Amanda Eyre Ward

The cover would make you think..."OH! This looks kind of bright and shiny." It is so far from that. These people have PROBLEMS and there is literally nothing light-hearted about how they come to terms with those problems. It's not necessarily the book I have problems with though it didn't WOW me.

***TRIGGER WARNING & SPOILERS AHEAD***

I'm gonna keep it pretty simple. There's two different suicides (one only an attempt) featured and LOTS of characters that should be medicated for their show more depression. There is no introspection, they just kind of vomit out all of their problems (or bottle them up) and assume that everyone around them didn't grow up, too.

That part I understand so well -- I'm the youngest, I have always been treated like I'm a teenager because that's the age I was when my siblings became "adults". They've forgotten that eventually I became an adult, too. The interactions between the siblings and there mom are so relatable.

The suicidal dad and (later) sister though...not something I expected based on the description. Is suicide really a plot device now? Is that the trend novels are moving toward? Are authors (and their book marketers -- and I'm including Reese's Book Club as a marketer) consciously doing this? I'm an author, I'm gonna make this "unique" by including a suicide, but let's not include that in the blurb because it's gonna be a "surprise" for the reader. It's a plot twist, get it? Let's give this one a bright & shiny cover with umbrellas -- no one will ever see the dark & twisty suicide coming!

Well...you fooled me again publishers. Please stop.

Maybe I'm hyper-sensitive to this right now? Or maybe it's time I give up on contemporary novels for a bit. When they all start to become the same book, it becomes tedious and BORING. One successful dysfunctional family novel means that EVERY publisher wants to push THEIR dysfunctional family dramas to the front. Remember when Gone Girl came out and EVERYTHING WAS GONE GIRL AFTER THAT? Well, we're there with the dysfunctional family trend. It's DONE NOW. YOU'VE KILLED IT FOR ME.

I'm ready for something new. I feel like Buffy in the musical episode. Please give me something to sing about, ya'll!

If you're one of those that reads reviews before reading the book, read these instead:
Reunion by Hannah Pittard
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo show less

Surprisingly Fun and Wonderfully Unexpected

I picked up this book looking for a quick easy beach read and, to be honest, wasn't expecting much from it. But, Ward surprised me in every sense of the word and presented me not with an appetizer but with a five course meal. Her writing was delightfully nuanced, and each character spoke with their own voice to such a point that I didn't need their name as the chapter title to remind me who was speaking, and even lesser voiced characters were all show more unique and real to me as a reader. The connections and interweaving of books, authors, and characters as reference and inspiration all created a wonderful network of associations. This was a great move, because these works served as clues to the mystery at the heart of Ward's book. As you can see, although this book's cover and blurb may resemble a run of the mill RomCom, this book is so much more. I love that genre, but Ward has embedded her story and characters with so much bitter-sweet humor, psychology, literary history, and history that together wove a perfect tapestry in which I was not just reading but participating in the events as a fourth Peacock Sister! show less

In The Same Sky, Amanda Eyre Ward tells two stories in parallel: Alice, a woman in Texas, is married to a man she loves, and desperately wants a baby she's unable to have. Carla, a young girl in Honduras, decides to escape her deteriorating situation; she attempts to cross the border into Texas and rejoin her mother.

Alice and Carla each narrate in the first person. Alice's voice is more authentic than Carla's, but Carla's experiences are nonetheless believable as she journeys from Honduras show more through Mexico and across the border, enduring hunger, fear, and sexual violence along the way. (It turns out Carla's half of the story is her admissions essay to the University of Texas.) The two stories meet at the very end of the book in an unsurprising conclusion.

The Same Sky raises the issues of immigration, underfunded education systems, infertility and adoption, but the characters transcend these issues even as they bring awareness to them.

Quotes (from the galley, not final publication)

Some of the things that happened to me would ruin a person who did not have faith. If despair runs as deep and fast as the Rio Bravo, my belief that I am not alone forms a lifeboat underneath me, keeping me from drowning. This is hard for an American to understand. Having enough - having too much - enables you to forget that you are not in charge. God is in charge. (Carla, 60-61)

Moving simply felt better than being still. (Alice, 159)

I yearned to feel at ease but didn't know how. (Alice, 165)

"It's okay," I said, holding her, starting to cry myself.
"It's not okay," said Jane. "But it's the way it is." (Alice, 175)

Her jaw clenched with the effort of believing the only thing she could believe. (Carla's mother, 177)

Her faith, I saw then, was a rope dangling above an abyss of despair. She could hold on to the rope or let go. (Carla's mother, 177)

It occurred to me that so much of what I did...was born of my childhood belief that if I kept in motion, I would not have to miss my mother. So much of what we all did, to be fair, was a valiant attempt to distract ourselves from the fact that we were going to die, and none of us knew when or how or what...we should do with ourselves in the meantime. (Alice, 193) show less

A very postmodern book, if only in its undertones. This was a surprisingly quick read which I devoured in a single afternoon. This engrossing plot features a triangle between three women: a prisoner on Death Row, a doctor, and a librarian. At first, the three narratives seem to be randomly thrown together, but their connection is revealed soon enough. You won't be able to put it down after that.

As a native Texan, I enjoyed the well-researched bits about Huntsville, the prisons, and the death show more sentence. Texas executes more people than any other state, and middle schools statewide make the field trip / pilgrimage to the Huntsville museum where Old Sparky is retired. From an early age, we learn about the lethal injection and the gruesome details of how exactly an execution-via-electric chair works. I recently went to the museum as an adult and was horrified to see a gift shop t-shirt featuring Old Sparky, with the slogan "Riding Thunder." That is fucked.

Ward is obviously not from Texas, but this fact, obviously, does not take away from the quality of her writing, which is well-researched and written in lovely prose. However, her opinions on the death penalty go against everything most Texans believe. Her characters do not reflect the average Texan. Here, the death penalty is not just a policy, but a part of religion. Just like gun rights.

Ward devalues the death penalty. As in, what good would this woman's death do? What good could come from killing this woman? We look at this woman's life before prison and sympathize with her plight, but Ward seems to be advocating that justice is relative. Her character is a murderer, but she had such a tragic life, surely we can judge the murder in a different life?

The death penalty is not a cruel and unusual punishment... There are many arguments made about its cruelty, but as for unusual, it's definitely not, because we do it! A lot. Especially in Texas. This is a common punishment. Common! If you tip the scales of justice, they must be righted again. Ward questions this sentiment with grace. show less