e sky blues by @robbiecouch and she drives me crazy by @kellyquindlen

Oh these two books just made me all warm and Fuzzy inside.. And just gave me all the feels.

The sky blues by Robbie couch

Recently I needed a read that I knew I could fly through, enjoy and by the end of it have my heart just growing three sizes more (i’m not the grinch don’t worry 😂 whenever I read a heartfelt story all my love and emotions just pours out more)

This was such a beautiful YA contemporary Debut by Robbie Couch! It had me racing through the pages even though at times I wanted to savour it as I loved this friendship group so much and didn’t want to leave them just yet 🥺 This I will say is also such a Great book if you ever are in the mood/want to read a book about wonderful friendships who would do anything for Sky (The MC), found family, and a lil bit of Romance too!
Most of all this is a book.. about being your true self, never letting anyone tell you otherwise and to live Authentically YOU!
Fight Back for what is right!

Sky spends his life living with his best friend Bree's family, trying not to think about how his mom disowned him for being gay, and planning an epic promposal for his crush, Ari.

Shockingly, someone manages to leak a photo of Ari and Bree's promposal wall full of ridiculous ideas and suggestions. The message that is sent out to everyone is homophobic and racist. Sky's first reaction is to turtle in his room and avoid everyone. His friends, some teachers, Bree's family, and some people from the past work together to try and find out who posted the photo and make a statement that their school and their prom are welcoming to everyone.

Sky is a wonderful character. He's always been quite self-aware. He just hasn't been "out". Some of his discomfort from being gay comes from a place of confusion. He thinks he's different from his straight friends and hasn't really even given them the chance to get to know him as a whole. There is a subplot with Sky and his best friend Marshall, who is straight (at least so it seems) and interested in sports, but Sky makes a lot of assumptions about what he does and does not tell Marshall. Couch's story lets us follow along as the friendship between the two boys grows and changes.

As Sky's world grows bigger, there are always people who aren't supportive but there are a lot of people who are. Couch does a fantastic job of balancing everything in this novel.

This was such a great accepting yourself story. It dabbled in romance (with a satisfying confession), LGBT/racial minority solidarity, familial homophobes, bullying, etc. I read this in one day.

The Sky Blues is, in my humble personal opinion, a little bit of a perfect book. A big part of that is thanks to the great writing, of course. You would not guess this is a debut, if you didn’t know. Not only is the style itself good, but Couch also nails the voice of the teenagers. Which, arguably, is the most important thing about writing YA books.

(I do have to note, for those of you who understand how big of a compliment it is, that the vibes here are reminiscent of a fic. Not even a specific aspect of the writing, though the cool humour & the dynamics between characters definitely help, but the energy of the style & the story itself. I mean this in a very good way, so if you don’t read fics yourself, just ignore this paragraph.)

I think the rating gave it away already, but I truly do not have anything that I would change in this book. So instead let’s talk about all the things that I absolutely loved:

The way the whole school stood together when Sky’s plans got outed. That overwhelming feeling of community, of belonging. Of being loved and being safe. It’s visible in other parts of the novel as well, but might be the most obvious right here, when teens literally unite for the sake of someone else’s mental well being.

That feeling of protection is also there in the form of adult people Sky meets. Because yes, his mother and brother aren’t supportive and that sucks. But! But there are other parental figures to be found, and lots of them: teachers, other parents. No spoilers but one of those figures is gay, and the concept of older gay people taking care of the younger generation is the most beautiful thing in the world.

That’s probably what makes The Sky Blues work so well. This understanding that even though a conflict is crucial for a story, that LGBT teens coming from shitty homes is still a reality for so many of us, there needs to be something to counter it off. There needs to be a balance, because at the end of the day this is a work of fiction designed to give readers hope. And it does. It tells you time and time again that no matter how many awful things happen to you, there will always be people who love you. That family isn’t just measured by blood.

There’s also another message The Sky Blues sends: that you need to put yourself first. Not in a way that you can do whatever you want, even if it hurts other people. Instead it shows you that if someone hurt you, you don’t owe them anything. You don’t have to listen to their explanations, their apology. You don’t have to let them keep hurting you out of some imagined obligation. You only need to do what will help you, what will make you stronger and happier.

