Review Detail

I tell you, books like these make me want to laugh and cry. The ones I expect to be amazing don't always live up, and the ones I expect little from, like with Night Sky by Jolene Perry, end up doing what the aforementioned couldn't. It just goes to show how potentially dangerous hype and sometimes half-baked preconceptions can be. Perry quickly yanks our attention with the pacing and the immediacy of the opening and Jameson's crushing emotions. We instantly experience firsthand what heartbreak is like for Jameson, hurting all over for a boy we've just begun to know. The power of that instant pull and that combination of the author's skills and the character we are introduced to to reel in our sympathy for a near-stranger spotlights Perry's talent. It's as if she planted the seeds long before we encountered her novel and, with that first turn of the page, a plant able to incite desires to soothe has spontaneously emerged.

Jameson is one of those rare perfect narrators. A connection is bound to ours hearts so that we feel his every internal scrape, bruise, and cut. Being in love with the same girl, a close friend, for over three years is tough enough, but to then have his heart broken over lost opportunity is sad and profound because its relatable. "Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do." —Gian Carlo Menotti To have the mistake of wasting an opportunity, passing up each chance at honesty and expression, thrown in our faces day after day is a personal hell, so it's easy to feel for Jameson. What's quite amazing is his prompt meeting with Sky, following so soon after his heartbreak. Slowly developing a friendship that has so much promise for, where complete honesty is agreed upon and swapped always, helps Jameson discover so much about the person he is and what it actually means to love and be with someone. Teaches him how to forgive and accept, to sort what's real and right from the wrong and unnecessary.

There are surprise bumps that make this a raw and deep love story. Not everything is roses and spun sugar. There are disappointments and shocks within the family, hurtful pasts and secrets that don't destroy this new relationship between Jameson and Sky but do provide ample authentic issues for them to work through and overcome. This is not a love triangle in which a boy dates two girls and has a hard time deciding between the two; Jameson is struggling to relinquish the hold on Sarah in his heart and mind, while establishing something fresh and beautiful with someone who cares enough to be honest with him and support him no matter what. It's not a simple process nor is it a short one, but one that develops gradually and purposefully as Jameson fights every day to let go and start over with someone he genuinely cares for enough to prove that he can (move on). All the while, he's battling family issues with his parents and trying to pull it together. Our admiration for his capabilities, his loyalty, and the goodness in his heart, a certain sensitivity that strikes every now and then, is inevitable, swift, and absolute.

There's a blend of heritages that adds a new layer to an already incredible story and characters that bring a depth to the main ones. Jameson and Sky feel tangible, as if we could have befriended them were they capable of physically manifesting next to us. Despite the quick ride, it seems as if we know them and understand them as well as they do each other. More than that, their chemistry is believable and delicious and sweet. Truly heartwarming in its vitality and pervading beauty. We are constantly cheering for them to draw closer to one another and go further and further as each page flies by, the tension and anticipation we want to float in and never fall away from.

Night Sky by Jolene Perry is a rich, layered contemporary that thrills and pains and creates wonder with each word and each connection made between the main characters. With a thoroughly explored backdrop and cleverly crafted lives full of secrets and passions and painful histories, Jolene Perry whips up an addictive story that couldn't escape my ineludible clutches.

Originally posted at Paranormal Indulgence, 4/2/12