Arc Review: Nothing but Sky by Amy Trueblood

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Summary

CW’s: Panic Attacks

Grace Lafferty only feels alive when she’s dangling 500 feet above ground. As a post-World War I wing walker, Grace is determined to get to the World Aviation Expo, proving her team’s worth against flashier competitors and earning a coveted Hollywood contract.

No one’s ever questioned Grace’s ambition until Henry Patton, a mechanic with plenty of scars from the battlefield, joins her barnstorming team. With each new death-defying trick, Henry pushes Grace to consider her reasons for being a daredevil. Annoyed with Henry’s constant interference, and her growing attraction to him, Grace continues to test the powers of the sky.

After one of her risky maneuvers saves a pilot’s life, a Hollywood studio offers Grace a chance to perform at the Expo. She jumps at the opportunity to secure her future. But when a stunt goes wrong, Grace must decide whether Henry, and her life, are worth risking for one final trick.

Review

Thank you to Netgalley & Flux for providing me with a digital Arc in exchange for an honest review!

Nothing But Sky is going to be released March 27th 2018 and you should totally get your copy because this book was marvelous! Ever since I added it to my virtual TBR on Goodreads, I have been excited about the premise for this new release, so I was super happy and grateful that I got an advanced copy via Netgalley 😍 My initial interest did not fail me, because this turned out to have exactly what I love in books: interesting historical fiction setting, fierce main character, female friendships and a slow burn enemies to friends to lovers romance!

I do have to say that this feels a bit more New Adult than YA for me, since the main character is 18 years old and most characters even older e.g. the love interest ist 24! This book could potentially fit both age ranges, but I would lean towards NA for this one personally.

✈️ Grace was a fantastic character to root for! I love (1) fierce wingwalking girl. Where do I even begin with Grace? She was such a fantastic character, that I rooted for the entire time! The author really did a great job making me care about her main character, as I was on Grace’s side from the very beginning. She is incredibly fierce and determined, which I loved to see, as she wouldn’t be fooled or swayed by everyone. Grace has one mission and that is to attend the World Aviation Conference to win a one year contract for her team of barnstormers so they can stay together and have financial stability. I loved how she was so set on her goal and how much Grace cared about her team, she always wanted the best for them. Grace is definitely not someone to give up easily, she stands her ground and I loved that! However, she does take a lot of risk, something that makes for a serious flaw and that is called out by her team. I understand her willingness to take risks and I loved that we saw how flawed she was.

✈️ Female friendships + Feminism & I’m sold! Ethel and Mary are Grace’s friends and I loved how strong both of them were in their own way. Ethel is very confident and headstrong, she never lets anyone hurt her best friend Mary and above all is a very kind friend to Grace. Mary herself escaped from an abusive engagement and still suffers from the trauma that followed, never truly feeling safe and I think dissociating whenever she spots someone similar to her fiance. I loved her arc of healing and becoming more confident! Generally, I was a huge fan of the dynamic between the three ladies, because they were very different. Grace is working in a male dominated field and constantly has to prove herself to anyone who doubts her capability. She’s not really down for flirting or parties, but never looked down on her friends for that – Grace rather does not understand the appeal. Like I mentioned Ethel and Mary more feminine and do try to encourage Grace to go out with them, but never in a pressuring way. I loved how all of them supported the other and confronted the sexism that they face daily. It was beautiful to see that they inspired each other to stand up for what they believed in!

✈️ I loved Henry and seeing his struggles with the war. Henry really grew on me. He had his moments when I was joining Grace in being a bit angry at him, as he can be grumpy and a bit protective, but he’s gladly not one of those alpha males. I quickly began to like him, because Henry is kind, loyal and a true sweetheart, really being interested in the team succeeding, even though he just joined and hasn’t dreamed their dream for long. What we also see is his PTSD, trauma and physical injury (his limp) that was caused by his involvement in the first world war. I appreciated having this perspective explored and seeing his panic attacks that are triggered by loud noises that remind him for gunshots. At first Grace is not really sure how to deal with this, even though she tries her best, but later she gathers a better understanding about his situation ans supports him.

✈️ Romance = slow burn + enemies to lovers. Yes hello this is exactly the kind of romance that I adore, because it contains two of my favorite tropes. First, we have a bit of enemies to friends to lovers, as Henry and Grace initially dislike each other, but grow closer together when they have to work as a team. Even more important their developement is steady and realistic, making for a great slow burn romance that left my heart aching for more. From the beginning I shipped them and enjoyed their dynamic! It was touching to see them getting to know the other more and following their way to mutual understanding. I loved how Grace and Henry supported each other, it melted my heart and made me want to shove them together, so they would finally kiss. Oh and was that kiss perfect and brought me all the feels. My love for these two is endless, I love them so much! They are definitely among my favorite couples this year already.

✈️ The setting was fantastic! Barnstorming? The 1920s? World Aviation Conference? Planes? Yes I was very interested in this setting and seeing Grace wingwalking. It did make me a bit anxious to read about her stunts, because she’s literally in the air, with no safety and could fall to her death with only one wrong step – so yes this was rather stressful. Still the setting was very intriguing and I could not help be be fascinated to learn about her life on the move, constantly going to new shows, dreaming up new stunts and trying to make a living from this. While I sometimes had troubled with Nathan’s and the others overprotectiveness, I loved Grace team and how they worked together! However, I have to say that I really didn’t like Nathan, he was always so overprotective and trying to put Grace ideas down – it began to annoy me. He was always standing in her way. Later on in chapter 24 he’s even worse, pressuring Grace, being so aggressive and ugh. I feel like this setting is perfect for people trying to get into historical fiction, because this book is pretty easy to read!

✈️ I loved the high stakes and plot. I cannot believe that this book is under 300 pages long, because there are so many things that happened and I loved that the plot had lots of suspense, action and was moving along nicely. The stakes were always so high with Rowland constantly trying to win Grace for his team and trying to sabotage hers, I was always on edge, waiting for his next move. Then there was the struggle to get enough moe for the conference so they could enter the competition, so there was a lot going on!

IN CONCLUSION: Nothing But Sky was a fantastic, unique historical fiction book about planes and barnstorming! The main character Grace was so easy to root for because she was fierce and determined – making her a new favorite character. Furthermore, the slow burn romance stole my heart and the high-stakes plot swept me off my feet. This is definitely a book for people trying to get into historical fiction!

Do you like Historical Fiction? What is your fave slow burn romance?✈️ 

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