This reminded me strongly of something I would have read and enjoyed as a pre-teen. It's a fine enough story, and I love the history behind it, but it all just felt a little flat. Also, is this YA or MG? So much of it felt like it was middle grade, but Grace is 18 and there was perhaps a bit more kissing than I would expect from an MG. One of the straddlers of the genres, I guess.

For one thing, Grace is a daredevil barnstormer, soaring hundreds of feet in the air, performing wild and crazy tricks. I want to feel that. I want to get a sense of the wonder, the danger, the fun, the thrill of it all. And I never did. The danger was highlighted well a few times, but the way the tricks were primarily written, I had to go back and re-read because I would literally gloss over that she was doing anything. "She went into a handstand". Oh, okay, cool. I was also trying to determine how her "Showstopper" trick quite worked, as I would have assumed the jerk from falling would be incredibly impossible to hold on through with your teeth but I just watched Lillian Boyer and I think I understand it now.

When I was a youth, I required little to devour and enjoy a book. As long as it was age-appropriate for me, I usually liked it. Boredom was the biggest killer of my enjoyment, but otherwise, all was candy and roses. As I've aged, I've found myself to have morphed into primarily a character reader. If I like the characters, and connect with them, I can forgive many many otherwise gross offenses. So let's talk characters.

Grace actually annoyed me quite a bit, because she is so stubborn and determined, at the detriment to everyone else. She doesn't listen to anyone, even when she should, and ignores authority every chance she gets. She does recognize her behavior is unacceptable by the end, a learning lesson to readers, but it was still frustrating to me to have to sit through.

Henry doesn't come off real well, either, at the beginning. In fact, he's rather awful at the start, and I'm not sure why he was acting like such a jerk. There's no apparent reason.

Daniel and Nathan seemed interchangeable characters to me. I hardly could tell them apart.

I requested this from Netgalley not knowing anything about the author or the plot of the book. I was very happy I did! Grace is a fabulous character, brave and exceptional. I love historical fiction, so this book was a great find.

The one thing I really, really hated about this book was that I really want to love it instead. It's a story about an 18 year old stunt performer in the 1920's who walks on planes for a living, this should be one of my favourites of 2018. Unfortunately it was bogged down by bad writing and a subpar romance plot that I just didn't care about.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

Don’t really remember much cause it wasn’t super memorable but it was fun and easy enough to get through. Nothing really special though, mainly because not diverse in any way.

I don't know much about this era, so I loved the immersion into the time-period and was swept away. Everything from the clothing to the way of speech was so fun to read. All of the character's lives were formed by what was going on at that time and it felt so genuine. And I know some people see the word history and think BORING, but oh my goodness, this story was so the opposite.
It was riveting through each page but also had those tender lines that made you feel and grow as a person.
I loved Grace. I could never do what she did, I am not a dare-devil. But she did it so well and it really played in to her character arc to spread her wings and be daring in other areas that maybe aren't so easy for her.
And the way Henry fits into her storyline only makes her stronger and brings a smile to my face.
This story inspires readers to be brave and follow dreams and to get through life when plans aren't what you thought they were.
Such a gem of a story and I couldn't be happier to recommend.

I got this as an e-ARC on NetGalley, and very happy I did. Very well developed story that made me feel like I was there. I love a strong female lead who could still have her softer moments, and Grace was most definitely that!

This was a great read. I loved the atmosphere and the daring heroine. Will definitely be keeping up with this author.

I love this book because it's a world war two Historical novel. Usually, any book taking place between Victorian decade and the world war two-decade I enjoy a lot. This book was one of those I love and have it on my list to buy. I love how Amy wrote Grace and made her very independent. I recommend this book to anyone who loves World war two fiction

Grace is a driven, daring young woman in a story set in a post world war I world. She's a practiced wing walker with a dream - to get to the World Aviation Expo.

I really connected with Grace's character and ambition, the historical setting was immersive and I'll look forward to reading more by this author in the future!

Thanks to Netgalley for an early copy of this book! Which I am... very late reviewing.

Nothing But Sky follows the story of Grace, a wingwalker in post-WWII struggling to keep everyone she loves together. It's an era and subject matter I've been interested since reading K.M. Weiland's Storming (though that's a more fantastical/steampunk look at history), so I was really excited to see this book.

