Thank you so much to NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book! I really enjoyed this book. I would love to read more books by Katherine!

There were a few cute relationship moments in here, but that’s about it. I wanted more from the main character and her twin; I feel like we didn’t see much of them together at all. The MC just generally annoyed me. She was bratty about every little thing, and the poeting got old fast. Overall, this book had potential, but a few more rounds of edits and general expansion could’ve done a world of good.

This was a hard one for me, because I love the plot line, but the characters did not work for me. The main character, Sabine, is not a likeable character and the supporting characters were not much better.

The story is told from Sabine’s POV, so our perception of the other characters is colored through her descriptions, so I think this is why some of their actions put them in the unlikeable category. It is Sabine’s response to them that we are seeing, not their true motivations. And Sabine herself is incredibly selfish and inconsiderate, wanting her own way and not even wanting to listen to anyone else’s feelings.

Of course this may have been intentional to draw parallels between Sabine and the villain of the piece, Mrs. McMichaels. Mrs. McMichaels is another truly unlikeable character who has gotten away with holding her entire community hostage to her beliefs.

There is a redemption arc for Sabine in the end, and she does step up and own some of the stuff she has done, making reparations.

The book is labeled as having LGBTQ+ representation, which is true, but it is very minor. Polyamory is mentioned as well, but glossed over.

Overall, this isn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t right for me.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this Arc in return for an honest review.

The life that Sabine and her twin sister Blythe knew and loved changed in the same week that her father suddenly dies, a stranger turns up at the hospital and the up and move to a dilapidated mansion in a new town with the stranger. Trying to make sense of it all both Sabine and Blythe try and fail to find out what is going on but neither their mum or the stranger Charlie are talking.
During the move Sabine meets the local mover Kai and quickly develops more than a crush on him, but he is taken by another local Emma, or is he. Sabine and Emma become fast friends as they share a love of fashion and Emma warns Sabine off Kai but Sabine cannot help her feelings for Kai and cannot help but feel jealous of Emma every time she sees her and Kai together.
There is something happening with the house, their mum and Charlie and because the adults are not talking Sabine and Blythe decide to so their own snooping to find out what is going on. But neither girls are ready to face the secrets that have been kept from them all their lives and just how much of an impact it will have on not only them but those around them.

I really enjoyed this book and went from liking to not liking and back to liking Sabine as she works her way through her fears, emotions and relationships and fixes the chaos she created. Kai annoyed me as he played with both Emma and Sabine's emotions, maybe not intentionally but it still created hurt and angst between the two girls.

Overall a really good story that is a quick and easy read

I was so excited to get my hands on this ARC so thank you to the publishers, as well as NetGalley.
I had very high expectations of this book and was so excited to be reading a story covering family dynamics, sisterhood, and grief. Instead of focusing on sisterly relations, this book focuses more on Sabine and her coming of age and navigating through her grief after her father mysteriously passes away. I was let down in that aspect. Sabine investigates, along with her twin sister Blythe the mysterious illness and manor to which their father died. There is also some romance, but I felt that it was very insta-love esque. This book does cover some important topics and I was very impressed with the overall writing style it featured. Katherine Rothschild has a gift and I will read more of her books in the future, sadly this one just didn't capture my interests. Thank you again for my ARC copy!

First, I want to thank the author for giving me an advanced copy of the book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

The factor that made me ask for this, was principally the cover and the interesting description, but I have to say that my High expectations weren't satisfied, the story was not that good, I didn't connect with any of the characters, it was really boring for me sometimes. so I DNF the book at 54% and never took it back.

Unfortunately, this did not work for me. I felt that the bi and poly rep was all over the place and didn't enjoy the discussions or treatment of HIV. The representation felt slightly harmful and uncomfortable, and I wish that the characters could have been more likeable so we could understand where they were coming from.

I was approved for an arc of this but did not download it in time, and I just got the book through my library and was able to read.

For me, this book felt like someone trying to juggle on a crowded New York street and simply not being able to avoid dropping everything while avoiding tourists. I was really happy to see so many things that are considered too taboo for most YA books, but after a certain point it felt so many of them being included ended up doing a disservice to the topics as a whole.

I found the main character to be an extreme version of the protagonist of Meet Cute Diary - cold and selfish to such a degree as to make them completely unlikable. The romance didn't work for me at all, feeling like a list of red flags that should NOT be done.

