Hello Humans! You know the drill by this point, I read the book and every so often I stop and tell you how I’m feeling about it, it’s simple yet effective and I have a great time doing it. In this post, as I said in my readalong for Circle of Shadows, I’ll be reading Nothing but Sky, a historical YA romance that has been sat on my TBR for an age. I’m really excited to be reading something different, it always feels like a great palette cleanse, so here goes!
Goodreads Summary:
Grace Lafferty only feels alive when she’s dangling 500 feet above ground. As a post-World War I wing walker, Grace is determined to get to the World Aviation Expo, proving her team’s worth against flashier competitors and earning a coveted Hollywood contract.
No one’s ever questioned Grace’s ambition until Henry Patton, a mechanic with plenty of scars from the battlefield, joins her barnstorming team. With each new death-defying trick, Henry pushes Grace to consider her reasons for being a daredevil. Annoyed with Henry’s constant interference, and her growing attraction to him, Grace continues to test the powers of the sky.
After one of her risky maneuvers saves a pilot’s life, a Hollywood studio offers Grace a chance to perform at the Expo. She jumps at the opportunity to secure her future. But when a stunt goes wrong, Grace must decide whether Henry, and her life, are worth risking for one final trick.
Chapter One – Five
I don’t know guys. So far, I’m not particularly sold. I don’t mind all the wing walking – that’s pretty cool, but I feel like Grace is getting a bit ‘I’m not like other girls’ and while I am all for women who go against the grain (especially in a historical setting) there’s something a bit disingenuous about it.
What bothers me more is Henry. Who, at this point, is the biggest mainsplain-y pain I have encountered in a while. Does he know more about mechanics than Grace – yes? Is he a complete douchebag about it? YES. And I can appreciate that this narrative is going to be something along the lines of ‘he was damaged post WW1’ but he may have already annoyed me so much that any romance between the two is totally irredeemable in my eyes.
It could all turn around. It could. I hope so.
Oh also, side note, there have been two separate occasions where our heroine’s hands have ended up incredibly injured so if, like me, that freaks you out, I’d advise caution.
Chapter Six – End
OK. I know. But this time it wasn’t a bath binge-read. I was waiting for a hospital appointment (I’m fine) and I had nothing other than reading to do and I forgot my laptop to write check-ins and here we are.
It did get better. He got less mansplain-y and I kind of fell into that mindset that I think you need for romance novels. The plot (other than the romance) also steps up a lot in the latter half of the book and I actually ended up enjoying this. I don’t have a huge amount to say, partly because it’s been a couple of hours since I actually finished the book and my brain has started seeping away, but also I don’t know that there is too much I can add.
Final Verdict
I did have a good time reading this, I’d say it was a firm three star read for me. It does feel a little ‘ignore most of the terrible things happening at this time in history and focus on this one cool thing’ but I kind of figured that was what you’d get going in. If you’re looking for a reasonably light historical YA romance I would say this might be worth a shot, but you do have to persevere through Henry’s annoying nature in the early chapters.
My rating: 3/5 stars.
I bought this book myself, all opinions are my own.
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What will the TBR Tea-Cup choose next (let it be something good I’m in need of a nice book for my bath).
Oooh ok, it’s Christelle Dabos’ A Winter’s Promise, exciting. I can’t say I’ve read a lot of translated fiction so this should be great (it’s a hefty hardback though so may have to sub in a library book for this upcoming bath).
What say you? Have you read Nothing But Sky? Let me know what you thought in the comments below!
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