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breezy610's review
5.0
this was really good. It reminded me of a lot of Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen, but with a twist.
reader4evr's review
3.0
I was excited to read this book because a book about tornado chasing was finally wrote. I was kind of disappointed that most of the story revolved around Jane and her alcoholic mom.
Her mom drove me nuts and feel sorry for teens that have to deal with parents like her. I also didn't like that her brother left the family and didn't help out the mom (that reminded me of the book Split by Swati Avasthi). I know his idea of helping was to have Jane spend the summer with him chasing tornadoes but not sure if I liked that. Jane really needed her brother to help her and was kind of mad at him about leaving her (someone that is in high school) to deal with the mom.
I did however liked all the storm chasing parts and I wanted more! They were exciting and scary at the same time. I'm glad that I didn't read this book in the spring because I would be freaked out with all of the storms that we get here in Missouri.
I did like Max and the relationship he had with Jane. I was concerned when she was getting close with him because of what happened with the secret Victor told her.
I have to say that I love the cover, it is probably one of the best ones that I've seen in a while that actually fit the book perfectly.
Side note: while I was reading this, I thought of the movie Twister which is not a bad thing because it was a good movie.
Her mom drove me nuts and feel sorry for teens that have to deal with parents like her. I also didn't like that her brother left the family and didn't help out the mom (that reminded me of the book Split by Swati Avasthi). I know his idea of helping was to have Jane spend the summer with him chasing tornadoes but not sure if I liked that. Jane really needed her brother to help her and was kind of mad at him about leaving her (someone that is in high school) to deal with the mom.
I did however liked all the storm chasing parts and I wanted more! They were exciting and scary at the same time. I'm glad that I didn't read this book in the spring because I would be freaked out with all of the storms that we get here in Missouri.
I did like Max and the relationship he had with Jane. I was concerned when she was getting close with him because of what happened with the secret Victor told her.
I have to say that I love the cover, it is probably one of the best ones that I've seen in a while that actually fit the book perfectly.
Side note: while I was reading this, I thought of the movie Twister which is not a bad thing because it was a good movie.
renuked's review
4.0
Let's be honest here, I picked this up because I loved the cover. I mean wow, she's holding a tornado. But little did I know how accurate it was. Jane is an old woman living inside a teenage girl. She's exhausted of trying to hold together the tornado that is her mother. She's always tired, covering for her mother, trying to pay the bills and keep their life from falling apart.
It's frustrating and shocking. This was the first book I've read that addresses alcoholism. I never realized how awful it could be, not only for the alcoholic, but for surrounding relatives and friends. Jane is destroying herself little by little. It's disgusting how her mother manipulates her by claiming they are a "team" and then drinking away Jane's hard-earned money. She's a thief and a liar. She is sucking the life out of her own daughter. It is such a toxic relationship.
I breathed a sigh of relief when Jane left to go stay with her brother. I loved Ethan and the TorBros. They were wild and just what Jane needed. When Jane begins to see the parallels between herself and the angsty Victor - she starts to realize she deserves her own life. The only thing I was unhappy about was the mildly awkward relationship she starts with Max. It felt plastic and a little uncomfortable. It was a little unnecessary too, the book is more about Jane pulling herself out of a deep hole with the help of her brother and his friends.
I liked it a lot. It was shocking, a little disturbing and eye-opening. I never really realized what a slave alcohol could make a person. How it could make a mother take advantage of her own daughter and tear her own family apart. The scariest thing was, she couldn't even recognize her mistakes. She just blamed the problems she caused on others. And I was so thankful that Jane managed to stand up against her, and create a new life she would live for herself.
It's frustrating and shocking. This was the first book I've read that addresses alcoholism. I never realized how awful it could be, not only for the alcoholic, but for surrounding relatives and friends. Jane is destroying herself little by little. It's disgusting how her mother manipulates her by claiming they are a "team" and then drinking away Jane's hard-earned money. She's a thief and a liar. She is sucking the life out of her own daughter. It is such a toxic relationship.
