I loved this story so much. I couldn't stop reading this once I popped it open. If you are looking for a tearjerker, this ones for you.

What an amazing read. I have truly enjoyed going through this phenomenal work.As far as the writing style and narration is concerned, it is really good. Overall, a good reading experience. Highly recommended

One of the saddest books I've read in a while. This is a book about Zach Sobiec, he battled cancer and did great things in his short life. He was from Minnesota so that made me feel even more involved in the book because I'm from Minnesota. It was such a personal and gripping story about his amazing life and I think anyone would be lucky to read it.

Clouds
by Laura Sobiech
Pub Date: 13 Oct 2020
#NetGalley

I happened to come across the trailer of the Disney movie 'Clouds' one day a few months ago and found out it was based on a true story of a young boy Zach Sobiech who, before he lost his battle with cancer in 2013, used his musical talent to write a song that not only broke records but also became an inspiration to so many people, young and old. So when I happened to chance upon the updated version of the book, previously published as 'Fly a Little Higher' written by Zach's mother Laura Sobiech being available to request on NetGalley, I put in a request to read it. I still have to watch the movie but all I can say is that by the end of the book, I was crying!! It hits the hardest whenever I read about young people dying either by a fatal illness like cancer or an accident...it just hurts to see all that promise and potential taken away 💔.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Nelson Books/Thomas Nelson and Laura Sobiech for the e-Arc of the book. Heartbreaking, yet inspiring 💕!

Such a wonderful story. Both encouraging and heartbreaking! Now that I have read the book, I can not wait to watch movie! Highly recommend this book!

Ahhh! This book made me ugly cry, to sob as I read it in bed at night. By now, practically everyone has heard of this phenomenal young man. Go out and read this book, it's outstanding!

This is a beautiful, if heart-wrenching book. I cannot imagine being a mom of a child dying of cancer. Laura Sobiech tells her own story of her son and their journey, and it will bring tears of sorrow and joy to the reader. I love how she honors the life of her son while communicating the deep feelings of her heart as she watches him suffer. I also love how hope is communicated clearly throughout the book. In the face of the unthinkable, the Sobiech family had a tremendous and supernatural hope.

I wanted to read this desperately after I saw it was being released as a movie on Disney+. I always appreciate a great memoir and I couldn’t put this down. Laura’s an incredibly gifted writer and her emotion is real and raw. This touched my heart and her testimony is just powerful all around. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy.

What a read!!,!!! True stories always seem to hit the reader in a different way and this book was no exception. I am so appreciative of Laura Sobiech for telling Zach’s story. I highly recommend this book to everyone, and then hope that people, much like myself, become more grateful for everything that they have in life.

Laura Sobiech has lovingly written her son Zach's memoir, Clouds, after losing him in an agonizing battle with cancer. A heartbreaking story that will move you to tears as Zach, a young teen,learns he has osteosarcoma and little time left to live. With determination, grit, courage and great faith Zach walks the lonely path spreading hope, kindness, humor and love through his music and songs. Laughter also abounds with Zach's quips and shenanigans throughout his struggles.
A story about how to live and cherish each moment as shown by a beautiful young man.
I can't imagine writing about the death of my beloved child and the story does jump around a bit but the message is important and kudos to Laura Sobiech for sharing her heart and bringing Zach's voice and legacy to light.
Thank you netgalley and Nelson books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

What a freaking page turner. Book had me guessing from page to page and I never wanted to put it down. Literally did not see the end coming. At all. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First off, I had been getting ads on my phone for the movie and I was intrigued. When I saw that Clouds: A Memoir was up on NetGalley, I requested it without delay.
I am not sure that I have laughed and cried at the same time before but I was definitely tearing up and then laughing the next paragraph.
This story was so moving. I really felt Laura's heartbreak from losing her on on each page and it seemed so honest.
As for the writing style, at times it was a little clunky but overall, it flowed very well and pulled me in as a reader.
Overall, this was a phenomenal read and it took my focus off of myself and helped me think about what others are going through. I highly recommend to those looking for a moving story.

Rating: 5/5
Language: n/a
Romance: discusses Zach and his girlfriend, marriage struggles
Spiritual: the family has a strong Catholic faith
Violence: death, some medical descriptions

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Zach found out he had cancer in high school. While undergoing treatment he never complained about the pain or suffering he was going through. This book enables everyone to see how cancer affects everyone in the family not just the patient. It was profound and enlightening.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson, Netgalley and TLC Book Tours for this copy of 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴 by Laura Sobiech!⁣⁣
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"𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳." -Sammy Brown⁣⁣
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I had never heard Zach Sobiech's story until receiving this beautiful memoir written by his mother. At seventeen, Zach was given the news that his osteosarcoma was terminal and he had one year to live. As a way to leave bits of himself behind, he began writing songs for family and friends. A gift meant for those closest to him turned out to touch the hearts of people all over the world. ⁣⁣
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This book was filled with tremendous amounts of love, hope and joy in the most desperate of circumstances. Such a vulnerable story for a mother to share. So incredibly touching. ⁣⁣
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Originally published as Fly a Little Higher and now updated and revised to coincide with the Disney+ film release of 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴.⁣⁣

Book Review for Clouds by Laura Sobiech
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

Every time I hear another story about Zach Sobiech it amazes me that we grew up only a few towns apart and he attended the same high school that a few of my church friends did but I didn’t hear anything about him until after he had passed away. My mom and I shared an iTunes account back in the day and that’s where I first heard the song “Clouds” which this re-released book is now titled. To this day I can’t hear that song without tears coming to my eyes.