Also like, the romance is the cutest ever. And when it comes to actual relationships, Sky is incredibly oblivious.

I’m gonna close with my initial one-sentence review that I wrote right after finishing the book because it still just captures the energy of The Sky Blues: “many thoughts, head full (of love)”.

For openly gay Sky, life isn't easy in his small town. The car accident that killed his father left him with physical and emotional scars, his mother kicked him out of the house after he came out, and his classmate Cliff is constantly bullying him. Wanting to reclaim his senior year, Sky is determined to produce an epic promposal for his longtime crush, Ali.

When pictures of his promposal plan are leaked to the whole school (and then spread to the whole town), Sky just wants to hide away again. But the actions of his classmates and town just may surprise him in the best possible way.

I loved this book so much. Every character is complex, nuanaced, and feels so real. Sky himself admits he isn't perfect, but that he's learning and trying. Sky's found family are so wonderful, I was rooting for them and Sky so much. Every storyline works, and many of them come together in unexpected ways. The hurt that Sky endures from his mother and brother, from Cliff, from his past, is real and palable. But so is the love that surrounds him.

This is a beautiful book, filled with so much light, the overcoming of obstacles and the power of coming together, loving yourself and loving others, embracing differences, finding your family, and achieving your dreams. I recommend this book so highly. It gave me hope and brought me joy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for the eARC of this timely YA read.

Or maybe it’s not timely enough for me, who could have used this book when I was 15. So, for sure, in many ways, I am not the intended audience for Sky Blues, but even so, the plot is pretty satisfying.

Sky Baker is a senior in high school in northwest Michigan. His pleasingly diverse friends include “the only black kid in norther Michigan,” and his crush is an Iraqi-American, Ali Rashid. Sky is “gay for Ali,” and this leads to the plot mechanics that drive the novel’s events.

Some of the plotting is a bit spotty, with multiple plot points explained after the fact, but all in all, Sky Blues is a very satisfying YA novel.

The Sky Blues was a fun and quick read. I thought the book highlighting the issues of terminal illness within a family and coping with it, was well written. Reading about large promposals brought back the nerves and excitement and fun that the prom season of high school carried. Would definitely recommend it to other readers, especially those who search for books with LGBTQ representation.

Cute, diverse, and full of both the best and the worst of small-town life, The Sky Blues is an ode to friendship, young love, and the importance of being yourself. While I wouldn’t call it a perfect read, it is a fast, fun read that will certainly appeal to younger YA fans, especially fans of “leaked romantic feelings” stories like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

One of the strongest points of this book was its emphasis on friendship. Sky’s relationships with his best friends Bree and Marshall were vibrant, full of the banter and intuitive understanding that comes from a lifetime of being buddies. The trio are always supportive (if occasionally jealous–hey, no friendship is perfect!) and will stop at nothing to help each other out. Even though the book is pitched as a romance, there honestly isn’t too much of that; it’s more about all the other relationships, especially the idea of a chosen family and the importance of fighting to maintain your friendships.

Unfortunately, this friendship emphasis was also a bit of a drawback. There were SO MANY side characters in this book, and most of them felt very two-dimensional, with not a ton of development aside from their direct relevance to the plot. This applied doubly to the adult characters in the book, who were practically caricatures of adult personalities: either the super homophobic parents or the wholesome, ultra-supportive parent-figures, with not much in between.

But back to the positives! The diversity in this story was excellent. There were racially diverse characters (Marshall is Black, Ali is Middle Eastern or South Asian [not ever explicitly stated which, to my recollection]), diverse queer rep (including a trans side character and a gay adult couple), and even an autistic side character.

The writing style here is one that I think will garner mixed feelings from readers–while it didn’t quite work for me, I think other readers will love it. Sky’s narration is very, very “teenage,” super casual and full of intense feelings and cheesy descriptions. Being able to nail a teenage voice is obviously great for YA; to me, though, it felt a bit like it was trying too hard, especially with how many random pop culture references it dropped in (heck, they even mentioned Left Shark, which was quite a throwback). Again, though, your mileage may vary, and I think the points that felt a little “extra” to me might be really enjoyable for others, especially younger YA fans or people who enjoy reading, for example, fanfiction.