The discussions around Sabine's father and his death felt really... cliche and potentially harmful. I personally understand how living in the south as a queer person can be, but I feel like writing his illness off as an inevitable consequence of living in a bigoted place didn't sit right with me. I was hoping there would be further discussion as to what we as a culture can do going forward in order to compensate for a stereotype being used, but it wasn't, and the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.

My friend mentioned in their review that Sabine's poetry felt like it was trying to be representation of a kind, and while I didn't focus too much on that while reading, thinking that it was just a "quirk," looking back it does feel uncomfortable. It should have been discussed in book what the cause of this was, so confusion doesn't occur amongst readers.

I'm really sorry I didn't like this, and I wish I'd gotten to it sooner, before release.

First, I would like to thank the author, publisher, and Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book. While an egalley was provided for me, my thoughts and opinions are my own.

This books covers a lot of heavy topics that don't often make their way into YA (polyamory, HIV/AIDs, bisexuality, homelessness, and other sorts of trauma. However, I don't know if I can say this was well-balanced. While I can't comment on the exact rep for most of these topics (except for perhaps bisexuality, which wasn't really a focus), it generally seemed like the book was trying to do too much, and wasn't able to give any one topic the space it needed. I also don't think Sabine was the sort of character to handle being in this type of story, as she was a very selfish character and the spotlight was mostly focused on her grief and trauma after learning her father had another lover. Her disgust with being lied too wasn't distinctly separated from the fact her father was queer (poly + bi), and it felt uncomfortable sometimes. While I don't think this was the intention, more space could've been given to showing that Sabine didn't have an issue with her father's queerness, but an issue with his lies. This was the general idea, but some comments just felt off. But in general, there was just too much going on and too little room to properly give those topics the space they needed to be discussed.

Unfortunately, the story beyond these issues isn't much better. Sabine is cruel, using harsh methods to get what she wants while acting innocent and kind. She gets a friend forcibly removed from their house and separated from their father, and she also is the reason that her family is evicted from the house they are renovating as a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people (under the pretense of wanting to go back home/have a home to herself/not wanting to stay in that house with her father's lover). She consistently places the needs of herself over those around her, and I don't think the book properly punishes her for those choices. She very quickly makes amends to those she hurt, and all seems fine in the end. (These also characters also all have very strong faults that they often apologize for, only to continue doing. So it's not even that I felt the side characters were compelling). I'm also unsure if Sabine's compulsive poetry was meant to be a representation of compulsions and/or tics, because it was never really truly explained. It may have been a side effect of the trauma of losing her father, but it was half explained that she had been doing for a while. It was only ever named here and there as some 'literary disorder/tic/compulsion', and I just don't know if this is supposed to be more of quirky trait of the character or representation. It felt off to me.

The romance also felt quite toxic, yet seemed to be held up as Sabine's great love. Sabine literally enacted revenge against Kai's best friend because she was trying to 'steal him', and Kai let the best friend be led on/didn't push off her advances even though he was with Sabine and didn't care for his friend like that. It just didn't seem like a good relationship at all, or that there was even any chemistry beyond the fact that he was the only one that didn't mock Sabine's poetry.

Overall, I feel like this book just didn't have the space to fully deal with everything it brought up, and it made the book feel weak and shallow, and possibly even harmful in it's generalizing representation.

I enjoyed this book but as not much as I thought I would after reading reviews and seeing that beautiful cover. However I would love to read more from this author as the writing style really was beautiful. I think I went into the book expecting something different than what I got, but I did love Sabine and where the story went. I think because this book has some quite heavy topics that's one of the reasons that I found it harder to read.

I was really excited when I first heard of "Wider than the Sky" especially because of the topics that were mentioned in the description. I was especially happy to see, that this book seemed to have a lot of queer topics and queer representation in it.
For me it was very easy to get into the book, as the author Katherine Rotschild has a really flowy writing style and the book was really fast paced. But that was sadly the only positive thing (besides the gorgeous cover) I could get out of this book, as everything else really disturbed me.

The behaviour of Sabine, the main character, was really unacceptable for me at most times. She was rude, almost ruined other people's lives and treated the people around her not very nicely. Overall I found her whole behaviour really complicated. What I found also very complicated, not to say worrying, was how the other characters acted and how the queer topics (that I had been actually been the most excited for!) were protrayed in a very bad light and did the completly opposite of what good presentation in a book should be doing. It seemed as if Katherine Rothschild portrayed queer people just as people who sleep around and therefore get HIV/aids, which I find a very complicated statement.

