Friday, December 28, 2012

The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin

You can read an interview with Lara and enter to win a signed copy of the book here. (giveaway is open until January 7th)

The Waiting SkyOne summer chasing tornadoes could finally change Jane's life for the better
Seventeen-year-old Jane McAllister can't quite admit her mother's alcoholism is spiraling dangerously out of control until she drives drunk, nearly killing them and Jane's best friend.
Jane has only one place to turn: her older brother Ethan, who left the problems at home years ago for college. A summer with him and his tornado-chasing buddies may just provide the time and space Jane needs to figure out her life and whether it still includes her mother. But she struggles with her anger at Ethan for leaving home and feels guilty--is she also abandoning her mom just when she needs Jane most? The carefree trip turned journey of self-discovery quickly becomes more than Jane bargained for, especially when the devilishly handsome Max steps into the picture.

I picked up The Waiting Sky not really knowing what to expect. I had heard about the novel on somebody’s blog and thought it looked interesting, but I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not. Ironically, I ended up reading it cover to cover in a matter of hours. The Waiting Sky is a fairly small book, but despite it’s size, there is wonderful character development and multiple well-developed subplots.

One of my favorite parts of this novel was Zielin’s ability to incorporate serious issues such as alcoholism and something as dangerous and exciting like tornado chasing together seamlessly in one novel. Jane has a lot to deal with and is put under a lot of pressure, but I really liked her. Though she freaked out sometimes, she still remained a sense of being grounded- which was heartening. Though it isn’t what the book is about, there is some romance in The Waiting Sky. Despite not playing a huge role in the story, what romance there is in the novel- is amazing. The chemistry between Jane and Max is the type that makes you smile, and I loved reading about it.

The storm chasing aspect of The Waiting Sky was so awesome! It lightened the book, so it wasn’t only about Jane trying to deal with what’s going on her mom. But it was also just really well presented. I hate storms, but reading The Waiting Sky made me want to be out there with the Torbros.

The Waiting Sky was spectacular. I loved the book from the moment I started reading it. This is the first of Lara Zielin’s books that I’ve read, and I can’t wait to pick up some more.

FTC- Received for review.

2 comments:

~The Book Pixie said...

This is one of those books that I almost never see anything about but have really been wanting to read it. I grew up on the movie Twister so when I first heard about this book I was like, "Oh heck yeah!" and I eventually got it. Your review has really got me wanting to dig through my books and find it. I'm glad to hear that there was romance that was both amazing and not a major plot line. That always makes me happy as I find a lot of books have trouble hitting that happy medium. So glad you enjoyed this one and thanks for the review!

~Briana

We Heart YA said...

Oh, wow, this sounds really good. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it, and for giving us the heads-up. We haven't heard anything about it other than this. (And what a gorgeous title! Although the cover image doesn't seem to fit...)