There are many different things you can get out of this follow up to The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes but for me this was about the way that grief is experienced in different ways.

I could relate to this – 2 years ago when my father passed away a good friend did what most people do when facing with a friend’s grief. She brought me (unwanted) food and wanted me to cry on her shoulder. And she was adamant that I HAD to cry! That’s her way of dealing with grief.

I felt uncomfortable with this pressure to “perform” but after the 5th time she said “You are so brave for not crying” I forced/faked a few tears out just go get her off my back. I directed my anger at the situation onto her even though her intentions were 100% pure. Grief is a personal and tricky thing and I really appreciated that the book focused on the myriad of ways that grief can manifest.

After Rabbit succumbs to her cancer each family member deals with her loss in their own unique dysfunctional way.

The matriarch of the family stops believing in God and goes on a spree of charity and protesting the new water meters in her neighbourhood. The daughter, who tested positive for the same gene that gave her sister cancer, decides to cut out her perfectly healthy female parts as a preventative measure.

Rabbit’s daughter, Juliet, goes to live with her uncle Davey and he has absolutely no idea how to take care of a child, and a blossoming teenager to boot. And Rabbit’s best friend feels like she did not only loose her best friend but also a family.

And Rabbit’s father? He tries to honour his daughter’s last wishes but that will lead to the fight of all fights and potentially break up his marriage forever.

There was also a lot of laughter with the depiction of a sprawling Irish family and their antics, which in a book like this, was very needed.

I laughed, I cried (unforced) and I thought about the people in my life that matter most to me.

An easy recommendation

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK for this book. This is the sequel to The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes and literally picks up from where that book ends. I strongly recommend reading that one first as it sets the scene for what follows. The book is brilliant - simultaneously hilarious and very moving. It beautifully captures every aspect of humanity in all its flawed wonder. The characters are just fabulous. Utterly wonderful.

Loved it, loved it, loved it.
I've only recently read The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes a few months ago having had it in my tbr pile for ages, so I was delighted to see this book appear even though that book had broken my heart so recently.
So here I was having my heart broken all over again, but it was lovely being back with all the Hayes family, like we'd never been away and hearing how life had been treating them, even though it wasn't all grand.
I just loved having Rabbit there once more, all the way through and although the story broke my heart all over again it was such a lovely story and so well written and uplifting it was absolutely worth it.
A beautiful story of life and death and love, and above all, family. Wonderful.

I read the first in the series, The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes, a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so immediately applied for a review copy when I saw this follow up on Netgalley. I'm so glad I did, as I loved going on this journey with the Hayes family. The thing I relished most about these two books is that the author has the amazing talent of making me laugh and cry on the same page, and she is able to do this again and again. Light, funny and sad - this reminded me a bit of Me Before You but lighter on the romance.

I highly recommend these two books if you need some Lock-down escapism.

This is my first book by this author, luckily it didn’t matter that I hadn’t read The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes. A beautiful and touching read. I can’t wait to read her others now.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Below the Big Blue Sky is the follow up to The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes. A beautiful, heartbreaking novel about a young woman who loses her fight with cancer while her whole loving but slightly crazy family watch her die during her last days on earth.
In this book, we are back with the Hayes family as they each try to come to terms with the death of their beloved Rabbit. Each family member is dealing with their grief but also facing other challenges in their lives.
I love the Hayes. They're so delightfully Irish, absolutely stone mad and hilarious even in their darkest grief. Both books will stay with me for a long time and I already miss these beautiful, crazy characters. You will laugh, you will cry and you will laugh while crying. This book is a rollercoaster of emotions.
Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

When Rabbit Hayes dies aged 40 from cancer, the effect on her remaining family and friends is devastating. Her feisty and wonderful mother Molly loses her faith. Her father Jack retreats from everyone. Her sister Grace finds out that she also has the gene that means she is at risk of developing the same cancer. Her brother Davey, a drummer in a band in the U.S. finds himself the guardian of Rabbit's 14 year old daughter Juliet. And her best friend Marjorie, feels adrift and hopeless.

Over time it seems that the fractures are permanent. But as time passes, each of them remember that Rabbit brought them all joy and they know she would want them to live and be happy. With unexpected happy news, the family is brought closer together again and the conclusion to this wonderful story is overwhelmingly uplifting.