Writing this review has been a bit of a struggle because the more I’ve heard about Zach over the years (I’ve participated in a Clouds Choir and I listen to the radio station that boosted him every day at work) and I think I wanted to be able to rave about this book but in the end I was really underwhelmed.

Now don’t get me wrong, I would still highly recommend this book especially if you’re interested in learning more about Zach’s story but I think everyone needs to go into this knowing that it’s written in a very “stream of consciousness” style which I wasn’t exactly a fan of. It felt jumpy and while the sections were usually dated to give some sense of the timeline I wound up feeling confused about what was going on and when. The other thing that this book made me realize is how easy it is to place ordinary people on a pedestal because of tragedy. Zach was a normal kid, he was an extroverted and friendly guy and this is a big part of why he ended up being catapulted to the heights that he was. I appreciated learning about the “human” aspect of Zach, where Laura writes about how messy he was and things like that. The more that the story focused on the “normal” and stepped away from the extraordinary steps that Zach took I realized how easy it is to idolize people. I think that allowed me to finish the book with a more objective mindset and kind of just take the story in and read it from the perspective of a family member of someone who had passed.

This book was so raw. I had to take a lot of breaks in order to keep myself from crying out all the tears my body had stored. While it had a mix of happy moments, it was also filled with heartbreak and a lot of existential struggles from Zach, Laura, and others in Zach’s orbit. I will admit that I was not prepared for the faith aspects of this book and I felt like that was unabalanced within the overall book. At times it read like a book that could have been filed in a Christian inspirational type section while the rest of the book leaned more towards “memoir written about a Christian person”.

In the end, knowing this is a republication I’m surprised that I finished the book feeling so underwhelmed. I understand that not much was changed from the original publication other than some extra information, a note from the movie’s director, and a new title but the overall way this book was written felt unfinished and slightly disconnected. It was simple and very much read like a mother telling a casual story and for that I landed on the three star rating.

One of the most sad books ever written.Totally heart wrenching and raw,true to the narrative book.
Read it.
Thanks to Nelson Books for sending the e-ARC of this book!

A wonderful heartbreaking and beautiful book. It has the power to move you and make you cry. It was raw and open and honest. Beautiful in every way.

Zach had cancer his freshman year and thought he'd beat it, but when Senior year hits and he knows it's terminal, he needs to figure out how he wants to handle the rest of his life. Thanks to his love for guitar and talent for writing songs, he found a way not only to bring inspiration to a few friends and relatives, but spread it across the world.

This book is told from Zach mother's point of view; it's her memoir. She starts with a quick run-down of some moments during Zach's senior year in high school before flashing back to his freshman year and then back through before concentrating on when he took her advice and 'wrote' for his siblings, relatives and friends. This is a book, which settles strongly on Christian faith, hope and miracles. It's written with tons of heart, a mother's love and wishes, and even laces in interchanges of Zach with his family and friends. It's well done, paced nicely and does leave a lasting impression and tons of food for thought.

I'll admit, I'm not usually a huge fan of memoirs and not a person, who dives very often into inspirational, real life tales. I did find this one interestingly crafted, though. While it's a memoir, it didn't fit this bracket completely. Rather, dialogue and scenes were presented in a more usual, story-telling fashion as well. It created an interesting back and forth mixture between the two forms, and created a more flowing tale than a pure memoir would. It was easy to get lost in the story, and even easier to learn to love Zach.

The first chapters hop around quickly through time (forth and back) in an attempt to get the reader up to date with the mother's thoughts and Zach's past. These chapters hit the memoir style as I know it. While the information was dropped fast and smoothly, it wasn't my favorite way to handle things (a bit of a bouncy information drop and a little confusing). Still, they style pulls in and makes it hard not to be invested in Zach's life. The religious tones slide effortlessly right along into the tale, and I enjoyed the openness in this direction quite a bit. It is inspiring in so many ways.

While this isn't my favorite type of read and this didn't grab me completely maybe because of this, it is nicely written and will leave more than just a little footprint on those who enjoy stories, which head in this direction. I do wish I could highly recommend this one to teens, since I think they would especially enjoy and benefit from Zach's life, it comes from the mother's thoughts, and I'm not sure this will resonate with that age group as well as it could. Still, parents will connect with this one (after all, it is a mother's memoir) and find Zach to have been a very special young man, and I can imagine some teens really connecting with him.

Clouds by Laura Sobiech. Such a beautiful sad story. I remember being at the 1st “Clouds” at the Mall of America in Minnesota with my daughter Kristine and her two sons. I hope someday for the cure for cancer and nobody else has to suffer.