A story of a daughter and mother who what seem to face more bad than good situations in there lives. They do overcome  it in the end, I shows a good take on relationships between mothers, daughters friends and all the people who aren’t worth having in your life. 

Some trigger warnings apply but it never goes in to over detail, but still makes you understand and add to the story. 

A great read of hardships and how to overcome and become.

Good characters, lyrical writing and something worth picking up.

Izzy and her mum have been living a life of trauma. Her mum's husband of 9 years, Daniel, was supposed to be their prince charming, and he certainly comes across that way to everyone else. But behind closed doors there's another story. After years of insidious gaslighting and abuse Izzy and Steph have reached a crossroads; Do they stay and succumb to the numb acceptance of the misogynistic abuse they are subject to from all areas or do they take tentative steps back to themselves and each other.

This is a powerful and emotive tale where the fear and confusion is claustrophobic and leaves you breathless. But it's balanced out with a healthy dose of optimism. Izzy's hope is jarred up and shut away, literally, but eventually comes to fill the sky and offer a way forward.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me sight of an eArc in exchange for an honest review. The Sky is Mine is published in February 2020.

A heart wrenching book a young girl bullied by her ex boyfriend threatening her with private pictures of her .At the same time there is  abuse in her household her stepfather terrorizing her& her mother.A book that will surprise an book of reclaiming power.A very interesting book.#netgalley#oneworldpublishing

I am not sure if trigger warnings are truly required for this book since nothing is ever really told in cover-your-ears-graphic details, but I kind of wish I had been warned. So, yeah.

Trigger warnings: sexual abuse, physical abuse, rape, manipulation, abortion

Overall, I appreciate what this story does for the voice of abuse survivors. I like the coming together of the women and the whole "finding your voice" thing.

However, this style was just not my cup of tea. The entire first half of the novel was very cringe worthy. Every single person in the story is the worst version of themselves, which made me angry and uncomfortable, and it ultimately felt unrealistic.

I kind of felt as though the author wanted to explore ALL aspects of abuse, so she included as many different forms as possible, which felt like too much. Seemed thrown together and not fully developed.

The story is 100% predictable, no surprises except for maybe how awfully uncomfortable the beginning of the book is with the manipulated rape stuff.

Also, entirely too many pop culture references.. maybe this was to appeal to a very young teen audience?? But the topics seem more for the older teens, closer to their twenties? Not sure what was going on there.

The experience wasn't totally negative, though. I found myself smiling and almost crying in a couple spots here and there. Relating to these kinds of stories is always difficult.

Overall, I liked the message of the novel, but the characters and style didn't do it for me.

Wow!  This book dealt with several teenage issues:  bullying, sexual assault, domestic abuse, friendship, family....    I thought these issues were handled well.  

This is not what you call a typical feel good book.   Yet, I felt hopeful when it ended.    And to me, the two most important words when reading a book are "I felt" ..     And i felt sad, i felt angry and I felt like I wanted to reach out and hug her.   

I want to thank net galley and the publisher for an ARC which did not impact my review.

I really liked this book. This book discusses many issues that are going on with the world of teenagers today. Not just teenagers but in general. This book describes Izzy a girl whose bestfriend Grace is her rock. Grace who is a lesbian finds Nell and falls in love. This causes some separation in friendship. While this was occurring Jacob a major dick is threatening Izzy with pictures that was taken when she was drunk and ultimately is bullying her into a sexual relationship constantly. Daniel is izzys step dad who seems to want her in a sexual sense. He also causes a lot of domestic violence with her mother. This causes them to leave. 

This book brings conversations about bulling, sexual assault and domestic abuse. 

What happens to Izzy ?
Read this book and find out

This book offered insight into some really difficult topics; topics that are not often the central focus of YA stories. However, this book dealt with these stories with grace and insight. It did not shy away from difficulties. I got so mad reading this book (for various reasons), but ended with a feeling of hope.

This debut novel certainly covers quite a few dark topics. I like how Beashel didnt hold back and really helped you understand the characters in her book. 

Izzy is our main character and she is going through some tough things. Unfortunately, what we see quite often in the youth of today, she is keeping those things to herself. As the story progresses we see that Izzy begins to take back over her life, and one of her biggest supporters is her mother. 

Izzy and her mom endure troubling times together, but also find creative ways to overcome those times. 

I feel overall this was a good portrayal of what is happening behind the scenes all over the world today. I appreciated the delicacy in which tough subjects, such as rape culture and domestic abuse, are handled by the author. 

As a non UK native, I did struggle with some of the word/phrase choices chosen in the narrative. At times this left me, as a reader, a bit confused and agitated. Once I was able to get a better feel for the writing, the story flowed well. 

Thanks NetGalley and Rock The Boat Publishing for the opportunity to read this in advance for an honest opinion. .

The Sky is Mine addresses some important issues surrounding misogyny and female experience. The main protagonist, Izzy, goes through an empowering transformation as she comes through blackmail and abuse and takes control of her life. There’s a brilliant exploration of parent/child relationships, and there are some thought-provoking reflections on the pervasiveness of the patriarchy and how everything connects.

That said, I don’t think there is anything particularly original here – and what is said has been said more eloquently before. The narrative style is very marmite – you’ll either love it or hate it. Sadly, I found it shapeless and overly dramatic. There is no variation in pace or tone, meaning that some poignant revelations and beautiful images were all but lost in the sea of words. There is also a truly unbelievable instance of insta-love, which felt demeaning and out of place in the midst of Izzy’s emotional turmoil.

The Sky is Mine was a little disappointing for me - but mostly because I wanted to love it so much more than I did.