There’s one more poignant element of the story that I feel like the blurb doesn’t mention at all. Early on, we learn that Sky’s dad died in a car crash when Sky was a kid, and the crash left Sky with a large burn scar on his chest. The fallout from these childhood events continues to reverberate throughout the story, both through Sky’s body image issues regarding the scar, and through the drastic effects his father’s death had on his family as a whole. These elements really helped lend extra emotional depth to the story and round out Sky’s character. I do wish that the ending of the book had allowed a little more time to fully wrap up these narrative threads, though; it felt like it didn’t give them the full resolution they needed, and I wanted something a little less vague and a little more satisfying.

One final quibble I had was with the characters in the book starting up a club called GLOW: Gay, Lesbian, Or Whatever. While I get that the point is to make sure the acronym is inclusive, “or whatever” feels very dismissive to all identities that aren’t gay or lesbian and honestly comes off as pretty exclusionist. And, considering that the character who proposes starting this group is trans, it rubbed me the wrong way even more. Obviously, different people are comfortable with different labels, but for me (as someone who’s ace and thus already has to deal with a lot of exclusionist rhetoric), it was super uncomfy.

All in all, The Sky Blues is a story riddled with teenage anxiety, but ultimately full of hope. It will resonate well with queer teens who are still trying to find out how to fit in–and who have yet to realize that, really, they don’t have to.

Trigger/content warnings: homophobia, Islamophobia, use of the f-slur and the r-slur (both challenged)

Sky already has a lot going on in his life: he’s been kicked out of his house for being gay (something that occurs before the start of the narrative), and his college plans hinge on a scholarship he’s not sure he’s going to get. Being targeted in the school newsletter is yet another obstacle, but Sky’s found family is there to support him.

This book is two parts mystery and one part coming of age. The way in which Sky and his friends methodically create a chain of clues leading to the person behind the hack is brilliant. The second mystery aspect pairs nicely with the coming of age bit: Sky’s father died in a car crash when Sky was six, and so Sky never really got to know him. This is something that has always troubled him, and over the course of the novel, he receives some resolution to his lingering questions.

I loved how the “promposal countdown” ticker was incorporated into the beginning of chapters. It created a sense of urgency, as the reader anxiously waits to find out what was going to happen. Just because Sky’s “big surprise” was revealed in that e-blast, it doesn’t mean there’s no room for unexpected things to happen.

I would absolutely recommend The Sky Blues. This is a stunning debut novel—one of those YA books that transcends its genre and will appeal to adult readers as well. I’m looking forward to reading more from Couch in the future.

Okay, so let me just start my review my saying this: the book is amazing. No, not just amazing--it's a remarkable, hilarious, brilliant gem of a novel. There's so much to love about it, so prepare to hear me gush about it for the next several paragraphs.

First, let's talk about Sky Baker himself. It was an absolute joy to spend 336 pages in his head. His witty thoughts are the best thing since the invention of chocolate chip cookies, and he's just the right combination of awkward and nerdy. He's also super passionate about the things and people he cares about. He's a bit insecure and doesn't have the best self-esteem, but this allows readers (or at least me) to empathize with him. It was inspiring to see him grow and become more confident throughout this book. Also, I can't even express how much I love that he covered an entire wall with promposal ideas for the guy he likes. That's the kind of nerdiness I crave in a character, and Sky Baker did not disappoint.

Next up: the friendship. AAAAHHHHH THE FRIENDSHIP! If a genie popped out of a bottle right this moment and offered me three wishes, one of them would hands-down be to magically become part of Sky's friend group. They have such a good dynamic and their personalities compliment each other perfectly. I loved how Bree and Marshall were so supportive of Sky. I liked how even though their friend group expanded to include other people, like Teddy and Ali, the three of them still stayed super close. Their friendship also felt really natural, and even though there were some tumultuous moments, they always made up and became even closer because of it.

