Title: The Sky Between You and Me
Genre: YA Contemporary - Mental Illness
Author: Catherine Alene
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication: February 7th 2017
Cover Rating: 5/5
The Sky Between You and Me was a book I was actually pretty iffy on picking up. I did request it so I could review it but then I realized I am pretty ignorant to any and all things farm or horse related. I don't herd cattle or do 4H club stuff, although, I do own a bunny and that is the extent of my farm knowledge. I am glad that I pushed through the beginning because the rest of the book was pretty good. But it was so slow for the first 50 or so pages that I did find myself wanting to pick up another book. After those pages? I got the book done in one sitting.
So we have Rae as the protagonist. She lives with her dad on a farm. The entire town she lives in is pretty much close, farm town people. Everyone knows everyone and people help each other. That means, her best friend is from the town, her boyfriend is from the town, so everything in pretty close knit. Rae lost her mother a few years back and it has just been her and her dad. Rae strives to be just as good as her mom when it comes to rodeos. And her striving for this make her want to lose 5 pounds so she can fit in her moms old saddle better. That is where everything starts to go wrong and it just spirals out of control.
On top of Rae's declining health, a new girl had just moved to town to live with her grandmother. For some reason this sparks jealousy in a girl who normally isn't jealous. I also think this girl moving in was maybe the breaking point for Rae and her eating disorder.
I would definitely say Rae is an unreliable narrator. I had no idea whether the stuff between her boyfriend and the new girl was actually happening or if her messed up brain was actually amplifying some of the stuff. If it wasn't all in her head then Cody was a horrible person. I understand being friendly and wanting to help the new girl but some of the things he said/did were way out of line.
Then we have Asia. She is Rae's best friend and ends up being just like Cody with the new girl. She also wasn't exactly very understanding of Rae's situation and you think she would be considering they have been best friends for pretty much their entire lives. So I was kind of pissed about her being like that. I know how hard it can be to be friends with someone who is mentally ill and I also know what it's like to BE the ill one. Both sides are pretty crappy but you can't turn your back like that on someone who needs you. No matter how much they try to push you away.
I felt pretty satisfied with the ending. I am glad Rae ended up where she was. Things definitely could have ended a lot worse for her. Mental illness is really no joke and it can cripple anyone at any age. I know Rae is a fictional character but there are hundreds of thousands of girls out there who are just like her right now. This is silly but I hope Rae moves on with life and is fine. And I hope anyone suffering the same pain can move passed the horrible crap and go on to live a great life!
Regardless of the fact that I didn't know a lot of things about horses or farm life, I can say that Catherine Alene could very well be the next Ellen Hopkins. Yes, I know no one could ever really BE Ellen Hopkins but I have hope that it could one day be possible. This book had a lot of emotions and a really hard hitting subject and that is how Ellen's books are.
Overall, I gave the book 4/5 stars.
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