A story of a young woman and her mother who face what they feel to be impossible situations yet overcome in the end. Life, love, hurt, and happiness. Friendship, hardships, and a Jar of Sunshine. There are some situations that might be triggers for some readers, but they are handled well and without too much detail. In the end, The Sky is Mine is a good read of resilience, overcoming, and becoming.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of The Sky is Mine, in exchange for an honest review.

This story started off a little slow for me, but once I got going I really enjoyed it.  This book covered so many horrible and difficult topics with grace.  And it even ended up heartwarming.  This would be a great teenager read.

This is the kind of book that makes me proud to be a woman and really takes a stand against the toxic rape culture in our society. 

Beashel’s writing style is very easy to become entranced by. I honestly couldn’t put this book down and am looking forward to seeing more by this author. 

Although I read this book very fast, the story of Izzy and her mother discovering their worth will live on with me for years to come. This book got me out of a reading slum and was a really fresh start for me after reading loads of fantasy. I’d definitely recommend this book to my friends and family. It’s taking a stand and is a story that demands to be heard.

DNF. This book was impossible for me to read. I think the author may be British/English? Which obviously is not a problem. I just don't understand a lot of the wording. The formatting is also very off. It's all bunched together or broken up weirdly. Otherwise I would have loved to read this.

A great account of a young girl dealing with abusive issues at school as well as at home. The characters were well fleshed out and for Izzy in particular there was a great deal of development throughout the novel.

This is a great story of re-claiming power and the struggles that come along with this. Having the parallel stories with Izzy and her mother help to demonstrate the different ways that women have to deal with this and some of the road bumps that they encounter along the way.

The main reason this wouldn't be able to be adapted for a standard classroom is the strong language and some very upsetting scenes. Would recommend for higher level readers who are more mature.

Due for release in February 2020, I'm pretty convinced that this will be a hit read.
Plunged straight into the life of our main character, Izzy, it takes a while to establish quite what's going on. We see Izzy get drunk at a party and she is threatened by someone in her college who vows to send round an embarrassing picture from the party unless she does what he asks her to. There's no doubt that Izzy would be perfectly in her right to ignore this and call him out - but we see how insidious such attitudes are, when even his mates try to justify his behaviour by calling it 'banter'. As a parent this horrified me, and I am really scared that anyone could ever think such behaviour is okay.
Izzy finds herself in a difficult situation. She fears just what this boy could do, so she goes to his house. He rapes her - no matter what name he gives it - and continues to try and threaten her into doing what he wants her to through her fear of what others will say.
Izzy says nothing. This is totally believable - however much you wish it weren't. Against the backdrop of Izzy's home-life it becomes even more relatable. She sees her once vibrant mother as a shell of herself. Her step-father controls everything and we are, slowly, given details that chronicle a horribly abusive relationship.
Eventually Izzy's mother leaves, and Izzy gets the opportunity to reflect on her experiences and how to move on from them. Some elements of this are easier than others.
There was a lot packed into this read, but I am sure it will strike a chord - in some way - with many readers. Though elements of the story felt resolved far too easily, there were some positive outcomes that did inspire hope.

Stunningly written with important and relevant messages for teens/young people to hear. Izzy is an amazing, fresh and instantly relatable character who I was rooting for from start to finish. The story is heartbreaking and explores traumatic issues with senstive, empathetic writing that's confronting in all the right ways without ever shying away from what needs to be told. I cried a lot, both for Izzy and all those in the world affected by #metoo/domestic abuse/rape culture. The rays of hope in the story are so important and the guts and bravery Izzy displays gave me the biggest lumps in my throat. An important book for young people as well as the people who work alongside them.

I had a hard time when I first started reading this book. It made me mad. Very mad. Mad at Izzy. Mad at Jacob. Mad at Grace. Mad at Steph. Mad at Max. Mad at Daniel. To the point that I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish it. I’m so glad that I stuck with it though. How a book about so many horrible and difficult topics can still be so heartwarming is no easy feat and this book is just that. Even though nothing is told in graphic details, you really feel what these characters go through at the hands of their abusers. It will make you sad. It will make you mad. It will make you want to inflict bodily harm on fictional characters. To see both Izzy and her mom start to get back to the people they were before the abuse got me in all the feels. Thank you NetGalley and Oneworld Publications for providing me with and ARC of this book.

really enjoyed this book! The different topics, although hard to grasp and also dramatized (as seen in the ending) were all very relevant. It totally branched off the stigmas of domestic abuse, rape etc. Izzy was extremely brave and I did love Grace too! Also wish we could've had even more scenes with Harry but that would've taken away the core message.

Thank you :)

In this book we meet Izzy, a girl who's being blackmailed into sleeping with a guy, Jacob from her school while at home she and her mum are domestically and verbally abused by Daniel, Izzy's stepfather and her mum's husband.



Grace is her best friend but spends most of her time now with her girlfriend Nell and makes Izzy jealous of their close bond as she feels pushed out and unwanted.



However as things keep worsening with Jacob and Daniel, her mum one day decides enough is enough and the pair up and leave with dramatic consequences...



This book tackles many girlhood topics and I recommend it for teens to read.



I loved this book Izzy is a body positive hard as nails girl who has to deal with so much life rubbish from loss, rape, consent issues, blackmail, friendship drama and maybe falling in love, Izzy is a teen who raises many issues and tackles them all alongside her rebecoming herself mum, new love interest and with a kicking playlist to boot for ultimate positive vibes, this book was a fantastic debut knocking these topics out of the park, you need to read this book!



Many thanks for the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

This book totally took me by surprise and blew me away. A teenage girl gets tangled up in blackmail after the boy who rapes her uses photographs he's taken to control her. I thought this was the main plot point of the book but it actually centres around her and her mother moving to a refuge to escape her abusive stepfather. It's a very well written book and sensitively handles tough issues. A must-read.