In the wake of sudden tragedy, twin sisters uncover a secret that rips open their world. Katherine Rothschild explores the pain and power of forgiveness in a stunning debut novel that will shatter your heart and piece it back together, one truth at a time.
Sixteen-year-old Sabine Braxton doesn’t have much in common with her identical twin, Blythe. When their father dies from an unexpected illness, each copes with the loss in her own way—Sabine by “poeting” (an uncontrollable quirk of bursting into poetry at inappropriate moments) and Blythe by obsessing over getting into MIT, their father’s alma mater. Neither can offer each other much support . . . at least not until their emotionally detached mother moves them into a ramshackle Bay Area mansion owned by a stranger named Charlie. Soon, the sisters unite in a mission to figure out who Charlie is and why he seems to know everything about them. They quickly make a life-changing discovery: their father died of an HIV- related infection, Charlie was his lover, and their mother knows the whole story. The revelation unravels Sabine’s world, while practical Blythe seems to take everything in stride. Once again at odds with her sister, Sabine chooses to learn all she can about the father she never knew. Ultimately, she must decide if she can embrace his last wish for their family legacy—along with forgiveness. Oh man. I really wanted to like this story. This is quite literally a "judged book by cover" situation. (You can't tell me that cover isn't objectively gorgeous). We're promised an empathetic story of two girls discovering their parents' polyamorous relationship and their dad's HIV status. The synopsis promises a quirky girl story, yes, but I had hope for more HIV/AIDS representation in YA and a genuine attempt to destigmatize the illness. What we got was... this. I must start with saying that I found the representation of bisexuality and HIV/AIDS legitimately harmful. Mick, the girls' father, is stereotyped to the MAX. The book plays into so many of the assumptions people make about bisexuality--promiscuity, cheating, having multiple partners without consent. All the general biphobia made me quite sad to read, and I kind of expected better out of the novel. Then again, upon rereading the synopsis, the book is centered around the straight MCs "coming to terms" with their dad's sexuality which is not all that welcoming to queer readers, honestly. I found the characters wanting, mostly Sabine with her selfishness. The novel goes out of its way to provide her with opportunities to hurt the people she loves because of her own internal reasons, and she doesn't often realize the kind of harm she's doing. I'm all for a morally grey character, sure, but she has so many chances to do better and simply... doesn't. I admit, the ending to her story makes sense, and she did learn some lessons eventually. I just had a problem with her fighting against a transitional housing arrangement for at-risk queer people? I have empathy for the fact that her dad had just passed away and the truths she just learned had been hard, but girl! Some perspective please!! All for morally grey characters, but I need to have a reason to support them in their journeys, and Sabine wasn't giving me anything. The best part of this story was the side characters. The synopsis presents Blythe as one of the MCs, and I would have loved to read in her perspective and examine more of why she wants to attend MIT. Emma and Kai had great depth too (and would have made excellent main characters in a friends-to-lovers romance novel). Above all, I kind of wish this had been more about Charlie, Maryann, and Mick. I was so moved by their life together and kind of wish I could read their story too. Wow. I think I actually changed my star rating over the course of this review. Reading this, I think I'm going to give Wider Than the Sky 2/5 stars. There are so many better queer books you can read, y'all. This one just wasn't for me, and I'm not recommending it either. Of course, you can go ahead and ignore me. Read what you want, come back and tell me about it! I'm just a girl on the internet. Until next time!
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The BaronessHey, I'm Shreya! I love to read, write, travel, and drink tea. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and I will earn a small commission if you click the above link and make a purchase.
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