We Walked the Sky review

We Walked the Sky is a book that I read two years ago. It was written by Lisa Fiedler. This book was one of my favorites, and it was the first book I’ve read in a while. I used to not like reading, and found myself getting bored reading. This book made it very easy for me to follow along and understand the book . There are two main characters, Calliope and Victoria. Victoria is Calliope’s grandmother. The book features two different time frames, one is the present told by Calliope. The other is Victoria’s story when she was younger and her story on how she ran away and got involved with the circus. Calliope moves away from the circus to Florida, because her mother found a job there. Victoria’s death is one of the causes of them moving.  The book is very emotional and shows the values of family, even if they are not related to you. 

How the book catches the reader’s attention

The first chapter is Victoria running away from her abusive father. Leaving her mother behind. I find this a good way to start off the story because it throws you into all the things Victoria has been dealing with. It makes readers intrigued to learn more about her story. This book includes topics on animal cruelty, abusive relatives, and coping mechanisms. Reading this book opened my mind up to learn more things about the circus. I learned more about the culture in a circus.

The characters

When Victoria ran away to the circus she left with only herself and her mother’s brooch. She changed her name to Victoria so her father wouldn’t be able to find her. Calliope is a teenager with an attitude and when it comes to the circus, that’s the only life she knows. Calliope despised her mother for taking her away from the circus. Now she has to go to highschool for the first time. She grew up homeschooled, so throughout the book you see how she adapts to school life. I didn’t like Calliope as much as I should have, due to her attitude towards her mom. I found more interest in Victoria over Calliope. Calliope wasn’t my favorite character, but her attitude does change near the end of the book.

How others felt about the book

“The vintage feel of Victoria’s perspective adds so much to the story. In the wake of my The Greatest Showman obsession, this felt like nostalgia and a hug all wrapped up into one book. I adored Victoria’s parts of the book and waited to see what was next.” A review on Goodreads, made by Ally, a frequent reviewer on goodreads. I agree with this review, I was anticipating reading Victoria’s chapter the most. There were two different timelines going on,  but it was easy to follow along because they correlated and intertwined. I also found that the two separate timelines helped with not getting bored with the book.

Genre

There are many genres in this book including Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, and more. The different genres in this book made it more enjoyable for me. It also made me tuned into the book, and I wasn’t getting bored of it. For some people, it can be hard to read a book, that was how I was in the beginning.  In the first few chapters, it started off slow. Once I got past the slow part, I enjoyed the story and took my time with the book. When I took more time, I enjoyed it more because I wasn’t rushing myself to finish it. I did not want the book to end.