About Amy Hello, I'm Amy, an aspiring motorsports writer and former blogger. If you dig deeper enough, you find some very old blog posts, as this started as a book blog, but that's really where I got my start in writing: book reviews, hot book topics and as well as the odd personal essay. After leaving university, I left the book blog behind, but continued writing and going in the world of social media, writing film reviews and promoting queer cinema, but after a tragic event in my personal life, I quickly discovered Motorsports. What started as a love for Formula 1, while finally watching the Formula 1 film, Rush, and discovering Formula 1 TikTok, this love soon expanded to everything Formula E, IndyCar, Formula 2, Formula 3, as well as F1 Academy. I soon found the itch to write come back, with the fast-moving news of motorsport, to the drama, the competition, and the journey of drivers trying to find a race seat. I found that it was the people and storie...
* I am reviewing this book for a blog tour but this in no way affects my review *
Title: Out Of The Blue
Publisher: Pan Macmillian/ MyKindaBook
Rating: 5/5 stars
Book Summary:
Sometimes, I imagine alternate endings to the story: last-minute miracles, touches of magic. I picture how things might have gone, if I wasn’t there. If I’d left just a few minutes later. If I hadn’t been alone. It doesn’t make any difference. One way or another, the crash always comes.
Ten days after Jaya Mackenzie’s mum dies, angels start falling from the sky. Smashing down to earth at extraordinary speeds, wings bent, faces contorted, not a single one has survived.
Hysteria mounting with every Being that drops, Jaya’s father uproots the family to Edinburgh intent on catching one alive. But Jaya can’t stand this obsession and, struggling to make sense of her mother’s sudden death and her own role on that fateful day, she’s determined to stay out of it.
When her best friend disappears and her father’s mania spirals, things hit rock bottom and it’s at that moment something extraordinary happens: An angel lands right at Jaya’s feet, and it’s alive. Finally she is forced to acknowledge just how significant these celestial beings are.
Set against the backdrop of the frenzied Edinburgh festival, OUT OF THE BLUE tackles questions of grief and guilt and fear over who we really are. But it’s also about love and acceptance and finding your place in this world as angels drop out of another.
Ten days after Jaya Mackenzie’s mum dies, angels start falling from the sky. Smashing down to earth at extraordinary speeds, wings bent, faces contorted, not a single one has survived.
Hysteria mounting with every Being that drops, Jaya’s father uproots the family to Edinburgh intent on catching one alive. But Jaya can’t stand this obsession and, struggling to make sense of her mother’s sudden death and her own role on that fateful day, she’s determined to stay out of it.
When her best friend disappears and her father’s mania spirals, things hit rock bottom and it’s at that moment something extraordinary happens: An angel lands right at Jaya’s feet, and it’s alive. Finally she is forced to acknowledge just how significant these celestial beings are.
Set against the backdrop of the frenzied Edinburgh festival, OUT OF THE BLUE tackles questions of grief and guilt and fear over who we really are. But it’s also about love and acceptance and finding your place in this world as angels drop out of another.
Book Review:
I was really excited to hear when Sophie was publishing a book. I had been following her on Twitter for a while so when I heard about Out Of The Blue I was really excited to read it. Out of the Blue was a wonderful read with its diverse character and a great story, OotB is worth the read.
One of the things that struck me about Out of the Blue is the Edinburgh backdrop as I am just really interested in that as a setting. I think that it was increased due to the setting being as part of the Edinburgh festival. This gave it a bustling city which added to the idea of the story. Also with UKYA many of them are set in London so with this being set in Scotland this made it different and stand out.
I also love the characters in the book, Jaya and the relationship with her sisters and her dad. The relationship with her Dad is complex and the way that it progresses is interesting as she deals with the situation at hand as he is the main reason that they are there. The relationships that Jaya also forms in the book especially with the love interest in this book is great and I love finding lesbian romances elements in the book. The romance was done really well and I loved that she had cystic fibrous as this isn't seen in YA a whole lot so I love that it explored this topic. The book is also diverse with a biracial main character and family which again is something that I love to seek out in books.
The whole concept of this book is also great and it is a great combination of magical realism. Sophie makes the whole idea of angels falling from the sky believable and I especially love that she was inspired by the Lynx advert where angels fall from the sky. The character of Teacake who is the angel that falls from the sky is so great and I think that for a character who can't understand the language, Sophie did a great job of exploring this. This book also deals a lot with grief which was explored really well and I loved how it was dealt with. I can't fault this book it was just so great.
I also love the characters in the book, Jaya and the relationship with her sisters and her dad. The relationship with her Dad is complex and the way that it progresses is interesting as she deals with the situation at hand as he is the main reason that they are there. The relationships that Jaya also forms in the book especially with the love interest in this book is great and I love finding lesbian romances elements in the book. The romance was done really well and I loved that she had cystic fibrous as this isn't seen in YA a whole lot so I love that it explored this topic. The book is also diverse with a biracial main character and family which again is something that I love to seek out in books.
The whole concept of this book is also great and it is a great combination of magical realism. Sophie makes the whole idea of angels falling from the sky believable and I especially love that she was inspired by the Lynx advert where angels fall from the sky. The character of Teacake who is the angel that falls from the sky is so great and I think that for a character who can't understand the language, Sophie did a great job of exploring this. This book also deals a lot with grief which was explored really well and I loved how it was dealt with. I can't fault this book it was just so great.
The Verdict:
Out of the Blue is a magical and whimsical YA novel that wonderfully explores grief and the supernatural. It is a wonderful read and was one of my favourite books of last year!
Have you read Out Of The Blue? Did you like it? Do you want to read it?
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