quotes Elisquared likes


"Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?' In fact, it seems to me that most contemporary insults are pretty lame. Even 'lame' is kind of lame. Saying 'You're lame' is like saying 'You walk with a limp.' Yeah, whatever, so does 50 Cent, and he's done all right for himself."— John Green

12.20.2021

BLOG TOUR - WIDER THAN THE SKY BY KATHERINE ROTHSCHILD - YOUNG ADULT FICTION [REVIEW + GIVEAWAY]


About The Book:

Title: WIDER THAN THE SKY

Author: Katherine Rothschild

Paperback Pub. Date:  December 7, 2021

Publisher: Soho Teen

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 288

Find it:  GoodreadsAmazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBDBookshop.org

In the wake of sudden tragedy, twin sisters uncover a secret that rips open their world. Katherine Rothschild explores the pain and power of forgiveness in a stunning debut novel that will shatter your heart and piece it back together, one truth at a time.

Sixteen-year-old Sabine Braxton doesn’t have much in common with her identical twin, Blythe. When their father dies from an unexpected illness, each copes with the loss in her own way—Sabine by “poeting” (an uncontrollable quirk of bursting into poetry at inappropriate moments) and Blythe by obsessing over getting into MIT, their father’s alma mater. Neither can offer each other much support . . . at least not until their emotionally detached mother moves them into a ramshackle Bay Area mansion owned by a stranger named Charlie.

Soon, the sisters unite in a mission to figure out who Charlie is and why he seems to know everything about them. They make a life-changing discovery:their parents were hiding secrets about their sexual identities. The revelation unravels Sabine’s world, while practical Blythe seems to take everything in stride. Once again at odds with her sister, Sabine chooses to learn all she can about the father she never knew. Ultimately, she must decide if she can embrace his last wish for a family legacy--even if it means accepting a new idea of what it means to be a family.

 

Praise for Wider than the Sky

“Sabine’s struggle to reconcile her memory of her father with the man he really was—and to make room in her life for his hopes as well as her own—cuts to the heart of what it means to love someone unconditionally. Wider than the Sky skillfully weaves multiple character arcs together to examine the ideas of home, hope, and family in surprising new ways.”—Misa Sugiura, It's Not Like It's a Secret

"Lyrical and lovely, Wider than the Sky is one of those rare books that has everything—masterful storytelling, a great love story, important themes, razor-sharp wit, and memorable characters. It's a gorgeous debut that will capture your heart."—Corina Vacco, Delacorte Prize–winning author of My Chemical Mountain
 
“I haven’t stopped thinking about these sisters since I first read Wider than the Sky. Sabine and Blythe will leap off the page and live in your memories like old friends. There is so much heart and humor in Katherine’s writing; even as her characters grapple with serious concerns and issues, she captures how life can slice us open and yet give us the ability to laugh and love and hope through the deepest pain and loss.”—Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, New York Times bestselling author of Book Scavenger

“Rothschild’s story showcases how secrets impede a person’s ability to see the world clearly and that self-acceptance and honesty are the keys to a happy ending.”School Library Journal

“Change comes suddenly to the lives of 16-year-old Sabine and her identical twin sister, Blythe, when their father dies unexpectedly, prompting their mother and a strange man named Charlie to move the girls to the small town of Thornewood . . . Rothschild’s first novel is accomplished and nicely plot-rich with some interesting quirks, chief among them being Sabine’s deep-rooted love for Emily Dickinson’s poetry and her compulsive need to recite it.”Booklist

“Kath Rothschild’s Wider than the Sky is pitch perfect! Young adult readers will fall in love with her wonderfully quirky narrator Sabine and her swoony romance with Kai. Combine that with family secrets and a mysterious stranger and you have the ingredients for a compelling read. I cannot wait to put it in the hands of my young customers!”—Kathleen Caldwell, A Great Good Place for Books (Oakland, CA)

 

My Review:

Wider than the Sky by Katherine Rothschild was a quick read, with teenage romance and angst.  