I breathed a sigh of relief when Jane left to go stay with her brother. I loved Ethan and the TorBros. They were wild and just what Jane needed. When Jane begins to see the parallels between herself and the angsty Victor - she starts to realize she deserves her own life. The only thing I was unhappy about was the mildly awkward relationship she starts with Max. It felt plastic and a little uncomfortable. It was a little unnecessary too, the book is more about Jane pulling herself out of a deep hole with the help of her brother and his friends.
I liked it a lot. It was shocking, a little disturbing and eye-opening. I never really realized what a slave alcohol could make a person. How it could make a mother take advantage of her own daughter and tear her own family apart. The scariest thing was, she couldn't even recognize her mistakes. She just blamed the problems she caused on others. And I was so thankful that Jane managed to stand up against her, and create a new life she would live for herself.
michieknee's review
3.0
3 stars, or an F3 on the Fujita scale, if you prefer.
There's nothing about The Waiting Sky that sticks out as wrong to me. Zielin writes Jane in a strong narrative voice and her character develops in a way that feels natural. Jane's frustrations are understandable and even when she dips into unlikable territory she still manages to hold my sympathy.
I think where my issues lie is in the novel's length. Waiting Sky stands on the shorter side and as a result the resolution to me feels rushed. Length also affected my feelings toward the romance which from my perspective moved too quickly even while I found it charming.
All this aside, The Waiting Sky was enjoyable and there's nothing here that would stop me from picking up another book my Lara Zielen.
There's nothing about The Waiting Sky that sticks out as wrong to me. Zielin writes Jane in a strong narrative voice and her character develops in a way that feels natural. Jane's frustrations are understandable and even when she dips into unlikable territory she still manages to hold my sympathy.
I think where my issues lie is in the novel's length. Waiting Sky stands on the shorter side and as a result the resolution to me feels rushed. Length also affected my feelings toward the romance which from my perspective moved too quickly even while I found it charming.
All this aside, The Waiting Sky was enjoyable and there's nothing here that would stop me from picking up another book my Lara Zielen.
bookishvice's review
3.0
Jane McAllister’s leads a hard life. Taking care of her alcoholic mother has never been easy, but when her mother almost kills her and her best friend for driving drunk, Jane knows things are getting worse. Her brother Ethan has asked her to go tornado-chasing with his crew, and Jane takes the chance to step away from her life. But the guilt is eating at her. Jane needs to figure out what she wants, and if she’s willing to throw her life away for the chaos back home.
Lara Zielin’s The Waiting Sky is a vortex of fast-paced narrative, emotion, and sweet romance. Since reading the summary, I knew I wanted to read this. Twister is one of those movies I’ve watched a gazillion times just for the thrill of watching the crews run from the twisters. The Waiting Sky has that same exhilarating feel that made me watch the movie over and over again, only with YA issues thrown in the mix.
Jane is a pushover when it comes to her mom. She’s constantly covering for her, and making up excuses when the reality is her mom needs some serious help. Jane is basically an enabler to her mom’s addiction, but she doesn’t see it that way. Jane thinks she has to be there and take care of her mom, which is why she feels guilty over leaving her and taking that photography job with her brother’s crew. Ethan, her brother, offers her a chance to move in with him, at a brighter future, but Jane can’t think of leaving her mom. The story is basically about Jane figuring out if she is right, or if her brother is right. Her best friend Cat, her brother Ethan, and the sexy new boy Max, all try to make her see, but Jane doesn’t want to. I really wanted to slap her a couple of times, because here reasons were so idiotic, but I guess I would want to do the same and protect my parent.
The romance was sweet and endearing. Max is a guy she meets who is from an opposing tornado-chasing team. They simply connect and try to help each other when The Weather Network starts making things worse by filming some incidents. But Jane and Max relationship went a little too fast for me. She barely knows him when she’s already thinking of sex, which kind of threw me. There’s not a lot of time between them, but I loved what Max’s did at the end.
