while, I will find a contemporary novel that sweeps me away from reality so completely that I feel disoriented after finishing. The Sky Blues, being incredibly immersive and easy to read, was one of these few books for me! I was pulled into Sky’s journey from the outset, and couldn’t resist reading more of his journey. My favorite relationship in this book is easily that between Sky and Ms. Winter, his yearbook professor and all-around mentor. Every queer student (both those who are closeted and out) who has gone through high school deserved to have a teacher they could rely on the way that Sky relied on Winter. As someone who had a Ms. Winter of my own during the roughest school days, I know first-hand the power that an ally can hold. For this character relationship, among many other reasons, The Sky Blues has become one of my favorite contemporary reads of 2021 thus far!

My Recommendation-
If you have been looking for a spring-y contemporary novel to celebrate the changing of seasons, The Sky Blues would be a perfect fit for you! I would recommend this story to fans of Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera!

I have long suffered with the knowledge that most protagonist in YA books act and sound too mature to be teens, but The Sky Blues filled my heart with hope and joy as I watched a protagonist get involved into very teenage shenanigans while sounding like an absolute love-smitten, bumbling teen who walked into my heart and made it his home

This book is like a slice of paradise filled with so much joy and love, even amongst the lowest of lows that Sky experiences. Every word and phrase glitters with excellence and adoration for the story itself and the characters. Reading Sky’s story with these exact words made it so much more enjoyable; resembling a place of freedom and happiness for me.

I loved how this book placed importance of putting one’s self first, when in romance novels we often find protagonists lose their own selves in their love interests. It highlighted the significance of community and solidarity, especially for teenagers who are in a period of constant vulnerability.

Unfortunately, I do not have enough time to talk about all the things I loved about this book (I will probably update this review, when I do), but I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND picking up The Sky Blues for its cute romance, the most adorable protagonist, and the sheer wonder and joy of it all.

OMG. What a masterpiece this book is! So much fun and beautiful, I truly wished for it to never end. Sky Baker, the openly gay MC, is really an awesome guy with an emotionally disturbing past. I loved Sky for being his true self – carefree, helpful, and a great friend. The writing is so smooth and tight-knit that I never found myself bored of it. Full of humour, some real life dialogues and all the great fun, the young and energetic writing is a treat to read. The Sky and his friendship with his friends is so refreshing and warm – I wish to get such fun & caring friends in my life! In the entire book, Sky’s friends help him with promposal ideas to take care of him during homophobic e-blast episode, and this strong friendship is the backbone of the book.

Well, the blurb shows the book is all about homophobia, but in reality, add racism and transphobia in it. I forgot to add social anxiety in the ingredients. The book very calmly talks about these social issues, without going overboard with them. Nor these issues make the book look oppressive.Racism, transphobia and social anxiety are the support to the real issue of the book – transphobia. But they too are portrayed so comfortably, I wondered if the school system in the US is so weak and racist that it can’t protect LGBT and coloured students who constantly live in the fear of social rejection.

The character development is honestly amazing and the world building is wonderful. All the characters have some important role in the story and the role portrayal is worthy of applause. From Sky to Ali and the villain, every character takes the story forward with perfect timing, excellent emotion display and all the swag and charm the high school brings. Personally, I wished for some characters to be taken out to make the story more refined and light. Not that these extra characters are slowing down the story, it’s just that I wished to get a minimum audience here. The warm and sparkling chemistry between Sky and Ali made me wish they were a real life couple while having read only half of the book!

I seriously loved the book, and I won’t stop recommending this gem to all the readers, because this book has the charm and style to make you support everyone, everytime. And yes, LGBT people are humans! And yes yes, coloured people are humans too!!

The perfect amount of all the emotions, strong LGBT vibes, then honest and subtle display of homophobia and deep friendship – all adds up to make the book the best LGBT read for me! I DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK – FOR THIS BOOK IS A ROLLERCOASTER OF TRUE LOVE, REAL FRIENDSHIP AND SOME SERIOUS ISSUES DEALT BEAUTIFULLY!! 🌈

I actually didn’t expect this to enjoy this so much, but hey, it’s always such a good feeling when a book can really do that to you. So, in here we meet Sky, a senior year student in a small town. Even though he’s out and proud, he wants to keep a low key gayness level. He lives in the basement of his best friends house because his mother and brother hate him for being gay and his dad died when he was young. He also has got a really big crush on a guy called Ali who he wants to ask out for prom. Amidst all this, homophobia still exists, and Sky’s plans don’t go the way he had planned when a bully comes in. He has to decide how he will tackle this and see who all stand by him.

First of all, I refuse to believe that this a debut novel. The characters, voice, story, theme and everything in between feels SO MATURE in a way that the author is 101% sure and has been doing it for quite some time now!

What I particularly enjoyed about this book was the fact that how Sky dealt with his circumstances. Yes, he did make some mistakes but considering what all he had to handle and how he fared at the end of it all - I was willing to forgive him.

There was something really beautiful about elder members of the LGBTQIA+ community helping the younger ones. I think having real life people who you can look up to can make a lot of difference. Sky receives that and its so heartwarming to see it.

This was one of those books which just gave me the warmest hug exactly when I needed it. And I am quite sure that no matter when you read it, this book and its characters have the power to touch you and make you cheer for them until the very end!

The Sky Blues is a story that's equal parts fun and heart-wrenching. This novel balances well its themes of found family, forgiveness, and self-acceptance, and immerses us in the particular world of this character while dealing with more universal questions of identity and relationships.

SPOILERS: I was not particularly fond of the "Gay for" t-shirts, but I wasn't bothered enough by it to dislike the book overall (there are plenty of ways my own friends supported me in high school that now makes me cringe). My only other nitpick is that the protagonist describes himself by his Harry Potter "House" at some point, which is not something you're likely to see from the Class of 2021.

Overall this is an enjoyable, affirming book that I'm sure many teens will enjoy.