The whole plot of the book was also really messed up and it seemed as if the author herself lost the point of her actual story. It just seemed as if sometimes even she wasn't sure what she was writing. I for my part certainly didn't know what I was reading sometimes.

I had really high expectations for this book, but sadly it wasn*t just my cup of tea, however I really, really thank the publisher for the Netgalley e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.4 stars

"But maybe there was no safety in loving anyone. There was always risk, always the chance of loss--sooner or later."

-Sabine Braxton

"But maybe love wasn't keeping everything neat and tidy and perfect. Maybe it was leaving rooom for mess. Maybe it was leaving room for people who needed a place to fit in."

-Sabine Braxton

Thank you to the publisher Soho Teen and Netgalley for this ARC. My wish was granted)

Somehow, I was scared and hesitant to start this book, mainly because I don't usually read stories about forgiveness, loss and grief as it affects my emotions and makes me depressed for a time.

Dealing with grief and loss, then suddenly learned one of the people you cherished the most had a double-life. A life you can't believe existed. A life that maybe, just maybe, make you think the life led by that person with you was a lie. That everything was a lie. Then, changes started happening. Changes that you can't accept and just want to hold on to your past, to hold on to something you're neither sure is reality or illusion as long as everything will go back to the way it was before. A change that will have no turning back.

When I learned the real person that Sabine's dad had been, my heart also broke with Sabine's and Blyhte's heart. I kept thinking how would I be able to accept that fact had it happened to me. I wouldn't know how to deal with it either. I wouldn't know what to do either. I wouldn't want changes either. (But I wouldn't do what Sabine did though).

If stories about forgiveness and grief are not your cup of tea, this will not be a light read for you. On the other side, if that genre is something you can handle very well, this will be light for you then.

Two twins, Sabine and Blythe, suddenly discover that their father, who was healthy a week ago, died from a mysterious illness. After that tragic event, their life keeps changing faster than readers can turn pages in the book--they move out of their childhood home and into a picturesque, perhaps too perfect new town. They meet someone named Charlie that seems to have an interesting and too intimate relationship with their newly widowed mother. They try to find their places in a school where the students are more like Ralph Lauren models than teenagers.

Told from Sabine's perspective, Wider than the Sky touches on a lot of issues and encourages an understanding perspective for a multitude of topics. It's hard to say what all of these are without giving away spoilers. In short--we can just say that readers, especially teenaged ones, will be pushed to consider forgiveness from a multifaceted view. And readers will be asked, as Sabine processes, to consider how they view and accept others.

I enjoyed reading Sabine's point of view! She has a habit of spitting out lines of Dickinson poetry, which either delight or annoy those around her. It was nice to read along with a quirky, flawed, but empathetic character as she navigates some difficult situations. There is a thread of romance, which I also always adore! I would definitely read more by Katherine Rothschild in the future!

Polyamory, HIV and discussions about safe sex with a positive partner, wrapped up in an emotional storyline.

This had a lot of things I really liked, but just didn’t catch me how I’d hoped.

The premise of this book is pretty unique, especially in a YA story so I was excited to jump in. The book follows Sabine, who's father has passed away suddenly and as a result she, her twin, and her mom have to move in with a mysterious stranger named Charlie. The twist is that Charlie was her father's lover, he was bisexual and in a polyamorous relationship with his wife and Charlie. I'm not bisexual or polyamorous so I can't speak to the accuracy, but it didn't paint the adults in a good light. I had hoped the unique relationship would be presented in a positive light, but it just made it seem like their father couldn't be faithful and everyone kept secrets that hurt others.

I found all the characters unlikeable, so I struggled enjoying the story. I completely understand Sabine and Blythe's sadness and anger, they just lost their father then learned that he was lying to them for their entire lives. Plus they were uprooted and are forced to live with their father's lover, that's a lot to take in. Unfortunately, Blythe isn't there for her sister, dismissing her compulsion as 'crazy' and telling her that she's going to college and not looking back. Sabine makes several bad choices out of selfishness and hurts others without much consideration. I also found her poeting annoying and the repeat of Hope Bird got old quick.

