What a lush, romantic, beautifully-imagined story. I was on the edge of my seat, and I'm eager for more from Laura Wood!

A glimmering summery read that I couldn't put down. Lou, the protagonist, is delightful and real...one of my favorite YA narrators in recent years. Just such a lovely little book.

Thanks to Edelweiss for the arc. This book reads much like a soft, easy summer in which the story is set. This coming of age follows Lou as she discovers what life is like for the Gatsby-esque Cardew siblings. Despite that there's more underneath the surface than first appears, the story thankfully doesn't lose its light and summery tone.

The protagonist in A Sky Painted Gold, Lou Trevelyan, has grown up in a small town and her whole family lives a simple life. Lou is an aspiring romance writer, and finds a passion for writing. Not long after the book starts, Lou's sister is married and Lou begins to wonder what her own future as a young woman will look like. Will she get married to someone local and settle down and have a family? Or will her life take a different path? Lou isn't really sure what she wants. To escape her quiet life and looming questions about her future, she begins to visit an old abandoned summer home on a small nearby island to write and read books in its extensive library.

One day she is nearly caught trespassing on the island and eventually learns that the owners of the house, the Cardews, have returned for the summer. Through a series of events, Lou meets the brother and sister who will be spending their summer at the summer house and is invited to one of their parties (think The Great Gatsby). Lou is sure that she will not fit in, but decides to abandon her worries for the summer and see what happens, what could go wrong? Lou quickly finds herself becoming friends with Caitlin Cardew and spending more and more time with her. But what will happen when the summer ends? And will Lou's family understand her need for adventure and romance, or will they feel estranged by Lou?

This book is really fun and though a few subjects like open relationships and a few hints at mental illness are made, neither are discussed deeply, keeping this a fairly light read about a girl learning about life and love. I think one of the greatest things about books is their ability to transport readers to a different world for a while, to offer an escape from whatever we are going through in life at the time that we read them. This book is a wonderful way to take a break from this year, and though it's geared for teens, I loved it just as much today as I would have reading it years ago and I'd encourage adults and teens alike to seek out this book.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy

If you are looking for a slow burn romance that makes your heart flutter and swoon just like the classics, then this should be your next read. Lou is a relatable character for me due to her love of reading and writing. She is naive to the life she is soon thrown into with fancy and flashy parties. Some of the sister aspects reminded me of Little Women but the story was similar to Great Gatsby and then you have the swoon of Pride and Prejudice.

Daphne du Maurier is a definite influence on this novel. It may have obviously borrowed from Fitzgerald, but It felt much closer to Rebecca than Gatsby. Read both and judge for yourself. I fell in love with du Maurier as a young adult And a slew of writers attempting to emulate her style. My mom had all of these novels on her bookshelf and I devoured them. It is refreshing that a new author is writing novels that feel reminiscent of her style. This lacks the suspense of a gothic novel—or the dark atmosphere. It is a light and lovely summer read.

A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood is such an under the radar book. I know exactly the subset of people this book would appeal to. Do you instantly perk up when you hear a comparison to I Capture The Castle? If you are anything like me, yes, yes you did. Well, that comparison is apt for A Sky Painted Gold. I ended the book with a sigh at how lovely it all was.

Wood’s A Sky Painted Gold is a coming of age story starring Lou Trevelyn who lives in a small village in Cornwall. She knows what is to come of her life – she’ll get married and have babies and the world will keep turning. In fact, as the book opens, Lou’s sister Alice is about to get married. The year is 1929. Lou often sneaks away to this abandoned mansion to do some reading and get some peace and quiet. She has dreams of being a writer. As it turns out, this summer, the mansion is occupied. It is occupied by the Cardew siblings – Robert and Caitlin.

Lou is soon swept into the glamorous world of the Cardews – where there’s parties with themes. There are engagements. I guess the comparison to the Great Gatsby fits as well. At the same time though, she continues to work on this story she is writing in hopes of following her dream of being a writer. Although, yes Lou’s life will probably pan out the way it does for every other young woman in her village she does still have those dreams.

I think the romance within Wood’s story is sweet and special. It is very well developed and the chemistry is there for sure. The way the ending comes together is just perfect.

I listened to the audiobook version of A Sky Painted Gold. It is narrated by Fiona Hardingham and is 10 hours and 18 minutes long. I did great for attention and really catching on to the details in the beginning. Toward the end, I wavered. That is a me thing, not a problem with this audiobook. Overall, I would recommend to my friends who enjoy turn of phrases, historical fiction, and books that are absolutely not over the top but quite mellow.

One need not be overly familiar with The Great Gatsby to recognize the parallels in this novel. We have a working class protagonist thrown into the complexities of privileged class neighbors, neighbors who seem to do nothing but have parties. This novel has less casual racism than Gatsby but takes a much harder look at classism. And the examples we see come both from the Cardews and their friends and from Lou's family. As Lou becomes more entrenched in life on the Cardew estate we see the emptiness and casual decadence of their lifestyle. And Lou's involvement creates distance with her own family. She also begins to see how the parties and fun are a cover for real pain and preventing them from going after things they actually want. One thing Gatsby has over this book is the ending. Fitzgerald's final chapters are fairly tragic, pointing out the futility of living for pleasure. This book instead suggests that a happy ending is possible for everyone involved. It might be interesting to read these two books side by side and compare ideas and images.

I was enthralled by A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood. Set in the 1920s, this story grabs you from the beginning with the lovable main character Lou. All she wants is a taste of the world outside of her sleepy Cornish village. When several rowdy carloads of bright young things show up at the once-abandoned home of a well-known socialite, the summer takes a turn for the better. Will she ever be able to return to "normal" life when the summer ends?

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Thank you for the opportunity to read and review A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood.