Shauna is a hairdresser working in Ireland, over the course of one day between appointments she looks back on her life growing up in 90s and early noughties - specifically her relationship with her best friend, Dean.

As the years pass the pair become estranged, and as you read on the reasons why begin to unravel.

This is a short book you can rip through in one sitting but it really does pack an emotional gut punch. The writing is so simple and fast paced and yet so completely raw and heartbreaking.

I absolutely loved Shauna and Dean and my heart ached for both of them. This is a look at how we become a product of our circumstances and how one small event or decision can change the entire outcome of your life.

I’ve already seen a few comparisons to One Day which naturally always happens with this type of book but it’s not like One Day at all, it’s a lot grittier and less romantic - it follows two working class kids who deserved so much better.

The writing style took me a few pages to get into but I really loved this book - Shauna and Dean (and Mark, Maggie, Pam and Audrey) will stick around in my heart for a long time.

‘May All Your Skies Be Blue’ is the sophomore novel by Scarlett, releasing mid next month on the 13th of February 2025. It’s a contemporary romance akin in overarching message and style to David Nichols ‘One Day.’ I may be alone in the country, not having read Scarlett’s debut, Boy’s Don’t Cry, so this was my first introduction to her writing.

The novel is split across timelines. The protagonist, Shauna, is a middle-aged hairdresser who throughout a singular day looks back on key moments of her teenage years with her first and only love, Dean. The memories are scattered across the late nineties and early naughties in Dublin.

While I appreciated being sent an early reader’s copy of this novel, I was apprehensive to dive into it given contemporary fiction and romance novels are my least favourite genres to read. Scarlett gave both Shauna and Dean compelling backstories but the Dublin setting didn’t feel true to the period or the city, for me. I appreciated Shauna’s struggle between living her own life and caring for her mother with early-stage dementia but Dean’s upbringing by two active alcoholics wasn’t fleshed out enough for me to care.

The big plot twist was well executed but around the 45% mark, the reader can decipher what it will be. Nonetheless, it is a tearjerker so if you enjoy the contemporary romance genre you will love this novel that provides a bittersweet slice of life.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Faber for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for this honest review.


Genre: Contemporary Romance

Themes: Loss, Regret, Addiction, Nostalgia, Coming-of-age

This was just heart wrenching. To watch people that love each other just never figure out HOW to love each other. It's a book full of missed opportunities that unfortunately make up life. Loved it.

If you’ve read Fiona’s First book: Boys Don’t Cry, you know you’ve signed yourself for a tear jerker and a week of respective mourning. I knew this when I requested an early copy on NetGalley and I was so happy once my request was approved, foolishly forgetting what I had signed myself up for.

When I started the book and saw references to “Hoodstown”, “The Centre”, and “St. Brigid’s GAA”, this fictional town seemed to appear a lot like my own home town. This was confirmed later by further references to the bus routes 38 and 39, but that’s where the comparisons end for me.

We enter Shauna’s daily schedule of hair appointments, disgruntled clients, caring for her mother, unrequited love and past traumas. The reader is transported through several timelines, where we try to piece together her current reality of sacrifice, regret, grief and memories that just won’t fade away.

I definitely think this is the perfect time of the year for this book, as we’ve just overcome the Christmas holidays, possibly in our hometowns, bumping into the ghosts of our past and haunted by memories/people that won’t escape us. I really don’t want to spoil any more and I won’t compare it to her first novel which I know was adored by many. Definitely worth a read and you don’t have to be from Hood/Huntstown/Blanch to enjoy it
Thank you again to NetGalley and Faberbooks for this early release.
May All Your Skies Be Blue is set to release on Feb 11th 2025

Thank you to the author, publishers Faber & Faber and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

When Shauna moved to a new area with her mum the first people she meets are Dean, Mark and Pamela. From the start she is drawn to Dean and he to her. A deep bond tested by family challenges and changes over the years.

