The Sky Always Hears Me and The Hills Don't Mind - Kirstin Cronn-Mills

I borrow the car again from Grandma and drive out to my hill. I scream I AM A BIG FAT ZERO, plus I AM SWEARING OFF KISSING FOREVER, and I HATE BEING A SECRET SEX FIEND, about sixteen times each. Then I sit very still and watch a hawk swirl over the fields. I have to get a new life before I go crazy. (back cover)

Sixteen-year-old Morgan lives in a hick town. Her mom was killed in a car accident when she was two, her dad drinks, and her stepmom is a non-entity. Her boyfriend Derek is boring and she can't stop staring at her coworker Rob's cute butt. Then there's the kiss she shared with her neighbor Tessa . . . But when Morgan discovers a devastating secret about the one person she completely trusted, her entire world crashes and she must redefine her life and herself.

Compelling and complex, The Sky Always Hears Me is a fast-paced narrative with raw humor and a heart-wrenching twist. (goodreads synopsis)

Début Author: 2009

Me: First of all, how awesome is the title! <3 it, plus, love the cover too - the colours in the sky and the text look striking against the girls head. It's calling out to you, isn't it?

I really liked this book. 


It's definitely the kind of book I would have loved as a teenager.  The main thing I loved, was Morgan. She's the coolest of narrators. I connected with her voice on the very first page. I love that feeling of only having read a page and realising, 'I am going to love this book.'

I keep using the word love :)

It's about Morgan and her life in a small town where she works at a grocery store (and perves on 19 year old Rob), is the girlfriend of popular jock-hottie Derek and next door-neighbour to Tessa who kisses her outside in the middle of the night. These three friends complicate all her teen-ish-hormonal feelings and general angst. She also has an alcoholic father and an enviously awesome Grandma, two little brothers who I personally feel proud of and a love of all things literary.

There's no huge inciting incident and, despite the blurb, no majorly huge event occurs (I kept guessing what was going to happen - little weird twists and scenarios that...never happened) although the secret she uncovers would really shatter your world. It's more of a read about Morgan and the cool crazy mad mess that is her life.


I think you just have to settle into a groove and go with the flow. I don't think everyone will be into this book - it's kind of quirky (in the coolest of ways. definitely not dorky) and it definitely has it's moments of tension and conflict - but what mostly kept me turning the pages was the voice and the fact that I have a little bit of a crush on Morgan. She's snarky and fun and ironic and oh-so-confused but just lovely lovely lovely. The humour in this book is definitely my style. I was smiling a lot of the time while reading it :)

Oh, and Morgan? She thinks about sex. A fair bit. Just, you know, a heads up there :) There's also a bit of language and some themes that make it an upper YA kinda read. 

Stuff to Love:

1. Morgan is really into words and writing and she's always writing/thinking up little fortune cookie snippets that are a cute commentary of her life (here's the first few ones I flipped too):

• Be careful of hotties searching for toothpicks. 
• Never hitch your star to someone who will live in a small town for the rest of his life. 
• When in doubt, go to sleep.
• Do not enjoy uninvited kisses.
• For value, buy the creamed corn.

2. I loved the ending - although I'm sure it will annoy some people :)


3. Morgan drives out to the hills and yells random things out (see blurb up the top) - and, I think, that's what being a teen is all about - feeling everything so intensely that you just have to get out in the open and scream your lungs out about it.


4. There's a lot of options in Morgan's life and the path isn't clear cut and the read isn't at all predictable. 


5. I didn't find one character to be cliché - but all beautifully and compellingly flawed. Along the way, most characters surprised me - with sides of their personality. Definitely richly drawn characters - impressive to find that in some of the more minor characters.

If it sounds like your kinda book - go here to look inside and read the first chapter  


I hope I managed to convey somewhere in here just how much this book rocks! 

Here's two very similar YA covers. One a debut that's not released yet (Mermaid's) the other a UK edition of Jaclyn Moriarty's latest. They are a different model, but I like them both :) All three covers have a distinct atmosphere and feel - I think they're all successful. Or maybe I'm just into looking at the backs of peoples heads?