We follow 16-year-old Sabine, a girl with a "funny quirk": she compulsively blurts out Emily Dickinson poetry when faced with heightened emotion.  I don't know many teenagers who blurt out any poetry on the daily, but I think the author was using this as a story-telling device.  When taken that way, it does lend itself to the story in a lyrical sense.  But requires a suspension of disbelief (from not just a reality standpoint, but a mental health standpoint).  

Her and her twin sister Blythe are dealing with the tragedy of losing their father, when their mother uproots them from their childhood home to live with a complete stranger.  This is the first of many "mysteries" Sabine encounters, as she and Blythe learn more about who their father really was.  Unfortunately, in this one, high school drama overshadows a potential large family dynamic book, which took away what drew me to the book in the first place.

Sabine falls in "love" with a boy at school, there's a love-V (as it is not a triangle) that is introduced, and she makes some very selfish choices.  I don't blame her for some of it, as the adults in her life do not healthily address any of the issues that were hidden from Sabine and Blythe.  There is, in my opinion, some harmful rep regarding HIV/death, queer relationships, and polyamorous relationships.  To be honest, these things felt forced into the story and never quite developed where they should've been.

The writing is quite beautiful in parts, with the inclusion of poetry and talk of language.  The story is fast-paced, as there are multiple plot points going on, so the urge to keep turning the page is there.  A short book, at only 288 pages, readers will get through it fairly quickly.  

Overall, while it wasn't exactly what it claimed to be on the tin, Wider than the Sky did hold my attention.  If it was presented as more of a high school drama then a family drama I think that would hold truer to the book.  But I see potential in future books by Katherine Rothschild.  I think that if the expectations going into the book are adjusted, more readers who will like this book will find it.

  

 

About Katherine Rothschild:

Katherine Rothschild is a Lecturer in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, a former ballet and Arabic dance instructor, and an obsessive Twitter food truck-follower. Her first-person essays have been published on KQED/NPR, in The San Francisco Chronicle, and other Bay Area and California publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction Writing, a PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics, has received artist’s grants from Vermont Studio Center and Kindlings West, and is a longtime member of the SCBWI. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. Her debut novel is Wider Than the Sky from Soho Teen. Find her on Twitter @Kath_Rothschild.

Website  Facebook  | Twitter  | Instagram | PinterestGoodreads

 

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will win a hardcover copy of WIDER THAN THE SKY, US Only.

3 winners will win a paperback copy of WIDER THAN THE SKY, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One: 

12/6/2021

BookHounds YA

Promo Post

12/7/2021

Kait Plus Books

Promo Post

12/8/2021

perusewithcoffee

Promo Post

12/9/2021

Mythical Books

Promo Post

12/10/2021

Phannie the ginger bookworm

Promo Post

12/11/2021

GivernyReads

Promo Post

Week Two:

12/12/2021

Lifestyle of Me

Promo Post

12/13/2021

Nonbinary Knight Reads

Promo Post

12/14/2021

Eye-Rolling Demigod's Book Blog

Promo Post

12/15/2021

100 Pages A Day

Promo Post

12/16/2021

Two Chicks on Books

Promo Post

12/17/2021

Never Hollowed By The Stare

Promo Post

12/18/2021

@readingwordsmith

Review

Week Three:

12/19/2021

The Momma Spot

Promo Post

12/20/2021

Eli to the nth

Review

12/21/2021

Emelie's Books

Review

12/22/2021

Two points of interest

Review

12/23/2021

Rajiv's Reviews

Review

12/24/2021

#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Promo Post

12/25/2021

Karen Dee's Book Reviews

Review

Week Four:

12/26/2021

@jypsylynn

Review

12/27/2021

@thebookishfoxwitch

Review

12/28/2021

brittreadsalattebooks

Review

12/29/2021

My Fictional Oasis

Review

12/30/2021

@coffeesipsandreads

Promo Post

12/31/2021

Lexijava

Review


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