Originally published: 10 January 2019

Author: Luke Allnutt

Published by: Trapeze

Genre: Family Drama

Length: 368 pages

Reading dates: 11-13 January 2019

How far would you go to save the one you love?

We Own the Sky is told from the viewpoint of Rob. When we meet him, he is drinking heavily and picking women up in bars.

The story then shifts to several years earlier when Rob meets Anna through mutual friends. Just out of University, they hit it off straight away despite being quite different – Rob is creative and has dreams of making it big with a computer app; Anna is sensible, wanting to make sure they are financially secure. But they are happy and when they have their son Jack, life is perfect and Rob can’t believe his luck.

When Jack has a blackout and crashes his bike, Anna is convinced something is seriously wrong and when they take him to the doctors, she is proven right and their lives come crashing down around them.

Described as perfect for fans of David Nicholls, John Green and Jodi Picoult (all authors that I love), I just knew I was going to love this from the second I picked it up. This is a very sad book and I was moved to tears on more than one occasion by the skill of the writing which made me feel just what Anna and Rob were going through. Anna and Rob both have different coping mechanisms in dealing with Jack’s illness and they don’t always agree on what options are available when treating Jack. As a parent, any story with a sick child is going to tug on the heartstrings but the unusual thing about this story is that it is all told from Rob’s point of view. The dad’s perspective is an interesting one that isn’t often covered in family dramas.

Looking at family relationships but also delving into what it is like to have a sick child, the doctors appointments, the decisions to be made and how people deal differently with a stressful situation and their coping mechanisms, it almost felt like a true story.

Skilfully written, I think it a perfectly paced and tenderly written novel and I was sorry to see the story end. But it is a heart-breaking book so be warned!  This book is going to stay with me for a very long time.

Many thanks to Trapeze for sending me a copy and to Tracy Fenton for inviting me on the blog tour.  Be sure to checkout the other stops below…

About the author:

Luke Allnutt grew up in Surrey and has lived and worked in Prague as a journalist since 1998, writing mostly about technology and Eastern European politics. In 2013, he wrote about his father’s death from a brain tumour in UNSPOKEN, a Kindle Single for Amazon. A keen runner, he is married and has two young boys.

Website: http://lukeallnutt.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lukeallnutt