BLOG TOUR: A Sky Full of Stars - Dani Atkins

 

He'd have done everything differently if he'd known she'd be gone so soon...

When Lisa married Alex, she gave his life meaning. She was a professional astronomer: a stargazer. And when she gazed at Alex, she saw that behind his tough exterior was a man she could love.

Alex, Lisa and their young son Connor made a happy little universe. But when Lisa dies suddenly, their universe is destroyed. Alex is shattered by loss, and overwhelmed by the difficulties of being a single father to a six-year-old boy.

Then Alex meets four strangers. Two men and two women, who never met Lisa, but whose lives changed profoundly because she died. As Alex hears their stories, he begins to realise the world may not be as cruel and senseless as it seems. Perhaps, after all, the future is written in the stars...

What did I think?

Oh my goodness, this beautiful book should have waterproof pages as I blubbed all the way through it.  As I have previously read and loved one of Dani Atkins' books, I have to admit that I picked this book up without reading the synopsis as I just knew I'd love it...and I wasn't wrong!

So with the story being a complete mystery to me, I was hit with the massive shock of Lisa dying (this isn't a spoiler, it's in the blurb) and my emotions were really put through the wringer as I was powerless to prevent my tears from falling just a few chapters in...and they didn't stop until well after I'd turned the final page!  

I don't want to accidentally reveal any of the wonderful story so I'm going to keep my review purposefully brief, other than to say that the writing is stunning and the beautifully drawn characters really touched my heart.  I've made no secret of the fact that I cried throughout this book but it's not all tears of sadness, it's just so emotional and poignant.  That's why I chose to read the book based solely on it being a Dani Atkins novel as she's such a talented author and her books are completely unforgettable.

Hauntingly beautiful and incredibly emotional, it's all the stars for A Sky Full of Stars although it definitely deserves more than 5 stars.  I really can't recommend it highly enough but make sure you have your tissues handy when you read it.

I chose to read an ARC for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

Amazon

iBooks

Bookshop.org

Waterstones

About the author:

Dani Atkins is an award-winning novelist. Her 2013 debut FRACTURED (published as THEN AND ALWAYS in North America) has been translated into seventeen languages and has sold more than half a million copies since first publication in the UK.

Dani is the author of five other bestselling novels (THE STORY OF US, OUR SONG, THIS LOVE, WHILE I WAS SLEEPING and A MILLION A DREAMS) and PERFECT STRANGERS, a standalone eBook novella. In 2018, THIS LOVE won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award at the RNA awards in London.

Dani lives in a small village in Hertfordshire with her husband, one Siamese cat and a very soppy Border Collie.

Follow Dani:

Twitter: @AtkinsDani

Facebook: www.facebook.com/daniatkinsauthor

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Twitter: @Aria_Fiction

Instagram: @ariafiction

Facebook: @ariafiction

Website: www.headofzeus.com

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The Gift - Louise Jensen

The perfect daughter is dead. And a secret is eating her family alive...

Jenna is given another shot at life when she receives a donor heart from a girl called Callie. Eternally grateful to Callie and her family, Jenna gets closer to them, but she soon discovers that Callie’s perfect family is hiding some very dark secrets …

Callie’s parents are grieving, yet Jenna knows they’re only telling her half the story. Where is Callie’s sister Sophie? She’s been ‘abroad’ since her sister’s death but something about her absence doesn’t add up. And when Jenna meets Callie’s boyfriend Nathan, she makes a shocking discovery. 

Jenna knows that Callie didn’t die in an accident. But how did she die? Jenna is determined to discover the truth but it could cost her everything; her loved ones, her sanity, even her life. 

What did I think?

Wow!  I thought I'd enjoyed The Sister but The Gift is even better, and I didn't think that would even be possible!  Louise Jensen has exceeded all of my expectations after The Sister and has written a cracker of a book, one that stays with you long after you have turned the last page.

Jenna is grateful to receive a heart transplant and wants to thank the family of the donor in person.  This isn't recommended by the hospital, but Jenna feels so strongly about it that she hires a private investigator to find Callie's family.  Callie's family aren't exactly what she imagined them to be but Jenna feels like she knows them, although she can't explain the depth of her feelings.  When Jenna finds out that Callie had a sister, Sophie, she is determined to find her.  Jenna follows her instinct and takes her lead from strange flashbacks that seem to show Callie's life.  What is Callie trying to tell her?  All Jenna knows is that she must find Sophie.  As she gets closer to the truth, she puts herself in more danger and she ends up in a race against time as it feels like her body is starting to reject Callie's heart.

I'm not sure if Jenna's heart was beating as wildly as mine was throughout this book; I could barely keep hold of my kindle as my palms started to sweat near the end.  I loved the exploration of cellular memory and it's something that I do believe in, especially with a heart transplant.  Is the heart just an organ that keeps us alive or is it so much more than that?  I'd love to think that the heart is more than a vessel, that it contains all our feelings, hopes and fears.  It's so comforting to think that an organ transplanted in another person means that the donor hasn't completely died.  It's quite magical to think that a little piece of the donor lives on and the recipient absorbs a little of their very essence.

The Gift is so much more than a psychological thriller, although it is certainly a fantastic one, but for me it's a thought provoking look at the magic of the human body.  It is also a stark reminder of how fragile we are and how by simply registering on the organ donor register we can save so many lives in the event of our death.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest an unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon