REVIEW: Searching for Sky by Jillian Cantor

Title: Searching for Sky
Author: Jillian Cantor
Genre: Young Adult. Contemporary. Survival.
Publication Date: July 3rd 2014

Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
Rating: 4/5

River means everything to Sky. They have lived alone together on Island for as long as they can remember. The two of them hunt for food, wash in Falls and curl up together in Shelter. Their life is simple and safe. Until River sees a boat . . .

Across Ocean is California, a place where nothing makes sense to Sky. She is separated from River and taken to live with a grandmother she doesn’t know. Lost and heartbroken, Sky searches for him so they can return to Island, only to find out that their paradise wasn’t as perfect as she thought, and everything she’s ever known and loved may have been a lie.

A gripping and beautifully told story of love and survival in a hostile world – ours.

This was sent to us by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Searching for Sky is described as being a ‘reverse dystopian’, personally I think it’s more of a reverse survival story. Sky and River have lived on ‘Island’ for most of their lives, but one day they are rescued and taken back home, to California. From there, Sky has to learn to survive everything her new life throws at her.

The moment I heard about this book I was incredibly excited to read it. The premise of it sounds amazing and it’s so incredibly unique- I definitely was not disappointed by it. I loved both Sky and River (and Ben!). I think the thing I liked most about the book was seeing how Sky coped with her new life. It was really interesting to see her learn about things that we often take for granted, like the internet and iPods, but also the more basic things like reading and proper beds. It was amazing to see what somehow who had grown up without all those things thought about them. I especially loved seeing the difference between Sky and River’s experiences in California.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve sorted of conditioned myself to expect romance in every YA book I read, and don’t get me wrong, there’s some romance in here but that’s not what the book is about. The book is really about survival, and I think because it’s not in the typical ‘deserted island’ type of way, the book is even more meaningful. I’m sure, like me, you probably have been stranded on an island recently but Searching for Sky still has that sense of familiarity. I was able to connect to Sky because there have definitely been moments where I’ve felt a little bit different or haven’t understood something that others have. It’s also about finding yourself (yes, the title does make sense) and learning to trust yourself and others, this is sometimes left out of YA but I definitely think it’s a very important message. It’s a very beautiful story, and that there are definitely things to be learnt from it. Briefly, back onto the romance part. I was sort of expecting a bit of a love-triangle direction, and I don’t mean to spoil anything but I think this is important. It is definitely NOT a love-triangle, which is incredibly refreshing for YA, is it not? I can’t even explain how relieved I was that this differed from that.

So, I suggest that you go out and buy this book, or put it on hold at the library or something. I would recommend it highly to everyone, and it’s definitely one YA book that you don’t want to miss.

Thanks again to the lovely people at Bloomsbury for giving us a chance to review this book.