Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Below The Big Blue Sky by Anna McPartlin where I have a review from her latest novel. I was thrilled to be asked by Tracy Fenton from Compulsive Readers who organised this tour in conjunction with Zaffre Books to take part along with some other fab book bloggers. You can find out who else has taken part in this fabulous Blog Tour at the end of this review so without further ado, here it is:
Sometimes the end is only the beginning....
When forty-year-old Rabbit Hayes dies, she leaves behind a family broken by grief. Her mother Molly is distraught and in danger of losing her faith. Her father Jack spends hour upon hour in the family attic, poring over his old diaries, losing himself in the past.
Rabbit's brother Davey finds himself suddenly guardian to her twelve-year-old daughter Juliet. Juliet might be able to fill a hole in Davey's heart - but how can he help Juliet through her grief when he can barely cope with his own?
Meanwhile, Rabbit's sister Grace is struggling with the knowledge that she carries the same gene that made her sister ill, and Rabbit's best friend Marjorie is lost, struggling to remain a part of a family she has always wished was her own now that her link to them is gone.
But even though the Hayes family are all fighting their own battles, they are drawn together by their love for Rabbit, and their love for each other. In the years that follow her death they find new ways to celebrate and remember her, to find humour and hope in the face of tragedy, and to live life to its fullest, as Rabbit would have wanted.
Well, where do I start with this other than to say what a beautiful, emotional and thought provoking story, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. I read The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes during the first few days of when I was told to start self isolate due to the pandemic we're still in the midst of 5 months on and I was delighted to receive the follow up which I moved straight onto after where I thought I'd been all cried out after finishing the first installment I was in for more tears but a lot of happy tears also along the way too. It is a continuation on from The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes so I would advise you to read this beforehand to get a feel for the story and the characters.
This story had it all from family, love with more sensitive and hard-hitting issues which were dealt with perfectly and it was well researched and written in a very sensitive and compassionate manner. I found I had tears streaming down my face at the end along with shedding a few along the way. I would highly recommend to read Anna if you haven't read any of her books already so grab this book, curl up on the couch with a few tissues and prepare to have a few lump in your throat moments too. I would definitely even say that this is definitely going to huge this year and is already one of my favourite books that I've read so far this year.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Below The Big Blue Sky is available from all good bookshops, libraries, audio and on Kindle where it is currently £6.02 at the time of publication of this review.
Sometimes the end is only the beginning....
When forty-year-old Rabbit Hayes dies, she leaves behind a family broken by grief. Her mother Molly is distraught and in danger of losing her faith. Her father Jack spends hour upon hour in the family attic, poring over his old diaries, losing himself in the past.
Rabbit's brother Davey finds himself suddenly guardian to her twelve-year-old daughter Juliet. Juliet might be able to fill a hole in Davey's heart - but how can he help Juliet through her grief when he can barely cope with his own?
Meanwhile, Rabbit's sister Grace is struggling with the knowledge that she carries the same gene that made her sister ill, and Rabbit's best friend Marjorie is lost, struggling to remain a part of a family she has always wished was her own now that her link to them is gone.
But even though the Hayes family are all fighting their own battles, they are drawn together by their love for Rabbit, and their love for each other. In the years that follow her death they find new ways to celebrate and remember her, to find humour and hope in the face of tragedy, and to live life to its fullest, as Rabbit would have wanted.
Well, where do I start with this other than to say what a beautiful, emotional and thought provoking story, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. I read The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes during the first few days of when I was told to start self isolate due to the pandemic we're still in the midst of 5 months on and I was delighted to receive the follow up which I moved straight onto after where I thought I'd been all cried out after finishing the first installment I was in for more tears but a lot of happy tears also along the way too. It is a continuation on from The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes so I would advise you to read this beforehand to get a feel for the story and the characters.
This story had it all from family, love with more sensitive and hard-hitting issues which were dealt with perfectly and it was well researched and written in a very sensitive and compassionate manner. I found I had tears streaming down my face at the end along with shedding a few along the way. I would highly recommend to read Anna if you haven't read any of her books already so grab this book, curl up on the couch with a few tissues and prepare to have a few lump in your throat moments too. I would definitely even say that this is definitely going to huge this year and is already one of my favourite books that I've read so far this year.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Below The Big Blue Sky is available from all good bookshops, libraries, audio and on Kindle where it is currently £6.02 at the time of publication of this review.