I guess my only issue with the novel is that it felt all was a bit too easy for Jane, not what she went through but the fact that suddenly everyone had problems that she could relate to, and everyone had the right advice at the right time. And the thing is she continually refuses to heed their advice, but then she suddenly does? I don’t know. But other than that, I loved the story. It’s short, it’s meaningful, and I love me some twisters!
*Arc copy provided by Putnam*
Lara Zielin’s The Waiting Sky is a vortex of fast-paced narrative, emotion, and sweet romance. Since reading the summary, I knew I wanted to read this. Twister is one of those movies I’ve watched a gazillion times just for the thrill of watching the crews run from the twisters. The Waiting Sky has that same exhilarating feel that made me watch the movie over and over again, only with YA issues thrown in the mix.
Jane is a pushover when it comes to her mom. She’s constantly covering for her, and making up excuses when the reality is her mom needs some serious help. Jane is basically an enabler to her mom’s addiction, but she doesn’t see it that way. Jane thinks she has to be there and take care of her mom, which is why she feels guilty over leaving her and taking that photography job with her brother’s crew. Ethan, her brother, offers her a chance to move in with him, at a brighter future, but Jane can’t think of leaving her mom. The story is basically about Jane figuring out if she is right, or if her brother is right. Her best friend Cat, her brother Ethan, and the sexy new boy Max, all try to make her see, but Jane doesn’t want to. I really wanted to slap her a couple of times, because here reasons were so idiotic, but I guess I would want to do the same and protect my parent.
The romance was sweet and endearing. Max is a guy she meets who is from an opposing tornado-chasing team. They simply connect and try to help each other when The Weather Network starts making things worse by filming some incidents. But Jane and Max relationship went a little too fast for me. She barely knows him when she’s already thinking of sex, which kind of threw me. There’s not a lot of time between them, but I loved what Max’s did at the end.
I guess my only issue with the novel is that it felt all was a bit too easy for Jane, not what she went through but the fact that suddenly everyone had problems that she could relate to, and everyone had the right advice at the right time. And the thing is she continually refuses to heed their advice, but then she suddenly does? I don’t know. But other than that, I loved the story. It’s short, it’s meaningful, and I love me some twisters!
*Arc copy provided by Putnam*
kristid's review
3.0
Jane is visiting her brother for the summer. Chasing tornadoes with the Torbros, a group of chasers her brother Ethan belongs too. Despite all the action happening around her, her thoughts are consumed with her mother. Jane left her alcoholic mother alone for the summer. She struggles with doing what is best for her or staying and taking care of her mom.
Sometimes to discover something about yourself you need a change of scenery. That is exactly what happens to Jane. It doesn’t happen right away, but by the end of the story Jane finally has a moment of clarity.
I loved the characters in this novel. Even moody Victor. The character dynamics were spot on. I just love how Lara creates and depicts her characters. The Waiting Sky is my favorite book she’s written yet!
Throughout the story Jane shares experiences with her mother and the dysfunction of their relationship. Jane is very much the adult in their relationship. Jane realizes that she is the one taking care of her mother, but she struggles with leaving her mother to fend for herself. As a reader it’s easy to see that Jane is making excuses for her mother, yet at the same time you can understand and sympathize with her reasoning.
There is an instant in the story where Ethan mentions that although he left Jane and their mother, he just traded one chaos for another. Something about that statement really resonated with me.
I enjoyed the story, the writing and the characters. The three components that make a good novel for me. I can’t wait to see what Lara comes up with next.
Totally not related to the content of this book, but I LOVE this cover!
Sometimes to discover something about yourself you need a change of scenery. That is exactly what happens to Jane. It doesn’t happen right away, but by the end of the story Jane finally has a moment of clarity.
I loved the characters in this novel. Even moody Victor. The character dynamics were spot on. I just love how Lara creates and depicts her characters. The Waiting Sky is my favorite book she’s written yet!
Throughout the story Jane shares experiences with her mother and the dysfunction of their relationship. Jane is very much the adult in their relationship. Jane realizes that she is the one taking care of her mother, but she struggles with leaving her mother to fend for herself. As a reader it’s easy to see that Jane is making excuses for her mother, yet at the same time you can understand and sympathize with her reasoning.
