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A review by pages_oflau
Harley in the Sky by Akemi Dawn Bowman
4.0
Thank you so much to InkRoad for sending me a free copy of this book for blog tour purposes.
I had previously only read Summer Bird Blue by Akemi, which was also sent to me for review by InkRoad, but I knew that I was going to have to read Harley In The Sky as soon as I saw it. I still need to read Starfish, which I'm hoping to fit into next months TBR.
I find Akemi's writing so powerful yet easy to read and she will now be an auto-buy author for me. There's just something in the way she writes that I adore even when she is writing about hard topics - Harley In The Sky was no different.
Harley Milano is a young lady who has dreamt of being a trapeze artist for her whole life. Her parents own a very famous circus and Harley dreams of the day she will be able to perform for them, with training from their current aerialist. Harley spends her evenings in the Big Top, watching the show and wants nothing more than to be a part of it, so when her parents insist on her going to school and refuse to let her train, a huge fight breaks out and Harley ends up leaving home. She betrays her parents and joins a rival circus where she learns that things aren't always as magical as the circus appears and has to fight really hard for what she wants without letting anyone get in the way of her dreams.
Going into this story I was a little unsure if it would be for me. Whilst I don't have anything against circus' I just have never really been a fan of going to them but I have to say that the way Akemi brings this story to life with her imagery was incredible. I was fully able to imagine everything that was described on page from the world to the characters, to the smell of the popcorn.
This whole story took me completely by surprise. I didn't think I would be as addicted to it as I was. The topic of mental health struggles also took me completely by surprise, I wasn't expecting to find it in a story about the circus but I found the way Akemi included it and dealt with it was perfect for the story. I really related to some of the struggles Harley has to deal with so I connected with her on that level and by the end of the story I couldn't help but root for her and her dreams.
Overall this was a story about chasing dreams, not letting anyone get in the way of them and also finding where you belong in the world. I hope that many people, wether they are also struggling or not, will pick up this book and see that they are never alone, and that they can achieve their dreams if they just have faith in themselves.
I had previously only read Summer Bird Blue by Akemi, which was also sent to me for review by InkRoad, but I knew that I was going to have to read Harley In The Sky as soon as I saw it. I still need to read Starfish, which I'm hoping to fit into next months TBR.
I find Akemi's writing so powerful yet easy to read and she will now be an auto-buy author for me. There's just something in the way she writes that I adore even when she is writing about hard topics - Harley In The Sky was no different.
Harley Milano is a young lady who has dreamt of being a trapeze artist for her whole life. Her parents own a very famous circus and Harley dreams of the day she will be able to perform for them, with training from their current aerialist. Harley spends her evenings in the Big Top, watching the show and wants nothing more than to be a part of it, so when her parents insist on her going to school and refuse to let her train, a huge fight breaks out and Harley ends up leaving home. She betrays her parents and joins a rival circus where she learns that things aren't always as magical as the circus appears and has to fight really hard for what she wants without letting anyone get in the way of her dreams.
Going into this story I was a little unsure if it would be for me. Whilst I don't have anything against circus' I just have never really been a fan of going to them but I have to say that the way Akemi brings this story to life with her imagery was incredible. I was fully able to imagine everything that was described on page from the world to the characters, to the smell of the popcorn.
This whole story took me completely by surprise. I didn't think I would be as addicted to it as I was. The topic of mental health struggles also took me completely by surprise, I wasn't expecting to find it in a story about the circus but I found the way Akemi included it and dealt with it was perfect for the story. I really related to some of the struggles Harley has to deal with so I connected with her on that level and by the end of the story I couldn't help but root for her and her dreams.
Overall this was a story about chasing dreams, not letting anyone get in the way of them and also finding where you belong in the world. I hope that many people, wether they are also struggling or not, will pick up this book and see that they are never alone, and that they can achieve their dreams if they just have faith in themselves.