{Blog Tour} Book Review: Infinite Sky - C.J. Flood

Title: Infinite Sky (Infinite Sky #1)

Author: C.J. Flood
Release Date: May 20th 2014

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: ARC borrowed for blog tour

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A truly beautiful book about the summer that changed one girl's life, as her mum leaves home, travellers set up camp in the family's field, her older brother goes off the rails, and she falls in love for the very first time. Opening with a funeral, Iris is mourning the boy in the casket - but who is it? Sam, her tearaway brother, or Trick, her tentative boyfriend? Over one long hot summer, we find out just how their three lives were turned upside-down.

You know what hurt? This. Book. The moment I finished, I actually kind of regretted reading it because, right at the prologue, I knew it wouldn't end well. I should have saved myself from all the suffering and heartbreak, I thought, but nah. Infinite Sky is worth it.

The book was slow to capture my attention as we are introduced to the remains of what was Iris' home. Her family used to be a happy one, until her mom left to "discover herself" or some shitty reason like that. Iris tried to retain the semblance of a home with her dad and brother - they were all trying, refusing to admit that her mother's absence affected them greatly, but the effort was obviously futile because the void was already there, the three of them spiraling apart. All the tension added to what I knew was a build-up to a huge feels fest.

Iris came across as a confused young girl. She kind of knew what she wanted but didn't have the guts to go after it - at least until she met Trick. Her friendship with the gypsy boy was met with huge opposition because most of the people in her small town, particularly her father and brother, were prejudiced, thinking the gypsies were up to no good, but Iris was quite quick to trust them. Naive, maybe, but seeing the good in everyone was what I liked most about her character.

Having read the blurb, I'd thought romance would be a huge factor in this book, but it's actually not. Iris and Trick became more than friends, yes, but I felt like the story focused more on the effects of their relationship to her family. Her dad and brother were already walking on a thin line after her mom's departure, so her fraternizing with the enemy, as the two saw it, only pushed them over the edge. The whole time I was both disgusted and sympathetic with Iris' family members, even her mom, and that confused me maybe as much as it confused her. And I think that's where this novel really shines: it just makes you sympathize with everyone. That sure is talent.

Infinite Sky tells of acceptance and moving forward, no matter how hard. It reminded me so much of Flawed, especially the ending because both books made me ugly-sob. I don't see myself revisiting this story because it's just too much for my poor heart, but I definitely will be checking out this mysterious second book in the series. Is it a sequel? A companion novel? An alternate ending?! Whatever it is, I need it in my life.

MY FAVORITE PART was Sam drawing on Iris' bedroom wall ;w;

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