There is an instant in the story where Ethan mentions that although he left Jane and their mother, he just traded one chaos for another. Something about that statement really resonated with me.
I enjoyed the story, the writing and the characters. The three components that make a good novel for me. I can’t wait to see what Lara comes up with next.
Totally not related to the content of this book, but I LOVE this cover!
joyousreads132's review
4.0
I’ve been known to dislike characters for their obliviousness - those that appear weak and stupid because they refused to acknowledge the severity of their situation until it’s too late. More often (and on my own accord), Jane drove me head first into a wall. Why?
- Her definition of “normal mom behavior” defies every conceivable logic known to man.
- She was so quick to blame her brother for helping himself – for getting out of a situation and for thinking that there was a life outside of cleaning up after a drunken mother.
- For being the worst - or best (depending on how you look at it) enabler ever.
- For refusing to acknowledge a problem, which includes lying, denying and covering for her mother.
- For not giving herself a chance at happiness, temporary or otherwise.
- For making herself unavailable, unattainable and unreachable - emotionally for other people other than her mother.
- FOR NOT HELPING HERSELF.
But heck, maybe I’m not being very forgiving or understanding of the difficult situations her mother kept putting her through and maybe I shouldn’t judge her until I was in her shoes. Maybe her way of coping with her shit life was knowing that no matter what happens, she could rest easy with the self-appeasing knowledge that she didn’t fully abandon her mother. It’s hard to understand, let alone sympathize with Jane. It’s hard to comprehend the sickness of her mother, Jane’s inability to see the truth, and Ethan’s seemingly effortless way in which he took off and abandoned his sister to spend her young life caring for an alcoholic.
Zielen’s latest work is a difficult and quick dose of hard-hitting realities of living with alcoholism; what forces a person to turn to drinking (an attempt to damper down a severe guilt) and what forces another to enable the addiction (unconditional love). It also highlighted the frustration that everyone, directly affected by the addiction, felt as they try to help in their own ways. This frustration easily transferred to the reader as she (meaning me) wished for Jane to open her eyes and recognize her part in the problem.
VERDICT: The Waiting Sky is a book about chasing storms, weathering the storms and living through the storms of life. Lara Zielen’s writing brought forth a powerful story of a girl too young to be handling the difficulties of living with an addict. While Jane may seem weak with her inability to say what she needed to say in order to help her mother, she was strong for putting up for as long as she did. Her breakthrough came in slow progression and from unexpected people and places. Emotional, raw, with the adrenaline rush of chasing tornadoes – The Waiting Sky is a must-have in your reading pile.
- Her definition of “normal mom behavior” defies every conceivable logic known to man.
- She was so quick to blame her brother for helping himself – for getting out of a situation and for thinking that there was a life outside of cleaning up after a drunken mother.
- For being the worst - or best (depending on how you look at it) enabler ever.
- For refusing to acknowledge a problem, which includes lying, denying and covering for her mother.
- For not giving herself a chance at happiness, temporary or otherwise.
- For making herself unavailable, unattainable and unreachable - emotionally for other people other than her mother.
- FOR NOT HELPING HERSELF.
But heck, maybe I’m not being very forgiving or understanding of the difficult situations her mother kept putting her through and maybe I shouldn’t judge her until I was in her shoes. Maybe her way of coping with her shit life was knowing that no matter what happens, she could rest easy with the self-appeasing knowledge that she didn’t fully abandon her mother. It’s hard to understand, let alone sympathize with Jane. It’s hard to comprehend the sickness of her mother, Jane’s inability to see the truth, and Ethan’s seemingly effortless way in which he took off and abandoned his sister to spend her young life caring for an alcoholic.
Zielen’s latest work is a difficult and quick dose of hard-hitting realities of living with alcoholism; what forces a person to turn to drinking (an attempt to damper down a severe guilt) and what forces another to enable the addiction (unconditional love). It also highlighted the frustration that everyone, directly affected by the addiction, felt as they try to help in their own ways. This frustration easily transferred to the reader as she (meaning me) wished for Jane to open her eyes and recognize her part in the problem.
