If you follow either of us on twitter (and were following us back in December), you probably already know how much we love The Sky Blues. Personally I would have probably chosen it as my most anticipated April release, of it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve read it last year… (But I did sneak it onto our list of fav reads of 2020!) It’s a one that will make you laugh and cry, and feel absolutely loved.
But let’s not get into details now, when you can just read our reviews below. And listen to the mix we made for the book!
Also follow Robbie Couch on twitter! He has more exciting things for us in the store!
Sky’s small town turns absolutely claustrophobic when his secret promposal plans get leaked to the entire school in this witty, heartfelt, and ultimately hopeful debut novel for fans of What if it’s Us? and I Wish You All the Best.
Sky Baker may be openly gay, but in his small, insular town, making sure he was invisible has always been easier than being himself. Determined not to let anything ruin his senior year, Sky decides to make a splash at his high school’s annual beach bum party by asking his crush, Ali, to prom—and he has thirty days to do it.
What better way to start living loud and proud than by pulling off the gayest promposal Rock Ledge, Michigan, has ever seen?
Then, Sky’s plans are leaked by an anonymous hacker in a deeply homophobic e-blast that quickly goes viral. He’s fully prepared to drop out and skip town altogether—until his classmates give him a reason to fight back by turning his thirty-day promposal countdown into a school-wide hunt to expose the e-blast perpetrator.
But what happens at the end of the thirty days? Will Sky get to keep his hard-won visibility? Or will his small-town blues stop him from being his true self?
The Sky Blues
Robbie Couch
Rep: gay mc, mlm li, trans & gay characters
TWs: homophobia, racism, f-slur, past car accident, past death of a parent, vomiting
Release: 6th April 2021
Charlotte’s Review
Sometimes, all you want to do is read a YA contemporary that feels like a big old hug. Well if you do, I am happy to be able to tell you that The Sky Blues is the book for you. It’s a very kind book: kind on its characters (unless they don’t deserve it…like the homophobes) and kind on its readers. It’s the sort of book you want every gay teen to read immediately.
The novel is about Sky, whose promposal plan is exposed to the entire school, and who must decide just what he’s going to do about it. What follows is an exploration of found family, forgiveness (and non-forgiveness), and a book that’s full of a whole lot of love.
What I’ve loved seeing most in LGBT YA in recent years has been how full of love for their readers the stories have been, particularly with the growth of the ownvoices tag. There’s a lot less of the kind of ideas that marred earlier lit (you know, shaming for not being out, forcing people to come out, forgiving your parents even when they’re massive homophobes). The narratives are kinder and more genuine. And I feel like that shines through so much in The Sky Blues and I loved it for it.
It’s also a book full of characters you can root for. You’ll love Sky from the start, but you will equally love every one of his friends and all the people who come to support him. (I mean, you will also be begging Sky to get a better gaydar, but it’s fine. Some obliviousness is acceptable.) You will equally adore the journey he goes on outside of school.
Because that’s the second aspect to the plot: not only is it about Sky being supported in school after everything, but it’s about him and his family too. It’s about him realising he is perfectly within his rights not to forgive his family their homophobia and it’s about him forming his own family, one that doesn’t hate him for who he is.
So, if you would like a nice good cry over a YA contemporary novel, I would highly recommend you do it over this one.
Anna’s Review
The Sky Blues is, in my humble personal opinion, a little bit of a perfect book. A big part of that is thanks to the great writing, of course. You would not guess this is a debut, if you didn’t know. Not only is the style itself good, but Couch also nails the voice of the teenagers. Which, arguably, is the most important thing about writing YA books.
(I do have to note, for those of you who understand how big of a compliment it is, that the vibes here are reminiscent of a fic. Not even a specific aspect of the writing, though the cool humour & the dynamics between characters definitely help, but the energy of the style & the story itself. I mean this in a very good way, so if you don’t read fics yourself, just ignore this paragraph.)
I think the rating gave it away already, but I truly do not have anything that I would change in this book. So instead let’s talk about all the things that I absolutely loved:
The way the whole school stood together when Sky’s plans got outed. That overwhelming feeling of community, of belonging. Of being loved and being safe. It’s visible in other parts of the novel as well, but might be the most obvious right here, when teens literally unite for the sake of someone else’s mental well being.
That feeling of protection is also there in the form of adult people Sky meets. Because yes, his mother and brother aren’t supportive and that sucks. But! But there are other parental figures to be found, and lots of them: teachers, other parents. No spoilers but one of those figures is gay, and the concept of older gay people taking care of the younger generation is the most beautiful thing in the world.
That’s probably what makes The Sky Blues work so well. This understanding that even though a conflict is crucial for a story, that LGBT teens coming from shitty homes is still a reality for so many of us, there needs to be something to counter it off. There needs to be a balance, because at the end of the day this is a work of fiction designed to give readers hope. And it does. It tells you time and time again that no matter how many awful things happen to you, there will always be people who love you. That family isn’t just measured by blood.
There’s also another message The Sky Blues sends: that you need to put yourself first. Not in a way that you can do whatever you want, even if it hurts other people. Instead it shows you that if someone hurt you, you don’t owe them anything. You don’t have to listen to their explanations, their apology. You don’t have to let them keep hurting you out of some imagined obligation. You only need to do what will help you, what will make you stronger and happier.
Also like, the romance is the cutest ever. And when it comes to actual relationships, Sky is incredibly oblivious.
I’m gonna close with my initial one-sentence review that I wrote right after finishing the book because it still just captures the energy of The Sky Blues: “many thoughts, head full (of love)”.
So, have we convinced you that you want to read this book?
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