There were a lot of elements I really enjoyed. Grace's grit and stubbornness (and the way it got her into self-inflicted trouble), Henry with his PTSD, The Twist in the last third. All the writing around the planes fairly sparkled with detail and expertise, which made for some fabulous scenes. And I found Grace's desire for an intact family a deeply sympathetic motivation.

I think the biggest thing I wasn't so sure about was... the very overt feminist scenes. I know, I know how that sounds. But I just found myself jarred out of the story several times by lines that felt like they were spoken by a 2016-era woman (possibly smiling into the TV camera) instead of the same sentiment in a voice that felt more... authentic? Genuine? Some of the moments were done well! But other aspects of the story felt like they were there just for a #GirlPower moment, with little to do with the main momentum of the novel.

However, I'm sensing that his particular nitpick is something I've felt with a lot of my reads in the past year, so it's wholly possible I'm just the odd one out and most readers will be thrilled with the many, many examples of Strong Female Characters. That's cool.

Overall, a fun and quick read. I recommend it for travel days! There's something especially exciting about reading this book while in the air.

When I first heard about this book I instantly knew I needed to read it. It's a total me book, between the historical setting and unique plot with complex characters. And while I did enjoy aspects of this book it didn't really blow me away.

One of the only things that did work for me was the historical setting. I love reading historical fiction novels that involve a historical period or something from history that isn't often discussed and talked about. This book did exactly that. Books set in the 1920's are not uncommon but books about barnstorming totally are. It's a concept that I didn't know much about and loved learning about here. The author clearly did her research and immersed the reader in the world of what it was like for aviators at the time period. I will say, there was a lot of information that got a little too technical at times but I don't think it was too overwhelming. It made for an interesting and really engaging setting for this book.

Unfortunately it didn't quite deliver on the next part of that world-building which was the plot development. It had a really good jumping off point with the barnstorming and World Aviation Expo but it didn't quite take it all to the next level. Now don't get me wrong, there were plenty of action packed moments that had me totally engaged but those moments were few and far between. On the whole I think the plot felt a little basic and not completely developed, which made for a really fast read but not as an in-depth read that I would have hoped.

But I think my biggest issue with this book was with the romance. You guys know me, I am a cold-hearted romancephobe and it takes a lot to impress me. This books seriously did not impress me in the romance department. I don't know if it's because I didn't ever really like the romantic lead or because it just developed out of nowhere. It wasn't necessarily instalove, it just escalated so quickly. And the romance really did take a lot of focus of the book. I could have been okay if it had been more minimized.

The other thing that exacerbated my dislike of the romance was my feelings on the characters. On the whole, there were some super odious character which I usually appreciate. Here there were some characters I liked more than others. Some were complex and surprising while others were just frustrating. Like for example, I kept thinking how the male lead had been a total misogynist earlier in the book. He had okay development but it never quite won me over. I did like main character though. She was completely likable and I admired her determination to do more for herself and others. The fact that I liked her and disliked him made the romance even more frustrating. I just think I didn't love these characters.

All in all I think this was an okay read but I just didn't love it. It had a great setting and historical aspect but the plot was basic and the characters were a bit hit or miss for me.

I won't be publishing a review, or giving this book a rating on my blog or goodreads as I couldn't manage to finish it. I liked the main characters, the general idea of the plot. However, I found it boring and too slow to my taste due to the writing style.

Note : The one star rating is due to the book being a dnf and the requirement of a rating to submit feedback, NOT based on personal preference.

*** Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC! ***

4.5 stars

This was incredible. I love historical fiction - it’s my favourite genre and this is one of my new favourites . This was an amazing well written adventure about a determined young woman called Grace following her dreams. The setting of 1920’s America was well researched and the plot was interesting and had me addicted !

Grace is a wingwalker and I’ve never read a story about a wingwalker before so this was so interesting and I loved the detail that the author went into to describe how each and every trick was done which had me on the edge of my seat. Grace was an incredible character that showed that hard work pays off. She challenges the stereotypes of women in the 1920’s by showing her daring and impulsiveness. Most of the other characters in the book treat her like a child when she is clever and she deserved to be treated like an adult. Another thing I love about her is that she cares about her team so much - she would do anything for them.

Henry was super sweet. He is a talented young mechanic who has PTSD from fighting during the war and he frequently experiences flashbacks.