VERDICT: The Waiting Sky is a book about chasing storms, weathering the storms and living through the storms of life. Lara Zielen’s writing brought forth a powerful story of a girl too young to be handling the difficulties of living with an addict. While Jane may seem weak with her inability to say what she needed to say in order to help her mother, she was strong for putting up for as long as she did. Her breakthrough came in slow progression and from unexpected people and places. Emotional, raw, with the adrenaline rush of chasing tornadoes – The Waiting Sky is a must-have in your reading pile.
kaitrosereads's review
5.0
Going into The Waiting Sky, I had no expectations. It was my first book by Lara Zielin and I had heard pretty much nothing about it. However, had I gone in with the highest expectations The Waiting Sky would have exceeded them. I was completely blown away by this book (pun totally intended!)
Jane is a very realistic character. She’s seen so much sadness in her life that she doesn’t really expect happiness, especially not with the brother who abandoned her. She’s reserved and pretty unwilling to trust people. However all that starts to change the more time she spends with her brother, Ethan, the Tornado Brothers, and Max. Sure, it doesn’t happen overnight but that’s what makes this story (and Jane) even better and more realistic.
Ethan, Jane’s much older brother, is her complete opposite. He’s unwilling to let his alcoholic mother walk all over him and he’s determined to stop her from walking all over Jane as well. He’s kind, funny, outgoing, and completely charming. He’s exactly what Jane needs even if she doesn’t know it. The rest of the Tornado Brothers, his stormchasing team, are also like family to Jane although it takes a little time for them to get to that point. They have problems, sure, but they look out for each other. They help bring Jane out of her shell. Then there is Max. Max is not your typical love interest. He comes off as rich and stuck up at first but it quickly becomes clear that he is a total nerd. He’s sweet, funny, and oh so lovable. I have a little bit of a crush on him!
The characters aren’t all that make The Waiting Sky awesome, though. The story is completely unique and totally gripping. Jane leaves behind her alcoholic mother to chase tornadoes with her brother. Let me just tell you, I will never be crazy enough to chase storms but I had a blast reading about it. There is some scientific information thrown in but it wasn’t boring at all. It was necessary to the story and I actually found it very interesting. The Waiting Sky is one of the most gripping contemporaries I have read.
Overall, The Waiting Sky is my first Lara Zielin book but it definitely won’t be my last. Check it out!
Jane is a very realistic character. She’s seen so much sadness in her life that she doesn’t really expect happiness, especially not with the brother who abandoned her. She’s reserved and pretty unwilling to trust people. However all that starts to change the more time she spends with her brother, Ethan, the Tornado Brothers, and Max. Sure, it doesn’t happen overnight but that’s what makes this story (and Jane) even better and more realistic.
Ethan, Jane’s much older brother, is her complete opposite. He’s unwilling to let his alcoholic mother walk all over him and he’s determined to stop her from walking all over Jane as well. He’s kind, funny, outgoing, and completely charming. He’s exactly what Jane needs even if she doesn’t know it. The rest of the Tornado Brothers, his stormchasing team, are also like family to Jane although it takes a little time for them to get to that point. They have problems, sure, but they look out for each other. They help bring Jane out of her shell. Then there is Max. Max is not your typical love interest. He comes off as rich and stuck up at first but it quickly becomes clear that he is a total nerd. He’s sweet, funny, and oh so lovable. I have a little bit of a crush on him!
The characters aren’t all that make The Waiting Sky awesome, though. The story is completely unique and totally gripping. Jane leaves behind her alcoholic mother to chase tornadoes with her brother. Let me just tell you, I will never be crazy enough to chase storms but I had a blast reading about it. There is some scientific information thrown in but it wasn’t boring at all. It was necessary to the story and I actually found it very interesting. The Waiting Sky is one of the most gripping contemporaries I have read.
Overall, The Waiting Sky is my first Lara Zielin book but it definitely won’t be my last. Check it out!