🌟 4 Stars 🌟
I picked up this book, because I was just going through my kindle and trying to find a quick, light read after reading Legendary. It was a quick read, but it did deal with some heavier topics. Normally, contemporary books take me awhile to get into, but I read Unveiling the Sky in a day.
Synopsis:
Sometimes there’s no tragic event.
Sometimes there’s just sadness. Just numbness.
Sometimes it’s just a depression you can’t understand.
When Alara’s depression reaches its pinnacle she’s left feeling broken, vulnerable, and more than a little uneasy about moving forward. And although she’s made it to the other side she discovers that the hardest battle may simply be moving on and accepting the hardship she’s been given. Because by all accounts she should be happy, but she isn’t and she still can’t understand why. So she’s moving forward, but with the weight of her guilt and the constant fear of another episode, is she really living? Or has the fear of another episode become just as crippling as the episode itself?
Then she meets Gabriel, a grieving soul struggling to get past his mother’s death and figure out his future. As he reconciles his past and begins planning his future, it becomes clear that he wants Alara in it. He wants the sarcastic, fearful girl that always seems just a little bit out of reach. But will the girl who’s never been able to see a future give him a chance? And when he discovers her darkness, will he still love her through it?
Will she let him?
“Sometimes we think we want to be alone, when really all we want is the right person to be alone with.”
Unveiling the Sky was such a relatable read! As someone that is currently a college junior, I felt like I could relate to the characters. They weren’t written to sound younger or older than they actually are. This book focuses on the love story between Alara and Gabe, who both have their own respective baggage. It revolves around if they’ll be able to overcome their fears and their pain to find their Happily Ever After. This novel is told from the dual POV of the main characters, so we get insight into how they both think. Both characters have their flaws, but there was definitely character development as the story progressed.
Alara starts out as someone that desperately does not want to be defined by her depression, but at the same time is the one that ties everything in her life back to her depression as well. With the help of her friends and Gabe, she learns that she cannot live her life in fear of being too much because she has depression. Since this story is about her learning how to live with depression and moving forward with her life; I wish we learned more about her character and her interests. What does she do outside of classes and hanging out with her friends? What is she passionate about?
I had mixed feelings about Gabe throughout this novel. I thought it adorable how much he pursued Alara and how slowly they took things in the beginning. I loved that he was open to admitting when he was wrong and learning from his actions instead of always believing that he was right. What I disliked about him was the fact that he seemed to have anger issues when inebriated, but that is something Gabe recognized himself and is actively trying to fix at least. He wasn’t the perfect love interest and definitely had his flaws, but was actively trying to learn from his mistakes.
Alara and Gabe also had a wonderful, concrete friend group. Unveiling the Sky doesn’t have an unneeded love triangle or jealous friends, which was refreshing to read. This book depicts what good friendships are like. I loved that their friends were always there for them, even if they disagreed with Alara and Gabe’s actions.
The only things that held me back from giving this book 5 stars was that I felt the pacing was a little off and I wish the main characters were more developed. I wanted to learn a little bit more about their lives outside of each other and their friends, particularly Alara. As for the pacing, there were some parts where it would start off as it’s been like 3 days since the events of the last chapter happened and then the next chapter would be 2 weeks after the previous; it made it a little harder to immerse myself in the story.
Nonetheless, Unveiling the Sky is a wonderful novel about two people finding happiness after hitting the lowest point in their lives. It was a little cliche at times, but it was still a cute, realistic story. I’m glad the author depicted depression realistically and didn’t make Alara “automatically cured” once she fell in love. These characters had their flaws and situations they had to overcome, but it made them both stronger in the end and I’ll probably continue with this series, because I want to see their friends’ Happy Ever Afters as well.