The romance was so cute and I love Grace and Henry together. The plot of this book was really interesting and I loved all of the twists and turns that the team faced trying to get to Chicago and win the Hollywood contract.

Thank you to Flux Books for providing me with a copy!

While I've seen old movie clips with the post-World War I barnstormers, I've never thought much about the reality of their stunts and their lives. Trueblood does a good job of bringing this era to life. My one complaint is the inconsistent portrayal of Grace Lafferty. A strong determined young woman, she often comes across as much young than her age. Still, with a sweet, albeit predictable romance, a lot of action, and great historical details, I definitely recommend this for teen readers. Review based on ARC received through Netgalley.

Musings:

Nothing But Sky was a fun feminist read that I for some reason had a hard time putting down. I had to know what was next with this book so I must say the author did her job and did it well!

What I Enjoyed:

The Barnstorming! I loved seeing a book featuring one of the coolest and most dangerous jobs ever! Women of barnstorming are the most badass women you could ever see and it was super cool to read about.

The Love Story. You’re going to read later on the small exception to this, but I really did like the love story this told. I liked that Henry came back from war with PTSD. Something that ends up bringing Grace and him together in a more natural way. There were some sweet moments in there and I loved all of them.

The Twist. In a book like this I was not expecting a twist like the one I got. It threw me for a loop and I couldn’t help but thinking “No way! No way! No Way!!!” Over and over again.

Her friends. Grace has two friends in this novel and their story together was actually one of the parts of this story I enjoyed the most. I loved that they kept trying to style Grace and the fact that Grace kept rejecting it to be herself.

Feminist Grace. I enjoyed Grace as a main character. She believed in herself every step of the way. No matter who was telling her to be careful or that she couldn’t do something she continued to persist. She was brilliant!

What I Did Not Enjoy:

Henry was a jerk at the beginning. I did not like seeing that for a long while Henry was not a guy that I would have liked to see as a love interest. He came off as a bit cocky and in some ways put down Grace and even though that changes later I still didn’t like seeing it happen in the beginning. (This is still a 4 star read this was the one thing I just couldn’t let go of).

Historical fiction is not always my go-to read but Nothing But Sky was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed the book.

It's well-researched and beautiful. I love how the story flows and I love how the characters are written. I would recommend this book to everyone!

This book introduces us to the fierce wing walker Grace. She is feisty, loyal, and she just happens to be one member of The Soaring Eagles. They are a close-knit group, a family, one that Grace holds dear.
Grace arrived on her uncles doorstep after the death of her parents and sister at 13. By 14 she was walking on the wing of her uncle’s jenny. Now the team are working to get themselves to the World Aviation Expo, where they could win a Hollywood contract. Desperate to keep her new family together, Grace pins all her hopes on it. But when mechanical failure means they may not get there, will Grace make a deal with her enemy to get them to the expo.

Grace was a wonderful character, the writing brought her to life, the tension was real as she was climbing from a speeding car to a moving plane. I was on the edge of my seat. I had no prior knowledge of wing walkers and barnstorming, it was wonderful to read about the towns, the people and life in general.

Set after WW1, the expectations on women were that they would get married, have babies and be happy with this, the idea that they would want something different was off-putting to a lot of the characters, so Grace is treated as an oddity. They are amazed by what she does, but they don’t think a womans place is in the sky. I enjoyed watching her push back against societies expectations.
All in all a solid read, that makes me think I should pick up historical fiction more often. I will also be picking up a copy for my daughter.

This was a really good example of YA and historical novel. I have enjoyed it a lot, even though it was set in the US, which is not my favourite place for books to happen. It's just....used too often. But I loved this one, and especially as it was happening after WWI

A wonderful, heart warming story about finding your place in the world, and never giving up on your dreams! Grace was a great character, a little headstrong, but with a big heart. I loved her relationship with her crew, and the romance was really cute! I felt like the two girl friends, Mary and Ethel, could have been fleshed out more--as it was, they felt just added in to have more female characters? But then perhaps that would have taken away from the story?

I loved the historical setting and the barnstorming! What a fascinating trend and time in America's history! I had never heard of it before, but this book made me want to research it. I thought it was a perfect setting for this story. I also though the portrayal and handling of Henry's PTSD, or "shell shock" from WWI was well done.