I couldn’t wait to read this, having adored the first book. A beautiful read, it touched me greatly to see how the cast of characters were coping after Rabbits death. A brilliant look at family, grief, love and hope.

A raw and emotional read. There is a lot of heartache after Rabbit’s death. There is humour though as well. It is all very well written and there are some great strong characters.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This book was raw and dealt with horrible tragic life events. There were points that were difficult to read and for me a little close to home! Nonetheless I still enjoyed the book and it’s overall story and message.

I was so excited when I saw this book as I'd read 'The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes'  a few years ago and it was so funny, emotional and heartbreaking, but definitely one of one of those books that just stays with you forever, so I had high hopes for this sequel.

This book begins where the last book finished, so with the death of Rabbit Hayes from cancer, and follows the life of her family and friends for the following two years.

The characters are the same from the previous book, but they are slowly learning how to move on with their lives, some more easily than others.  I really liked the way the book was set over the two years and not rushed, as it took time for them all to process how they were feeling and get over their grief, Rabbit's parents, Molly and Jack, especially.  They each dealt with their grief in their own way, Molly by renouncing her faith and protesting against everything, mainly the water rates in Ireland, and ending up in prison for a few days by telling the judge what she thought of him(!), and Jack by hiding in the attic and re-reading old diaries.  They really drifted apart for a while, but everyone in the Hayes family had such a strong bond you knew it would all work out in the end.

Grace (Rabbit's sister) had health issues of her own to work out, and Marjorie's (Rabbit's best friend) life changed completely over the two years.  Davey (Rabbit's brother) became guardian for Juliet (Rabbit's daughter) and they struggled initially, but again worked through everything.

Whilst this book was both funny and sad, there were a lot more issues to sort out in this one than the previous book, so it was a lot more emotional than even the first book with Rabbit dying from cancer, and you felt very sad for so many of the characters.  Luckily though there were the lighter moments to balance things out.  The previous book was my favourite, and one I'll always remember, but this was also an excellent read.  I just love the Hayes family and all their friends!

I had read the Last Days of Rabbit Hayes & it broke my heart. This is the follow up to it. It is a stunning book. You can feel all the characters pain & will cry along with them. It perfectly & beautifully describes the pain of losing someone & how to move on with life after it & how it is ok to be happy too. I adored this book & cannot recommend it enough.

A wonderful book! So, so good...Anna McPartlin has managed to capture the different shades of grief that follow the death of a loved one. I can't stop thinking about the characters. Each and every one of the Hayes family has stayed in my heart and in my memory and I would very much like to see them again in another book. Especially Molly is very unique and I adored the relationship that she cultivated with Marjorie because sometimes you have to "find" your family. The dialogues are excellent and very clever.
But I must also point out that I found the incident with the minor unnecessary to the plot. I think that it gave the story another layer of drama that it seriously didn't need.
You will laugh and you will cry and you will definitely read it in 1-2 sittings. You'll really wish that there were more pages in the story...

I hadn't read the prequel but it really didnt matter in this case. With what is happening in the world at the moment, I really didn't want to read a book about grief but honestly it took me away from it all. This will have you crying and laughing with every few pages.. The writer knows how to paint the characters, flaws and all and you really get the feeling as if you are living their lives or know them personally..

This book is about Rabbit's family, coping with grief and all that life has thrown at them in the aftermath of her death. It is raw at times and at the same time uplifting. I really enjoyed this, My first read of Anna McPartlin and certainly not my last. Five stars.

Below the Big Blue Sky is a beautiful book. It’s full of emotion yet not too sentimental, it’s realistic and hard hitting at times yet true to life too. The characters are great, just great. I could imagine myself loving the company of almost every one of them. I loved the ‘gone to lunch’ term associated with Jack and the wonderful lasting camaraderie between Davey and his band mates. The writing was great and flowed so easily although I thought the number of chapters made the reading of it feel disjointed in parts. After the court scene I felt there was no need for so many short paragraphs dealing with each visit, they could easily have been joined together to form one paragraph, but that’s just my opinion. I though the incident after the gifting of the sound desk, and Juliette’s subsequent reaction was well dealt with also. I’m not sure if the night Molly spent in Sheila B’s company was oh too realistic , but I hope never to be able to verify observation. Have the tissues ready. This book will make you laugh and cry in equal measure. I loved it.

