Good afternoon, Arrowheads! I’m super excited to be reviewing Meet the Sky by McCall Hoyle today, as it’s a clean YA novel set in eastern North Carolina, aka my homeland. XD I’m still fangirling over this book, and hopefully once you read this review, you’ll get secondhand fangirling from it and read it for yourself! Join me as we Meet the Sky! (Was that cheesy? Sorry, I had to. XD)

As a resident of eastern North Carolina, my town and surrounding areas were recently impacted by Hurricane Florence. During the hurricane, I wondered if there were any YA books about surviving this type of natural disaster. A few weeks later, I came across Meet the Sky on Amazon, and realized it was already on my to-read list on Goodreads. I was able to get the Kindle version during a sale one weekend, and I’m SUPER excited to say that Meet the Sky totally lived up to–and surpassed–my expectations.

What I Loved:

Gorgeous Cover

The beautiful cover and the Blink YA logo were all it took to get this sweet story on my to-read list. But, as much as I adore these aspects, there’s so much more to love about the novel.

Spot-On Hurricane Descriptions

It’s one thing to read about hurricanes, but a completely different thing to witness one in action and see the aftermath in person. I’m happy to say that the author knew exactly what she was talking about and flawlessly described what it’s like to experience a hurricane. I do wish we had received more descriptions on the aftermath (specifically how Sophie and Finn’s houses held up) but other than that, it was exceptional.

The Characters

Sophie was a bit of your typical Sarah Dessen-esque, no-nonsense, studious, protector-of-the-family type girl, but her character arc through the storm helped to bring out her unique qualities. Finn stressed me out to no end, but I ended up loving that goober! The two together have amazing chemistry and I highly enjoyed seeing them learn how to survive the hurricane together.

The Wild Horse Element

Highlighting Sophie’s connection to the wild horses in the Outer Banks brought forth even more uniqueness to the novel. Not only do Sophie and Finn have to survive the storm, but they feel obligated to help a horse out as well. This aspect was interesting to read about, because I’ve always wondered what happens to the horses when a “storm of the century” like Hurricane Harry in the book, or our recent Hurricane Florence, strikes the area.

Meet the Sky was the exact book I was craving to satisfy my want of a life-like hurricane read. There was nothing major about the novel that I disliked, and the continually changing storm added numerous high-risk plot twists that kept me invested throughout. I can’t wait to read more by this author!

Rating: 

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

Have you read any of McCall Hoyle’s books? If you’re looking for more North Carolina reads, be sure to check out my own novels, Can’t Beat the Heart of a Carolina Girl and Speak Your Mind, both set in the fictional town of Grahamwood, NC!

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