Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry **Review** [Blue Sky Days Blog Tour Day 1]

Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

Series: None
Pages: 207
Publisher: Self-published
Release date: January 5th 2012
Buy: Smashwords | Amazon UK | Amazon US

Goodreads synopsis:
A year after graduating from high school, nineteen-year-old Emma Ward feels lost. She has spent most of her life trying to please her frigid, miserable mother - studying hard, getting good grades, avoiding the whole teenage rebellion thing - and now she feels she has no identity beyond that. Because she spent so many years working hard and planning every moment of her life, she doesn't have any friends, has never had a boyfriend, and basically doesn't know who she is or what she really wants from life. Working two part-time jobs to save money for college hasn't helped her make decisions about her future, so she decides it's time for a change. She leaves home to live with her free-spirited, slightly eccentric Aunt Daisy in a small town that makes Emma feel like she's stepped back in time.

When Emma meets Nicholas Shaw, everything changes - he's unlike anyone she's ever met before, the kind of man she didn't even know existed in the 21st century. Carefree and spirited like Daisy, Nicholas teaches Emma to appreciate life, the beauty around her, and to just let go and live. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes that you don't always need a plan - sometimes life steers you where you're meant to be.

Life is wonderful, an endless string of blue sky days, until Nicholas is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes once again for Emma in ways she never thought possible. Now it's time for her to help Nicholas the way he's helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.

I definitely think I read this novel at the right time for me - I was in the perfect mood for it. When I started reading, I was definitely needing a light and easy read that would cheer me up, and that's certainly what I got. By the time I'd read the first 20% of the novel, I was feeling really positive and inspired. This was a feeling that was continued throughout most of the novel, even when the plot became complicated and somewhat darker, around the half-way point.

The characters are what makes this book unique. I found myself wishing and hoping that there are people like that who do exist, but the pessimist (or realist - whichever way you want to take it) knows that they just simply can't. The lack of reality in most of the characters though, didn't really detract from how much I ended up loving them. I allowed myself to become enveloped in their extendable love for a while, and I'll admit - it was wonderful.
There were a couple of characters that I found myself sometimes irritated with - oddly, one of these characters was the protagonist, Emma. I'm not sure that I can entirely explain why I felt the odd bubble of irritation towards her, but at times there was a hint of exasperation. Perhaps it was her sometimes overly dramatic reaction to certain things, I'm not sure. Taking the book as a light, not-meant-to-be-taken-seriously read though, I suppose that these little irritations should not really matter too much.

Saying this, there was one character that honestly, if I had a genie and three wishes at my disposal, I'd have had walking out of the novel and into my life - and that was Emma's Aunt, Daisy. Even though she is a little too flawless to be a truly realistic human being, she was a great character to read, and I'm sure a wonderful character to write as well. She's artistic, fun-loving, caring, generous, and quirky. She really is loveable.

The ending of the novel (although a little cheesy and cliche), was a fairly good one. It leaves the story open to a reader's own speculation, but is still light-hearted and cheerful enough to also leave them with the warm, cosy feeling that it starts off with. It gives a sense of completion without removing the illusion of the characters lives continuing beyond the novel.

If you feel the need for a light, warm and uplifting read, then definitely get this one downloaded onto your reading device - I'm certain that it will be what you're looking for!

I reviewed this book as part of the Blue Sky Days blog tour. Check back tomorrow for an interview with author, Marie Landry, and a chance to win an eBook copy of the novel!