I didn't think Sabine and Kai should have been together, they both lied and he had the gall to let Emma kiss him and hang over him and tell Sabine that he didn't like Emma and she had nothing to worry about! That is not someone I'd want to trust, let alone date. I wish Sabine could have realized that and stopped going after him.

The ending was hopeful and I was glad that Sabine stopped sabotaging everything and made up with her family. This book just wasn't for me, but I'm interested to see what else the author writes.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wonder if the conflict here is unnecessarily complicated. Conflict between the sisters, with their mother, with new friends, with the mysterious housemate, with the community. That's a lot going on and all of it interconnected, all of it built on secrets that didn't need to be. It's all centered on characters taking the most complicated and secretive route to resolution possible. While that leads to plenty of conflict it's a bit tiresome.

Oof, okay, I have some thoughts on this one. I was honestly really excited for some good commentary and character work out of this YA novel, especially since it was compared to “Tell the Wolves I’m Home,” which had similar themes and I read last year and loved. Unfortunately, I felt like this book fell short in a variety of ways.
A few of the smaller things included some plot points that just... didn’t make a lot of sense, even right at the beginning. There was also just generally somewhat flatter characters (maybe with the exception of Blythe, Emma, and Sabine).
The whole thing about Sabine’s “poeting” could’ve been really interesting but it just came off as a bit weird and contrived and annoying half the time (even quoting Dickinson has a time and a place).
But by far the biggest problem was an unlikeable protagonist. Sabine is just /not/ pleasant. She’s often pretentious, judgemental, and jumps to conclusions often. She has level headed people in her life who try to be patient and talk sense into her throughout the book, but she ignores them every time unless they agree with her exact outlook and then proceeds to sabotage all her relationships to try and get her way. Now, this is not to say that the grief of losing a parent can’t cause some ugly behavioral issues, it definitely can. But being inside Sabine’s perspective AND watching her deliberately choose to sabotage her life was just wholly infuriating for a good 70% of the book. While she does eventually “learn her lesson” and avoid all consequences of her actions because of literally one (extremely) convenient plot point. So instead of lessons in forgiveness and acceptance, it felt more like everyone eventually choosing to ignore Sabine’s mistakes as soon as the external pressure is removed and just bend to what she’s now decided she wants in the first place. Sabine broke a LOT of trust and it should take longer to heal than just a couple weeks. Get this girl some therapy and help her work through her problems and don’t just- ignore that they ever happened???
I mean if the book had focused on Blythe instead I could see this book being much better, but being in Sabine’s perspective was just /not it/. I can survive an unlikeable protagonist if the message is strong, but this message of forgiveness and acceptance got muddled and buried along the way. Beyond that, there was not nearly as much focus on the LGBTQ+ themes in this book as I’d thought, and what there was was largely to do with Sabine’s reactionary anger and sabotage towards her mom, Charlie, and her late father.
There were a lot of good intentions with this story and there were some genuinely good moments and potential, but it just got marred for me and was not executed nearly as well as I’d hoped. Writing-wise, the style and pacing were alright. I usually try to be a little gentler on debuts... but the author is a writing coach and an English professor- so I feel a little more justified in a slightly harsher critique. It just wasn’t great, and that makes me disappointed, but that’s how I feel about it.

I will not be providing a review for this book because of its incredibly problematic and damaging representation of queer people, ,polyamory, and HIV/AIDS.

Twins Sabine & Blythe are uprooted from their life after the unexpected passing of their father and deposited into the picture perfect town of Thornewood alongside a complete stranger, who happens to have intimate knowledge of the twins life.

I could not put Katherine Field Rothschild's debut novel down. I related to the twins uniqueness and empathized with their pain in the situation. I liked how KFR incorporated polyamorous relationships and HIV/Aids into the storyline, although she possibly could have dived deeper into both subjects. If these subjects were explored more in our fiction literature, it would help normalize them; we as a community, as parents, as humans should be discussing them.

The secondary high school characters of Nate, Emma and Kai helped to round out the twins experience away from their Mother and Charlie. I would have liked to have had more background on the relationship between Mick, Charlie and Maryann Interiors, although that may have deterred from the overall story.

Overall, give this book a go, I think you will enjoy it!

This book had me sobbing throughout and deals with love, loss, and grief very well. While I did get frustrated with some of the characters' decisions, the story was beautiful and wonderfully written.