Another heartwarming and heartbreaking masterpiece from Fíona Scarlett. The characters are engaging, warm, honest and funny. The depth of relationships depicted in a small community over the years is exceptional. Whether it’s a brief encounter with a widowed customer who used to come to Shauna’s salon with his wife or a friendship visited repeatedly in encounters over the years the author is able to quickly establish a depth of character and understanding which is astonishing.

What I find even more amazing is how a story about missed opportunities, misunderstandings and self-sacrifice manages to avoid any sense of schmaltz or cliché. Partly it’s the vibrancy of the character voices, the accents coming through the writing without ever being forced. Mostly it’s just a sign of a very talented writer who obviously cares deeply about their characters and brings them alive for the readers.

I feel like I grew up with these people and shared their love for each other, their fears and their hopes. Make sure you have the hankies on standby, but don’t miss this book. It will stay with you a long, long time.

This book had big shoes to fill (and I think it did so). It’s a coming of age/never realised love story set across 2 timelines. One spanning Shauna (and her friends’) teenage years and young adulthood from the late 90s onwards and one a single day in the hair salon Shauna now runs following her Mum’s footsteps. It’s a story about a very focussed issue (the will they won’t they with Shauna and Dean) but has a broader scope dealing with friendships, difficulties in families, growing up, life in a small town and of course grief in many forms- for a parent who is physically here but suffering with advanced dementia, for Dean whose whereabouts/circumstance we are not clear of in the beginning, for chances not taken. This book will stay with me - I loved many of the characters though some I struggled to place at times (Eileen, Natasha and how she came to be in the later narrative.)

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

I found this book to be both entertaining and deeply thought-provoking. The characters were relatable, and the story kept me fully invested until the very end. I really enjoyed reading this and will be telling my friends it’s a must read for this year!!

The story follows Shauna and Dean, together with their families. Shauna arrives in town with her mother, who sets up the local hair salon. She soon is befriended by the locals, including Dean. Set in Dublin, they are both teens in the 1990s, and the story continues through for another thirty years. While a love story between Shauna and Dean, the complications of life bring significant challenges. Their struggles are not easy, and I found myself both captivated and saddened by the events that impact their lives. A memorable story that will leave you thinking after the last page is read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wasn't sure whether I was going to like this book with
it's profusion of F... words and crude language but I found myself drawn in to the lives of this group of young Dubliners growing up together and sharing a profound and lasting friendship. Their stories are wound into the culture and music of the times and reflects the society as it was,with tight knit neighbours and small town values. The story is primarily a love story : enduring, deep, all encompassing yet doomed to failure when Shauna, our heroine, puts her dreams on hold when her beloved mother is diagnosed with early onset dementia. Dean , the love of her life, has fled his own unhappy home and alcoholic parents, hoping to make a new life in America with his beloved Shauna. The story unfolds interspersing the past and present and I must admit I was left a blubbering mess at the end. Excellent storytelling, brilliantly crafted characters and a new and exciting voice. Highly recommend

💈💇‍♀️ May All Your Skies Be Blue by Fíona Scarlett

It’s the 1990s, Oasis and Blur were bitter rivals, weekends were spent with blisters from skating around the local skating rink and kids were contacting the spirits through homemade Ouija boards.

Deane, Mark, Pamela and Shauna were four inseparable friends who are revelling in life as teenagers. The two main protagonists Deane and Shauna share quite a strong bond but have so much tension in their own lives that they can’t bring themselves to admit their true feelings for one another.

Finally, as they come together and begin to make plans life has other ideas for them. Their relationship is put on hold with heartfelt promises are made but again life and responsibilities take precedence over their love for each other and their promises go unfulfilled.

The story is told through a dual perspective timeline from when Dean and Sharon were kids and then as adults. It is a story of young love and lost love, friendship and regrets. Scarlett takes us on an emotional rollercoaster through the lives of these friends from childhood to adulthood.

When I saw this on NetGalley I knew I had to read it, not only because of the intriguing premise but also because I adored the author's previous novel Boys Don’t Cry. However, I didn’t love it as much as her first. It was too heavenly dialogued and I didn’t think the romance was very real or intense.