I'm not going to go very in-depth with talking about the romance because spoilers must be avoided at all costs, but it suffices to say that the romance is insanely cute and heart-fluttery *insert a million heart-eyed emojis* Plus it felt like a really natural romantic development (thank goodness for no insta-love!). Aaaaaand I'm just going to leave it at that because if I say anything more spoilers are going to come out and I'm a personal believer that spoilers must be avoided like vampires avoid garlic and sunlight *hiss*

​Also, the representation in this book! I loved how inclusive this book was. Sky's friend Marshall is Black, and his crush, Ali Rashid, is Iraqi-American; there were some important discussions about race and racial stereotypes. There was also some great LGBTQ+ representation, with Sky being gay and another character eventually revealing that he's transgender. This book also presented some meaningful discussions about not making assumptions about people and not realizing what others experience because of their race or sexuality.

I also enjoyed the inspirational adult characters in this book. In a lot of YA books, adult characters are bland or annoying, but in this book many were portrayed as kind, accepting, encouraging. One of Sky's teachers, Winter, was especially inspiring and always had plenty of good advice to offer. Bree's parents were also really kind and loving, and it was heartwarming to see them accept Sky readily into their lives. I also loved Charlie and Brian; they were so kind to Sky, and it was sweet to see him gain confidence from them.

One last spectacular thing about this book: the nerdy references! Sky's love of To All the Boys I've Loved Before is golden. Watching him and Teddy nerd out over that To All the Boys Instagram fan account was absolutely priceless. Plus there was an adorable Love, Simon reference too! There were a few Harry Potter references that I wasn't a huge fan of, so readers should be aware of that before diving into this book. However, the other nerdy references were spot-on and I adored them.

Well, that's a wrap on my review of The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch! I highly recommend this book, especially for fans of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. I've already read this book twice and I plan to read it many more times in my life. Hands-down, 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Keep scrolling to read some of my favorite quotes from this book!

Thank you so much, Simon and Schuster Children's publishing and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Reader and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book!

TW: homophobia, bullying, racism

Sky Baker lives in a small insular town and, even though he's openly gay, he finds easier being invisible than to be himself. But he won't let anyone ruin his senior year, so he decides to ask his crush, Ali, to prom during the high school's annual beach bum party. He has 30 days to find the perfect promposal. When his promposal plans are leaked in an homophobic and racist e-blast, everything changes and Sky finds himself in the eye of the storm. Upset and angry, Sky almost decides to drop out of school and hide forever, but his friends help him find a reason to fight back and to turning his countdown into a hunt to find out who is behind the e-blast.

I LOVED reading The Sky Blues! It's a wonderful,funny, hopeful and heartwarming novel about a young man who struggles to be himself in claustrophobic small town and who manages to be himself and to find a beautiful and witty found family, fighting against homophobia, racism and bullying in his high school...and in his own biological family.

Sky is a complex, funny and incredible main character. He's strong, stubborn and I loved the way the author talked about his traumas and his strength in fighting back, in finding himself, in finding love and support. His relationship with the Brandstones, with Bree and Marshall, Winter, and, later, with Ali, Teddy and Dan is really heartfelt and amazing and skillfully described.
Robbie Couch wrote beautifully and in a very relatable way Sky's fears and doubts, in growing up, in finding his own home and family, the fear of being bullied if he's himself around other, the struggles in high school and in family's relationship.
It was so moving reading how much Sky was loved and supported, by friends, friends' family, teachers and how funny and important his fight to find the perpetrator was in the high school, how fundamental was to fight back and not give up.

The story is beautiful, funny, tackling so many important issues with care and hope, in a book about found family, being oneself and being loved so incredible I'll be freaking out about it for a very long time!

I love a well-written YA “love yourself” book and that’s exactly what The Sky Blues is. Sky is openly gay but that doesn’t mean that his small town is the most accepting. When Sky decides to live his Senior year to the fullest, he plans the ultimate Promposal to ask his crush, Ali, to the Prom. When Sky’s plans are exposed, along with some gross homophobic vitriol, Sky is crushed and wants to go back to his nearly invisible life. But his friends rally around him and fight to expose the author of the homophobic message.

Funny and smart, this will make a great collection to my high school library.

This book was such a joy.. i loved the characters soooo much i just wanna scoop them up and drink them all up..
Ofcourse its not all unicorns and rainbow (uhmm actually.. a lot of rainbows, pun intended) Its a hardhitting contemporary/romance novel that deals with homophobia and racism in its core, but also majorly focuses on hope and found family and friendship..

this book is full of pop culture references, full on cuteness and have the best side characters ever..

