Between the Stars and Sky

Welcome to my stop on the Between the Stars and Sky blog tour, hosted by Crazy Book Chicks! I found another gem in form of Between the Stars and Sky by David James, which recently released, so of course I had to create a story diary for it. Enjoy, and thank you for stopping by! And don’t forget to enter the giveaway below!

BETWEEN THE STARS AND SKY is a vivid contemporary novel from Young Adult author David James.
Lyrical and romantic, BETWEEN THE STARS AND SKY is a heart-stopping, contemporary read for fans of Maggie Stiefvater and David Levithan.

Between the Stars and Sky by David James
Contemporary Romance, Young Adult

In the small, lakeside town of Huntington, the Firelight Festival marks the end of summer. A time to laugh, to live, to love. And for Jackson Grant, it is a chance to begin again.

But there is a darker side to the Firelight Festival, a deadly tradition known as the Firelight Fall. A secret game. A legendary lie. A test of bravery. Those who fall risk everything, and Jackson is on the edge. Until he meets a girl who pushes him over.

For Jackson, falling for Sarah Blake might be as dangerous as jumping in the Firelight Fall. As summer burns away, Jackson and Sarah ignite an unstoppable love game. For her, his heart is on fire. And soon, Sarah shows him life, saves him from loss, and opens his heart to an infinite and wild love found between the stars and sky.

Lyrical and deeply romantic, Between the Stars and Sky is a poetic and heart-stopping read for fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and E. Lockhart.

Huntington is a fictional place, but to help you visualize the setting, David said it is similar to the setting in Gilmore Girls surrounded by mountains. [see example here]

*Setting and places are fictitious for the books purposes*

So The Firelight Festival was mentioned in the book description, and now you’re probably wondering what the hell it is. Well, it’s a mystery in itself until you read the (entire) book to get the full gist of it. But to ease your mind a little, I’ll throw you a bone with a vague description straight from the book…

btsas fav quote

btsas fav quote 3

btsas fav quote 4

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I have so many favorite quotes, but they’re all the good ones, or ones you have to read in it’s entirety in order to get it…and some are spoiler-y.

**Quotes are from an ARC, and are subject to change in final copy**

I don’t even know how to write a review for Between the Stars and Sky, let alone explain what it’s about. It’s minimal but beyond complex in context. The story-telling is unique and this book means so much to me, even if it broke me to pieces. I highlighted the hell out of this book…even a sentence in the acknowledgements and note from the author. Is that weird? I bought another copy so I can have a clean copy too. It’s definitely one of my favorites of the year. I’m taking it to the grave with me (morbid, I know. No surprise there.).

Between the Stars and Sky starts off with Jackson’s introspection and self-reflection on life, family, loss, insecurities, love, heartbreak, memories, lies, fear, and the future. There’s a lot of thought that goes into all of those throughout the book, with new things added or changed to his perspectives on those topics. At the start, we also get a glimpse of Jackson’s relationship with his father, and memories of how it was with his mom. And Jackson returns to his hometown of Huntington after moving away a few years ago. He reconnects with a couple of old friends he left behind. Attempting to adjust back to the town he once called home, reuniting with old friends and rekindling an old flame, deciding whether to follow his dad instructions for what to do with his summer there, and trying to find himself and figure out life in general, thinking about his mom and the upcoming firelight festival.

Jackson is a dreamer, an artist who uses words, metaphors and symbolism as his paintbrush to express his insights and feelings. I don’t know whether I want to climb inside Jackson or David’s mind and live there forever. It made my mind explode with color. David James articulated metaphors and vivid imagery to convey emotions and to tell this story. David threw caution to the wind in the best way possible and defied the odds by not being afraid to show Jackson’s sensitivity and vulnerability. It’s often easy to forget that guys can feel so fiercely. Jackson’s dad tells him that he lives in his head just like his mom did and that is true in every sense. As the story progresses, Jackson’s journey of self-discovery goes into war with what is expected of him and where his heart truly lays. Jackson colors outside the lines of life and love. He’s unwilling to be confined by the worlds expectations.

The Firelight Festival is a mystery with history and meaning behind it for which I will not elaborate on; you’ll just have to find out for yourselves, and don’t worry, it’ll be worth it. Basically what it is, is like an inside thing that only people in the circle knows. To take a quote from the book, “The Firelight Fall is something no one ever talks about but everyone knows.” So the whole town is in on it, whether they participate or not, and us readers are the outsiders who don’t really know what goes on until we learn about the story behind it all. There’s another side of the significance to the Firelight Fall that no one tells until it is revealed in a journal from one who knows it inside and out, from one who lived it. It takes a while until we get the full extent of what exactly the Firelight Festival is.

About halfway in, I was chanting please don’t let this be foreshadow what I think it will as if it were a spell or a prayer or something. And then the Firelight Festival came around, I got anxious and it turned out for a very good reason. You know where you have that gut feeling that something very wrong is about to happen? Well…trust your gut is all I have to say and be prepared for feels. What a way to tear my heart out. Buuuuut, David doesn’t leave us that way, he finds a way to mend hearts back together. And boy did Jackson need that in the end.

Jackson and Sarah may be OTP, but Miles and Sean are ENDGAME, THAT IS ALL. Oh, and Jackson and Miles are brotp, of course.

Between the Stars and Sky is vivid, evocative, profound, lyrical, metaphysical, timeless, imaginative, atmospheric and painfully beautiful. . .a story of self-discovery, love, loss, hardships, the finer points that are often overlooked and everything in between and out of this world. Makes you pay attention to the finer details, the little things we overlook. There’s a lot of life-lessons between the pages, each line. It is beautiful and sad and everything in between. It made me break out in smiles and tears all at once. I thought I was going to explode into a supernova or something. Between the Stars and Sky tells of not one, but of a thousand stories.

So…If you were invited to the Firelight Festival, would you jump? Who would you jump with? Who would you jump for?

I received an ARC provided by Crazy Book Chicks in exchange for an honest review and as a part of the blog tour. However, it does not influence my review nor am I being compensated. Thank you, Crazy Book Chicks, for having me on the blog tour!

“Rescue You” by Jake Epstein

Because Spotify has a blindspot and missed this song.

**Playlist was picked by author David James but compiled on my Spotify account per David’s permission and can be found in the back of the book**

teaser — (Image provided by blog tour host)

teaser2 — (Image provided by blog tour host)

David James writes books about stars and kisses and curses. He is the author of the YA novel, LIGHT OF THE MOON, the first book in the Legend of the Dreamer duet, as well as the companion novellas, THE WITCH’S CURSE and THE WARRIOR’S CODE. A Legend of the Dreamer anthology, SHADES OF THE STARS, was released July 2013, and includes the exclusive novella, THE ENCHANTER’S FIRE. The final book in the duet, SHADOW OF THE SUN, will be released in 2015. Living in Michigan, he is addicted to coffee, gummy things, and sarcastic comments. David enjoys bad movies, goofy moments, and shivery nights. Visit David’s blog at djamesauthor.blogspot.com and facebook at facebook.com/djamesauthor to learn more about his novels.