Out of the Blue: The inside story of the unexpected rise and rapid fall of Liz Truss

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Out of the Blue is prefaced with an authors' note, in which Cole and Heale remark that the book's production was rushed. As such, they warn the reader that the book does not match the quality of the work of an author such as Robert Caro, who profiled the US president Lyndon B. Johnson. [18] The book is split into two parts, with the first detailing Truss's early life and path to the premiership and the second recounting her seven weeks as prime minister. [17] The only thing that really specifically annoyed me was the fact that this book seemed to very actively resist the use of they/them pronouns in reference to the beings. I was seriously sitting here like,,, really,,, y’all seriously gotta strictly enforce the whole Western gender binary thing onto creatures who may not even have a concept of gender??? or might have a completely different gender binary?? Like, they call them she or he, and the people who don’t call them that call them “it.” Every time I saw that I was just sitting there like “just say they/them/their.” It was so annoying Here’s an interesting and useful article about why you should use the singular they. It’s more inclusive and less awkward than using “he or she or it.” And there’s a spoilery thing about Teacake that they do that I loved, and I sort of wish I could flail about it without being spoilery lol. But anyway, I really enjoyed that. And now here we are. Writing a review of a book I even felt meh on six months ago, when it was fresh in my mind. Which it now definitively is not, even a little bit at all.

Loss is mathematical: a third less washing, a third fewer dishes, a third fewer footsteps thundering down the stars. Subtract music blaring through the walls. Subtract eyeliner smudges on the towels. Add silence. Add more silence. Were we meant to meet? I believe so, one hundred percent. But I need to live for myself, build my life, follow my dreams, before I can be somebody's partner. I want to find the love of my life, and I think there's a world where Crest could have been that, but I need to love myself -- *live* for myself -- first."The book follows two perspectives: Crest, a teen merperson, who, within one moon cycle, has to help a human to become an Elder and Sean, a human lifeguard who's miserable because of a recent break-up. This review sounds harsh and more like a 2 star rating than 3 stars, but I want to point out that it isn't a bad book, especially for a debut novel. I just think my expectations were too high and that I'm not the right target audience. One thing that stood out a little negatively, especially in the beginning, when there was a lot of talk about what the (Angels called) Beings are, was that there were two fractions: the ones who didn't think the Beings were actually people and used "it" as pronouns and the ones who did, who exclusively used "she/her". It felt a little frustrating to not have anyone consider just using they/them pronouns because we literally don't know anything about these Beings or the way they express gender. I think especially in a novel that's otherwise so inclusive, I had expected this to be a bit better done. Like, I adored both Crest/Ross and Sean as characters, but their motivations and understanding around their relationship were very hard to follow in moments. One moment they were friends with benefits, the next they were fully in love, then very torn up over whether or not they were manipulating each other, then broken up, then in love, then maybe broken up again? Phew. But nonetheless, I was really invested the entire book in their relationship, and I really enjoyed all the classic fake dating notes. There were also a lot of elements about it that read true to teen relationships and how wildly messy they can be. It was also super sex-positive and there seemed to be roughly zero straight characters, which was great.

One of the things that really made this book for me was the setting. Growing up and living not too far from Edinburgh made this book a must read for me. I loved seeing the familiar setting and the portrayal of the crazy festival season. I thought Sophie Cameron did a wonderful job of bringing Edinburgh to life, as well as making it believable that angels could crash land in the city. When I read the synopsis I wasn’t sure that falling angels would be believable but Cameron’s world-building is superb and powerful. I watched them walk away, and with each step they took it was solidified in my heart that all this is real. That magic is real. You just have to know where to look for it.” This is a riff of the The Little Mermaid with a queer love story at its front, and if that sounds like your type of thing, then this might be the book for you. There's this one particular paragraph about loss that I can't get out of my head and the Universe is my witness when I say I hope I made it justice translating it.

An intriguing premise -- mer must spend a month on land and perform a selfless act before returning to the ocean -- is boosted by the diversity Jason June crafts, but ultimately falls flat due to one-dimensional characters who have little outside their lust-plot to make them relatable.

I thought that Out of the Blue was a delightful book with such a nice atmosphere. I loved the Edinburgh setting, especially because it is something that you rarely see in YA. Usually UKYA is based in or around London so it was a breath of fresh air reading a UKYA book set in Edinburgh. Out of the Blue was a unique and inventive read and it was, frankly, a refreshing take on angels. Teacup was delightful, fun, and kind and a joy to read about. She also had rose gold feathers, so, what’s not to like?

Overall, despite the gripes that I had, I just had a really good time reading this novel and found myself very emotionally invested. It's also generally super unique and actually made me crave more novels about Angels, which I never thought I would say. And I genuinely do appreciate that -- as well as the celebration of queer love. There isn't any homophobia or slurs hurled at the characters. The diversity is presented as normal and accepted, and June also does really well at "modeling behavior" for readers. Like, there's a couple good conversations about consent, and Crest/Ross has this one moment where they tell Sean what they like (physically) during a makeout session.

This is a book I probablydefinitely should have just written a mini-review of as soon as I finished it, but I was in a reading/writing/reviewing/blogging/life slump and I didn’t. One of the strongest elements in this book are the family and specifically sibling relationships. I don't think that any of the character stood out much individually but there's so many complex relationships and so many important aspects that get talked about and I really loved that. I adore when you read a book and can very clearly see where everyone is coming from in a conflict and it very much felt like that reading this book. Thompson, Sophie (19 October 2022). " 'Out by Christmas': Keir Starmer makes hilarious swipe at Liz Truss' new 'book title' ". Indy100. The Independent . Retrieved 20 October 2022.Crest is also certain humans are awful, is really rude about people existing, and weirdly is super offended by people eating fish.... as if other sea creatures don't eat sea creatures. They're offended and looking for a fight for so much of this book. In terms of plot and depth, however, I think this is a huge case of Out of the Blue wasn't really for me. I expected more complexity in characterisation, a deeper look at their relationships, a more engaging plot or at least more lyricism to amp up the otherworldliness of the angels falling from the sky. With a main character aged 17 years old, I definitely didn't expect a story so straightforward.