Deane and Sharon were together as teenagers for a few weeks and from this they spent their whole lives thinking about their great love affair. It was too unrealistic, very slow to take off anywhere and I just didn’t warm to or believe in any of the characters. I wanted to love this so much but unfortunately, this wasn’t a hit for me. I still think the author has a huge talent and hope to love everything else she writes.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)

This is a book about all about friendships. This was such an emotional read. A book that I will never forget . It takes alot for a book to make me cry and this one certainly did. I recommend this book highly.

Set in Ireland, this is an intriguing study of relationships from childhood through to adulthood. Scarlett has a crisp, authentic writing style, with strong echoes of Roddy Doyle. The structure draws you in with the right level of suspense. Some of the barriers to the central relationship felt a little weak in places, however, a very good read with Scarlett’s signature strong sense of place.

A book of many layers, told over several timelines. It seems to fit backwards and flow and it can be difficult to keep track. But it is moving and poignant.

Enjoyed reading this book and many thanks to NetGalley and publishers for this opportunity to read this book

I wasn't a fan of Fíona Scarlett's debut Boys Don't Cry and unfortunately I'm not a fan of this either.

In 1991 Shauna and her mum move for a fresh start. Her mum opens a salon and Shauna quickly falls in with a group of kids from the area. She is instantly infatuated with one of the boys, Dean.

In the present, over the course of one day, Shauna encounters people from her past as she works in the salon.

I think my biggest issue was I found the characters to be flat and the central relationship didn't feel real. This book relies on you being emotionally invested and I was not.

A miss for me sadly.

*read via NetGalley

Another cracker from Fiona Scarlett. This is the type of book that you want to devour in one reading but at the same time you know you don’t want it to end.
It’s Dublin in the early nineties and Shauna along with her mam is moving into the new hair salon across the road from where Dean and his pals live. They stroll over to have a look at the new owners and straight away they gel.
This is the beginning of a fabulous unputdownable story. The cast of characters is so good that you feel like you know them well. To tell anymore is to give away the story but honestly it’s a book that will stay with you long long after you’ve finished reading it. I adored Fiona’s first book Boy’s Don’t Cry and this one is equally as beautiful. Enjoy but savour every word.
Many thanks to #NetGalley and #FaberandFaber for my copy of this wonderful story. For me it’s a 5⭐️ read.

Really enjoyed this, lovely characters and was a real.page turner. Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy

Blubbing
This is the story of a group of young adults and their families as they grow up in a small town in Ireland, where everyone knows everything. Having grown up in a very similar small town, I can attest to this book very accurately describing the claustrophobia inherent surrounding where you feel that you’re watched and that every thing you do is fed back to your parents.
The story focuses on Shauna and her mother who run the local hair salon looks at Shaun’s relationships with her school friends particularly boys where she has two long lasting relationships with boys that she’s known from a young age.
The story touches an addiction, primarily alcoholism which affects one of her school friends families and ultimately himself.
Reading the book, made me feel quite old as I was a full grown adult in the 90s when the people in the story are kids
I love the sentence “it’s the first time I’ve ever felt even halfway beautiful “doesn’t that just somewhat perfectly how everyone feels at their school prom looking back we are all beautiful but at the time we don’t trust what we see with our own eyes.
Sadly, Shauna’s mother develops dementia and this story with this in a sensitive fashion. The coverage of dementia was imminently real and heartbreaking.
You has a clear easily read writing style and if very much enjoyed the book it’s an emotional read focusing on characterisation and character development more than Story .
There were times when I felt Goodness this is so sad. It made me cry.The Missed opportunities so poignant in the description of a life lived without the love that might have made it perfect will stay with me for a long time
The book is published in the UK on the 13th of February 2025 by Faber and Faber Limited
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Storyville, Goodreads book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it was all also appear on Amazon UK.

This is a book about first love, lifelong friendships, community and the way that families can lie at the core of your life, in both positive and negative ways. It's a love story, but entwined with life in 1990s Dublin, the angst of being a teenager and all those 'could have, should have' moments. I found the dual timeline very effective but, personally, I didn't need the 'twist' at the end. The writing and the characters were enough to carry the story.