Review: Infinite Sky

Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood
Published by Simon and Schuster UK
Format Reviewed: Paperback
Publication Date: June 1st 2013
Genre: YA Contemporary
Pages: 288
Reviewed by: Eugenia
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
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Iris Dancy’s free-spirited mum has left for Tunisia, her dad’s rarely sober and her brother’s determined to fight anyone with a pair of fists. 

 When a family of travellers move into the overgrown paddock overnight, her dad looks set to finally lose it. Gypsies are parasites he says, but Iris is intrigued. As her dad plans to evict the travelling family, Iris makes friends with their teenage son. Trick Deran is a bare knuckle boxer who says he’s done with fighting, but is he telling the truth? 

When tools go missing from the shed, the travellers are the first suspects. Iris’s brother, Sam, warns her to stay away from Trick; he’s dangerous, but Iris can no longer blindly follow her brother’s advice. He’s got secrets of his own, and she’s not sure he can be trusted himself. 

 Infinite Sky is a family story about betrayal and loyalty, and love.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Infinite Sky is a beautifully written coming-of-age novel with a well-executed atmosphere and characters. The plot, while seemingly light in the initial parts of the story, soon thickened into something both tragic and insightful, as the prologue suggests.You are almost so swept up in the story and melodic storytelling that you forget the sense of foreboding that lurks, as the prologue sets the scene to what will eventually be a sad tale of friendship, first love, loss, and the importance of family when you do need them most.

Although this wasn't a particularly long novel, it still had a lot of depth within its pages. Iris, our main character, who lives with her dad and brother Sam on a farm, is a girl who is still trying to navigate the world and experiencing what life has to offer. After her mum walked out, her dad is forced to hold it all together, which isn't always easy. When a family of travelling 'gypsies' make their home in their caravan outside their farm, her dad is furious, but for Iris the boy Trick is an interesting character who she would like to learn more about. This is a story of self-discovery, where Iris finds what is really important to her and comes to realise the impacts of the choices she makes. The author has done a great job of portraying her character and combining it with a beautiful writing style which puts you in the scene, enthralling you further into the story.

I have to admit, going into this (and from the blurb) I thought that this might just be a book about a girl, who meets a boy, and then they go into a relationship. In this case, I was glad that the 'romance', of which there wasn't much of anyway, did not take over the essence of the story. Instead I would call it more of a close friendship, which I would have maybe liked to have seen develop more in the middle stages of the book. This novel does tend to focus more on family relations though, and because these were explored to a greater extent, the romance took a back seat. It emphasises how important family really is, and the impact left on others when one person isn't there for everyone any more.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading Infinite Sky. The writing style had a way of pulling you into the scene, allowing the reader to empathise with the characters. This was a beautifully executed coming-of-age novel which I would certainly recommend.