#BlogTour! #Review – #WeOwnTheSky by Luke Allnutt (@lukeallnutt) @TrapezeBooks

Apologies for how late in the day this is, BUT, I am super excited to be closing Luke Allnutt’s blog tour for ‘We Own The Sky’ today. Here is my review:

A story about love, loss and finding hope – against all odds.

Rob Coates can’t believe his luck. There is Anna, his incredible wife, and most precious of all, Jack, their son, who makes every day an extraordinary adventure. Rob feels like he’s won the lottery of life. Or rather – he did. Until the day it all changes when Anna becomes convinced there is something wrong with Jack.

Now Rob sleepwalks through his days, unable to bridge the gulf that separates him from his wife, his son and the business of living. But he’s determined to come to terms with what’s happened-and find a way back to life, and forgiveness.

We Own the Sky will resonate with anyone who has ever suffered loss or experienced great love. Luke Allnutt shows that the journey from hope to despair and back is never as simple as we think, and that even the most thoroughly broken heart can learn to beat again

What does TWG think?

How far would you go to save the one you love?
What if there was no guarantee of anyone being saved, how far would you go then?
Now, if you were told that a situation was out of your hands, would you try to find an alternative route, or would you accept the inevitable?

Three rather easy questions….but are they really that easy?

Rob and his wife, Anna, have had their lives turned upside down. Both handling the situation in completely different ways, and both having different opinions on which route should be taken. But is there a correct route to go down in circumstances like these? To be perfectly honest, it doesn’t bear thinking about, yet families DO have to think about it as it’s real life. People like Rob and Anna are all over the world, trying to come to terms with circumstances which you always think would never happen to you, and why wouldn’t you think that?

It’s quite clear that the storyline is incredibly complex, seeing as my review is incredible vague and so is the blurb. Even though I had an inkling where the storyline was heading, I crossed my fingers in hope that I was wrong. I had been told before reading ‘We Own The Sky’, that there would be truck loads of tears shed – did I believe them? No, I didn’t. In actual fact I started thinking that nothing in this book would make me cry. Boy how wrong was I….

There was a point during the book where, after reading one particular sentence, my heart broke in two and the flood gates opened. I have never, EVER cried at a book like I cried at this one. It wasn’t your usual ugly crying, or snot induced crying (lovely). No. I was absolutely heartbroken which made the tears just fall out of my eyes like a waterfall. Having become invested in the storyline and its powerful characters, I found the emotion a lot harder to absorb as I felt like part of me had been lost. Never mind the fact that I was in no way involved in the storyline – I still felt like a close friend. I know that sounds daft, but once you read this book you might understand where I was coming from.

‘We Own The Sky’ describes every loved ones nightmare….and then some. There were times where I felt like I couldn’t carry on reading, that it was too hard to bear, but if I had done that, I probably would have felt like I had let down the characters. I mean, if you’re in that situation yourself you can’t really sit there and say ‘SOZ, I can’t cope, I’m giving up. Call me when it’s all done’. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of people will think that I’m sure!

Not only was the storyline heartbreakingly beautiful, the information I read about the author was heartbreaking in itself. I have absolutely no idea how the author managed to write this book considering the theme was incredibly close to Luke Allnutt personally, but he did and I am in awe. What an absolute superstar this author is, and what a phenomenal author he is as well.

‘We Own The Sky’ absolutely blew me away and became the shining star in my own sky at night. This book reminded me that even when times are hard and you have no idea where to turn, there is always, ALWAYS someone willing to be your shoulder to cry on. Whether that is in human contact, or online forums – it doesn’t matter. All that matters is someone being present. This book also highlighted the lengths in which people would go to if someone they love were in danger, even if some of those lengths were incredibly stupid…

‘We Own The Sky’ reminded me that in difficult situations, we often become someone we don’t like due to defence mechanisms and, no matter how much you try to fight it, you’re always going to do something you would rather forget. Luke Allnutt showed the importance of going through the motions because, if you can’t go through the grief, guilt, depressive state, alcoholic tendencies etc, you won’t be able to come out the other side with your heart covered in Elastoplast. Those steps are vital and it isn’t until they’re told to you in black and white, that that message is drummed into your mind.

A heartbreakingly beautiful, well written, emotional, delicate, and highly poignant novel from an author whose own life was in somebody else’s hands, and yet he owned it. Just like he, you, I, and we….own the sky.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Buy now!