" I must have have accidentally wandered into an alternative universe where Booksmart or To All the Boys I've loved before is my new reality "

This was really a delightful book and I liked it wasn't about the romance. This isn't a love story kind of book. This is a friendship book, an owning who you are no matter all the horrible people who wants to put you down.
This is also not a coming out story. Sky is openly gay but he lives in a homophobic community. One hateful and racist message sent to the whole school starts a sort of revolution and Sky will finally see who has his back and who doesn't.

It was emotional and very well written. One tiny thing was the one Harry Potter mention that was truly unnecessary. At this time and age, we don't need to give that awful author more space in books or outside of them.

Other than that tiny speck, this book was sweet and full of feelings and just fun to read!

There's so much to love about The Sky Blues. From the synopsis, it sounds a lot like a prom book with a gay twist, but it's so much more; with heartwarming friendships, finding yourself and you place in the world, and yes, there's a dash of romance too. I tore through this book once I started it, and I'm so excited to hear that the film rights have been optioned!

Sky is the perfect balance between a strong character to carry the story, and that particular brand of unsure that so many teens about to graduate and enter the real world are. Sky is out as gay, but still feels a disconnect between him and his classmates at his rural Michigan high school, and has been living with his best friend since his mother kicked him out. A lot of the book is centered around how things are shifting as the end of the school year approaches, and I thought how Sky's feelings were written was done really well and captured exacty what this is like. There's also themes of family and how blood families aren't always your true family, and Sky's conflicted feelings of love but also disappointment were portrayed in a really touching fashion. My favourite part of his growth throughout the story, aside from him finding his place as a gay teen at school, was his rediscovery of his father and who he was before he dies - this really added so much to the story and I thought it was really lovely.

The thing I loved the most about this book, which is quite an achievement considering how much I liked it all, was the sense of community and how people were there for Sky. He gets a lot of support from his classmates and friends - the entire Yearbook class is there for him when the school doesn't deal with the harassment he faced properly, and his friends are just generally awesome - but there are also some really great adult figures in the book too. It was so heart-warming how so many people came together to help Sky get back at whoever shared his prom plans with the whole school, because at its core, this is a happy story. The support that he had from adult, like Bree's parents and his Yearbook teacher, but also some he met while dealing with everything happening, really amplified the message that a community and a support system can be a powerful thing.

There's a really great cast of characters, both those who are close to Sky and those who cause problems for him. I really liked the way his friends group was treated - his interactions with Bree and with Marshall were different and suited the way they were friends, but it was still abundantly clear that they were both his best friends and he loved them a lot. There are also newer friendships developing; his feelings for Ali become more platonic than romantic and their growing friendship is awesome, as well as his new friendships with Dan and Teddy. There is a romantic element, and though it certainly doesn't make the romance, I thought it was absolutely adorable and every time they interacted my heart grew a little more.

The Sky Blues was a book perfectly written for what it wanted to be. There were moments where I smiled like a goofball, and moments when I could feel my heart breaking slightly, and everything was perfectly balanced in a really wonderful story. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a contemporary that will give you a warm feeling!

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.

Okay. Yes yes to this book. Sky is a senior in high school with a huge crush on popular boy Ali. After he undergoes some major school embarrassment and bullying, he finds that more people in his school unite and support his sexuality than he knew. GREAT representation in this book. I was so giddy about the love story (no spoilers on that). Sky discovers more about himself, about his father who passed when he was young, and how to overcome adversity when his mother kicks him out when he comes out as gay. I loved seeing Sky’s insecurities and I think that any teen will be able to relate with plots in this storyline. Did I love this one? Yes, yes I did. Should you read it? Yes, yes you should.

Sky Baker is a 17-year-old – soon to be 18 – openly gay student in his small town of Rock Ledge, Michigan, who is both dreading and anticipating the end of high school. Dreading, because as soon as school is done both his best friends will be moving away for college while he’s stuck in Rock Ledge, and anticipating, because once he’s graduated he’ll finally be able to get away from the homophobic bullies at his school. At least his constant daydreaming about asking his crush, Ali Rashid, to prom makes these final school days bearable.

