Her Name in the Sky Paperback – February 11, 2014

This has to be one of the most beautiful stories I've read this year. Truly, this book surprised me in all the best ways.I've been trying desperately to read more LGBT+ books, especially F/F since it's one that is forgotten in the romance genre and is often pushed aside. And most of the F/F books I've read have been pretty good but this book...damn this book was more than "pretty good". I didn't think it was possible for me to connect to a story as much as I did this one. From the moment I started reading I felt like I was reading the intimate story of a friend, someone that I knew and loved and ever single word on the page just felt so realThe writing in this book is so freaking spectacular, it's poetic. I feel like I highlighted so many passages because of how deep and real the words these character speak are. And it's not only the serious moments, it's the friendship moments too. The moments when friends are talking abut something silly and yet in that very moment, you can tell how much of a unit the whole gang is, and you feel almost like you are a part of this senior year with them too, scared to graduate, scared of the change and yet hopeful for what is out there. I felt myself rereading so many passages, sometimes just pausing for a moment with this tingling sensation in my nose as i held back tears and just said, “damn”. It’s not often that a book makes me feel like this and I could tell from almost the very beginning that this book was going to be a favorite.This book talks on so many serious topics and I love the way the author interwove religious beliefs into the book. Normally I'm one to stay far, far away from anything concerning religion in my books because it tends to feel like the author is trying to preach to you or push their beliefs but with this book it didn't feel that way at all. Seeing Hannah and Baker struggle with their beliefs, with what you're told your whole life versus what is your reality and now it's left you questioning everything, I feel like that's something every single person who has ever grown up religious can relate to. That moment where you start to question the things you blindly followed as a kid, where you question where you fit into it all and if you belong even if you don't believe everything or you have doubts or even you feel you go against what your beliefs say. Honestly I feel like the writing was so powerful that it made me empathize and relate to every single characters struggle, from Hannah, to Joanie and even to Wally and Clay. I loved every single character so, so much and I saw pieces of myself in nearly every single character.I loved that this book was so character driven and about this group of friends. I love them all so much! I really cannot say that enough because throughout reading I just continued to feel more and more like they were my friends and like I knew them and I wanted so desperately to help them through all their struggles. I really loved Joanie's relationship with Luke and I love that the author spent time developing each of the side characters rather than just making them basic secondary characters that don't really have depth. I could easily see myself reading books for any of the other friends, in fact I'm dying for more of this group. I'd love a Joanie and Luke book, a Wally book or even a Clay book.As for the main couple, Baker and Hannah? I loved them so much my heart aches just thinking of them. I really, truly did not expect to love this book as much as I did. But love it, I did. I honestly cried so much reading this book and I feel like that rarely happens for me anymore. To feel that emotionally invested in a book that I literally want to sob because it hurts me that they hurt. The love and friendship that Hannah and Baker have for each other is deep, soul mate love. The angst is too real in this one but it never felt strung out or exaggerated because the pacing was realistic and perfect.It is very rare for me to spend $5.99 on an ebook but this book was worth every single penny and more. This was the best impulse buy and the best $6 I've spent this year. I cannot recommend this book enough! I really think this is a book that everyone should read and if you're someone who hasn't ventured into many F/F books I think you should start with this book because it's so beautiful that I don't think you could not want to read more F/F after finishing this book.READ THIS BOOK!!

Yes, this book really is worthy of all its 5-star reviews. There are so many good things about it that I hardly know where to start and am afraid that I might not be able to stop, but here goes. Although my adolescence is far behind me, this book's depiction of teenage life seems completely and utterly realistic. The teenagers in this book are good kids who do well in school and have loving relationships with their families and parents, and yet they are also involved in an entirely separate world, mostly unseen by adults, in which sex, drinking, and sometimes ugly behavior are for the most part handled by the kids themselves in a completely matter-of-fact way, without adult involvement. The depiction of the high school parties, with their anomie, aimlessness, and puzzling mix of dullness, excitement, danger, and fun, is spot-on. The relationship between Hannah and her sister Joanie is beautifully rendered, in all its facets; while their behavior can sometimes be petty -- even downright mean -- they also humorously tease each other and clearly love each other; ultimately they valiantly protect, defend, and support each other. Likewise, the relationship between the two protagonists is portrayed in an entirely multidimensional way. Driven by anger, fear, and shame, each girl at times behaves in ways that are truly hurtful; and yet despite -- or perhaps BECAUSE OF -- this, they are deeply sympathetic characters. Hannah's feelings of hopelessness, anger, fear, and despair vis-à-vis her sexual orientation are remarkably well evoked. The writing throughout the book is extraordinarily good; notably, there is a very moving, lyrically described love scene which somehow manages to be both oblique and explicit at the same time - a seemingly impossible feat that Quindlen accomplishes through her skilled use of language and metaphor. The topic of religion is handled in a thoughtful and nuanced way, appearing to represent a very honest portrayal of the conflicts that can arise in this environment; having little religious background myself, I found it quite enlightening. Running throughout the book is an ingenious and quite beautiful pairing of sex and the forbidden fruit, sin and salvation, and holy communion and human love. The dialogue -- often humorous, sometimes harsh -- is consistently believable and realistic. While at the beginning I wondered a bit about where the book was going with its depictions of teenage repartee and partying, by the end it is clear that there is not one extraneous plot element: everything contributes to scene-setting and character development; EVERYTHING FITS. In addition to being a very sensitive and honest LGBT coming-of-age story, this is a truly lovely book about redemption, forgiveness, and love; I recommend it without reservation. Thank you, Ms. Quindlen, for sharing your wisdom, insight, humor, compassion, and remarkable writing talent with us; I very much hope we will be hearing more from you.

Told entirely through Hannah’s third-person point of view, this YA is angsty, dramatic, yet sweet and tender. I fully root for Hannah and Baker to be together from page one, and despite all the awful things they did to their friends and each other, I love them both. I think the self discovery and religious belief aspects of the story are handled pretty well, too, and everything that happened is oh-so-relatable.(The font for the paperback version seems to be Baskerville and not very readable for me. I ended up reading the ebook.)