(The Sky Trilogy #1)

Blurb:

When Hugh wakes up in a smoldering crater—no memory, no clothes—a single thought echoes in his head…trust no one. Frightened and alone, with no memory of who he is, he stumbles upon a grisly murder scene and is fatally shot. He wakes, only to find he can heal himself. He has superpowers, and he’s going to need them.

Desperate and bleeding, Hugh stumbles upon fifteen-year-old Cece, who’s got enough troubles of her own. Between caring for her bipolar mother and trying not to get evicted from her run-down trailer, Cece may be the only person struggling as much as Hugh. Drawn to Hugh, Cece finds a love she’s never known. But when the real killer—a man-hunting beast—chooses another victim, Hugh and Cece realize they must unlock the clues to their past if they have any chance at a future.

Review

Eye’s Ever to The Sky tells the story of Cecelia “Cece” Acha, a 15-year-old girl living in a rundown trailer park with her bipolar/hoarding mother, and Hugh, a mysterious boy who wakes up naked in the bottom of a crater with no idea who he is; all he remembers is his name and the image of him standing near a strange, cylindrical structure.

Soon after a series of mysteriously gruesome murders begin occurring, a chance meeting in an alley leads Cece and Hugh into a dangerous romance as things from Hugh’s unknown past begin showing up and the secrets of who he really is threaten to tear them apart forever.

Going into this story, I was excited. I’d heard good things about Katie French’s other book “The Breeders” and was eager to see what else this self-published author had come up with.

Can I just take a moment to say that self-publishing rocks? Think about it, you go out and write this book and promote it all on your own, all by yourself, then when you get famous, it’s all like.

“Yeah suckers, you know you jealous……” 

Seriously, when I finally decide to write that epic novel I’ve been waiting to write for the last half of my life (I been busy, ok?) I’m like, totes gonna self-publish.

MOVING ON….

Eyes Ever to The Sky is told from a third-person perspective, switching between Hugh, Cece, and several other side characters’ points-of-view.

I’m honestly kind of torn. On the one hand, I really liked switching between the different character perspectives. It added new insight to the novel, which made it all the more entertaining. On the other hand, when it came to Cece and Hugh’s POV’s I really wish it had been told in the first-person. The reason being that I had a really difficult time becoming attached to either of them.

I felt that both Hugh and Cece were very shallow characters, each lacking that certain emotional depth that makes a book more than just a fun read. Cece especially bothered me. I felt like she had been made out to be this level-headed teen struggling to work while caring for her insane mom, but her actions spoke otherwise. For example, there came a time in the book when she took Hugh over to her home/trailer not too long after she’d first met him. It went something like this:

“Then again, girls who let random boys into their bedrooms when their parents weren’t home ended up on Dateline with actors portraying their last hours alive.” (page 77)

Seven pages later Hugh is asleep on the floor in her room.

Keep in mind that she is a fifteen year old girl, and Hugh is this random guy she barely knows, who was just covered in BLOOD. Blood that supposedly wasn’t his, as far as she knew.

Cece, dear, if it’s not his blood, then whose blood is it? Don’t come cryin’ to me when you get serial-killed.

But of course, that’s okay, because he’s hot, and that just seems to make everything all better.

Yeahhhh….. what a great role model for teen girls everywhere.

But Cece isn’t the only culprit. All Hugh seems to notice is how pretty Cece is. Five minutes after he first sets eyes on her he’s like “Oh, she’s so pretty.” or “She’s got such kind eyes.” or “I feel so safe around her.” And so the insta-love abounds…

I mean, I know this is a short book (It says 194 pages, but it’s really more like 186, epilogue included) and it can be hard to develop a romance in the relatively short span of time it takes place over, but what I’m saying is that if Miss French wanted her characters to have this devoted romance, she should have lengthened the time span in which the book took place and given them time to develop their relationship on a more emotional level. Right now they’re just teens with raging hormones.

I feel like I should also mention that there are a few really bloody scenes. I didn’t have a problem with them (too much Criminal Minds has made me super-desensitized, though) but if you’re like, really squeamish, or one of those people who pukes whenever someone squishes a bug or something, well, at least now you know.

That being said, this isn’t a bad book. There were definitely things I liked about it. There was a lot of action near the end. The supporting characters were more three-dimensional than the protagonists; I liked Travis, and Cece’s best friend, Fer (whose real name is Jennifer. Interesting that French decided her nickname should be “Fer” instead of “Jenn”) added some much-needed humor to the story.

The writing style was plain, and maybe some would consider it amateurish, but I thought its simplicity fit the style of the story well. Straightforward and easy to read, it had a little drama, a little action, some romance. The two words I would use to describe this book are “shallow” and “fun”. The ending wraps up a bit too cleanly in some places. It also seems to set up for a sequel, but so far I can’t find any evidence that French intends to write one.

If you’re trying to decide whether or not to read Eyes Ever to The Sky, my advice to you would be this:

Don’t go in expecting to be hugely changed, to come to some great realization about life, or to remember it for the years to come. If you’re looking for a quick read with enough going on to keep you firmly engrossed, then this is the book for you.

–Jenn

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About Jennifer (Paranormal YA Reviewer)

Jennifer is our new YA reviewer!

Besides writing book reviews, Jennifer also enjoys reading, horseback riding, and playing the piano. She is homeschooled and lives in Louisiana with her parents, four siblings, and a large assortment of pets.