That is, until an anonymous hacker somehow leaks Sky’s plans for his promposal to Ali on their senior class’s weekly e-blast in a super homophobic (and racist) way. Now everyone – including Ali himself – knows how Sky feels. Sky is devastated, but soon realizes he’s not as alone in this fight as he first thought, and that friendship can be found in the most unlikely of places. And while trying to track down the hacker, learns the much more important lesson about being true to yourself.

This book was such a touching, fun, emotional read! I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but I think LGBTQ romance novels have it twice as hard. They have to deliver the fluff and Happily Ever After that readers expect from a romance, but they also have to touch on some pretty tough topics, like homophobia, or their book won’t feel relatable. It takes a deft hand to balance these two well, and is what I think makes The Sky Blues shine.

The setting for this story takes place in small town, MAGA-hat-wearing, America. Something we’re reminded of often while reading. The protagonist, Sky, is not living his perfect, dream-worthy queer life. He’s living something – unfortunately – much more realistic to what many LGBTQ youth know themselves. He’s been kicked out of his mother’s for being gay, constantly fending off homophobic taunts from kids at school, and has no real gay adult figures to look up to.

How Couch includes all this, plus all the other Coming-Of-Age feelings and concerns most teens go through, while keeping the story from being a total downer is a feat in and of itself. The fact that this book also manages to be fun, positive and have an overall uplifting message too? Well, that makes it a story readers wont soon forget.

This book made me cry, laugh, and then cry again. The Sky Blues is an honest, hopeful and moving tale that will easily win your heart.

Thank you to Turn the Page Tours and the publisher, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, for providing me with an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

Sky is ready for senior year to be over but before he says goodbye to high school he plans to make a statement and stand up against homophobic bullies by asking his crush, Ali Rashid, to prom. However, when Sky's plans and a photo of him and Ali are sent to the entire class in a hate-filled email blast, it sends Sky into a spiral. Just when things feel totally hopeless, Sky's friends and classmates are there to help pick him back up, rallying around him and joining him in his search to find out who was responsible for the email.

From the very beginning I loved Sky! He's a kid that has gone through many intensely difficult experiences, from losing his father at an early age to being kicked out of his home by his homophobic mother. Despite these hardships, and growing up in a less than inclusive small town, Sky has remained true to himself. When the book first starts, Sky feels like an outsider, even in his close-knit friend group, and feels especially isolated as the only out queer kid at school. Yet as the story progresses, he learns how his friends also feel othered, like his best friend Marshal who is Black or like Ali, his crush, whose family is from Iraq. I appreciated that Sky is able to look beyond his own issues and learn from his friends and be more open with them.

While this book does revolve around Sky's crushes, at the heart it's about the importance of friendship and found family. I especially loved the relationships that Sky has with the adults in his life -- his best friend Bree's parents who took him in, his yearbook teacher, and Charlie, his late father's best friend. It was wonderful to read these adults being protective and supportive while also sharing their experiences and hard earned advice.

My only real critique is that the end of the story felt a bit rushed and I would have liked a couple more chapters to get into some of the relationships that developed towards the end of the novel. Some parts were really hard to read (like the stuff with Sky's homophobic family) but every time Sky experiences what he refers to as the "boulder of gay gloom" he always has people there to help him get through it. Overall, it was a fast read that kept me fully engaged and left me feeling happy and hopeful!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this to review! It's being marketed as a combination of What If It's Us and I Wish You All the Best, which honestly sounds like the perfect combination. And I'm here to confirm that it is!

Let's start with Sky. What isn't to like about him? He struggles a lot with his image, being from small town Michigan. He doesn't want to appear too gay. But he's surrounded by some of the best friends and people. Seriously. Couch does such a great job with characterization in this entire book. Outside of Sky, there are tons of secondary characters that are well fleshed out and great characters all around. I love them all!

And the emotions! Happiness, sadness, anger; there's everything in this book. Couch truly takes us on an emotional journey right along with Sky. Honestly, I did not want to put this book down. Sky pulled me from the beginning and I just wanted the best for him. This is one of those books that I think I want to have on my shelf because it just makes you feel good. Plus that cover! It just looks amazing.

I don't think there's anything bad to say about this book. Maybe the writing isn't always up to par, but the emotions and the characters definitely balance that out.

Couch's debut is definitely one you'll want to read over and over again.