Below the Big Blue Sky is a beautiful book. It’s full of emotion yet not too sentimental, it’s realistic and hard hitting at times yet true to life too. The characters are great, just great. I could imagine myself loving the company of almost every one of them. I loved the ‘gone to lunch’ term associated with Jack and the wonderful lasting camaraderie between Davey and his band mates. The writing was great and flowed so easily although I thought the number of chapters made the reading of it feel disjointed in parts. After the court scene I felt there was no need for so many short paragraphs dealing with each visit, they could easily have been joined together to form one paragraph, but that’s just my opinion. I though the incident after the gifting of the sound desk, and Juliette’s subsequent reaction was well dealt with also. I’m not sure if the night Molly spent in Sheila B’s company was oh too realistic , but I hope never to be able to verify observation. Have the tissues ready. This book will make you laugh and cry in equal measure. I loved it.

This book picks up in the immediate aftermath and heartbreak of Rabbit's death it is heartbreaking from the very first page and there is a balance of extreme sadness and happiness as the family tries to figure it's way forward without the glue that was Rabbit.

I absolutely loved this book, I loved reading The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes and loved how this book just followed straight on and the story of this wonderful family continued. This story confronts the many different ways that grief manifests itself as you follow the journey of the Hayes family over the year that follows immediately and beyond.

At times this book made me laugh but the grief with tangible throughout you could almost reach out and touch it and I cried at many stages during this wonderful book.

A truly brilliant book that is one of those rare gems that will stay with me as these characters remain firmly imprinted in my imagination

A book following a grieving family may not sound like the kind of book you need right now but trust me when I tell you that Below the Big Blue Sky is a really uplifting book.

It is the sequel to The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes, which I adored when I read it a few years ago. It's no spoiler to say, as you can gather from that title, that Rabbit Hayes dies at the end of the first book. You can read this as a standalone although I would really recommend reading the first book as it also is a wonderfully uplifting book. Below the Big Blue Sky follows various members of Rabbit's family over the next couple of years as they come to terms with her loss.

There's her young daughter Juliet who as well as coming to terms with the loss of her mum, also has to contend with moving to America to live with her uncle Davey who can't understand why Rabbit asked him to look after Juliet. Neither can the rest of the family to be fair, but Rabbit trusted her brother. There's Rabbit's parents who have very different opinions on how to honour their daughter's memory. There's her sister who has some big decisions of her own to make. And there's her best friend too.

This is an incredibly moving read at times, which more than once had tears threatening as I read about the sadness of the family and how much missed Rabbit was. Despite her having passed away, she was still a really significant character and large presence in this book. And yet it's also such a funny book which at times had me giggling away. I think it was a real reflection of how people deal with a death and how emotions change and develop over time. Yes there is deep sorrow but it's only right to remember a person with smiles as well.

I know Rabbit Hayes wasn't a real person but nonetheless this seems like a fitting tribute to her. Below the Big Blue Sky is a beautiful story about finding joy in the darkest of times, which is perhaps very appropriate for the times we are living in.

I enjoyed this book although I didn’t know it was a follow up to ‘The Last Days of Rabbit Hays’
You don’t need to have read the 1st book as there are plenty of back story explanations effortlessly built into the story which make it very easy to follow. Having said that I think I might have connected more with the characters if I had read the 1st book.
The story follows the Hays family and close friends in the aftermath of the death of their daughter/mother/sister/friend and how each of them deals with their loss. It is a lovely book all about loss, grief and family connections.

I would recommend it as a stand alone book but it would be even better if you read the 1st book.

This is the most fantastic sequel to 'The last days of Rabbit Hayes'. Wow, this really didn't disappoint. Absolutely loved this book and catching up with all the characters.

When 40 year old 'Rabbit' Hayes dies, she leaves behind a lot of very broken and distraught family and friends. Not least her 12 year old daughter Juliet who she leaves in the care of her brother Davey. Unfortunately Davey has no experience in bringing up children and it is uncertain who is looking after whom!

Marjorie, her best friend, was more at home with Rabbit's family than her own, and is now unsure of her place any more.

Grace her sister has a wonderful husband and lovely children but finds out a secret that rocks her world

Molly, her mum, is the strong dependable glue holding them all together, but has a secret which threatens to blow her apart, and finish her formerly strong marriage. Her husband Jack is keeping secrets of his own.

If you loved The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes, you will adore this!