We Own the Sky (The Muse Chronicles: Book 1) by Sara Crawford

4 Stars

Publisher: 

Date of publication: August 15th, 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance

Series: The Muse Chronicles

We Own the Sky – Book 1

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – Book 2

Where you can find We Own the Sky: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

What could you create if you fell in love with a Muse?

16-year-old musician, Sylvia Baker, has always been different. She’s the only one who can see the “flickering people.” When she sees a gorgeous flickering man named Vincent, she learns that they are Muses.

With his help, she finds herself creating exquisite songs that she loves almost as much as songs by her favorite bands–Radiohead, M83, and The Black Keys–and she is falling in love in a way she never knew was possible. While trying to maintain her newfound friendships and her band, she falls deeper into the world of the Muses. 

When the original Greek Muses wake to find a world in which the internet has given everyone the tools to be an artist, a battle between traditional and new methods of creation ensues. As Sylvia discovers how she is connected to the world of the Muses, she learns that this war may put her music, her love, her very life at stake.

My review:

I have read a few books are centered around Greek mythology. Some have been horribad, some have been eh, and others great. We Own the Sky falls into the great category. I thought that it was a different and original take on the myth of the Muses.

We Own the Sky’s plot is original and sad at times. Sylvia is a 16-year-old musician who happens to see flickering people. That bit of information she keeps to herself because of her past mental health issues. So when one of the flickering people talk to her, she is shocked. Her shock turns to awe when Vincent tells her that the myths about the Muses are real and that he is an Earthly Muse. The same time that Sylvia and Vincent’s relationship turns to love, one of the Original Muses awakens from a 500-year sleep. Angered by what she finds, Clio decides that a culling of the Earthly Muses is needed. Starting with Vincent. At the same time, Sylvia’s world is rocked and not in a good way.

I loved how the author handled alcoholism, substance abuse and mental illness in We Own the Sky. They were written about realistically. Mental illness, substance abuse, and alcoholism are often written like there is a magical cure. That everything will be alright after the addict stops using/drinking or when the person with mental illness is put on medication. That is so far from the truth it isn’t funny. Like in the book, there are setbacks. There is rehab. There are interventions. We Own the Sky showed the messy side that most authors will not write about.

I liked and pitied Sylvia. She had dealt with so much in her life. Her mother OD’d when she was younger. Her father, a junkie, and alcoholic spiraled down until he hit rock bottom and went into rehab. Sylvia herself did a stint in rehab. Not for addiction but because she was depressed. I wanted to give her a hug. Writing in her journal and playing music was her solace. I loved her surprise when she realized that the flickering people weren’t a figment of her imagination.

I didn’t know what to think about Vincent. I know his sole purpose was to inspire his charges but to fall in love with each one of them? Uggh, typical guy…lol. What he did to his last charge was horrendous. I don’t know how Sylvia wasn’t scared off by it when he told her. I did think he did the right thing by not going near Sylvia after Clio started her rampage.

When Clio was introduced, I could understand why she felt the way she did. She was used to inspiring a few people by whispering in their ears. But now, in the age of the internet, anyone could be an artist and that bothered her. I also understood her anger at Urania. She was the one left awake for 500 years and in Clio’s mind, she should have put a stop to it instead of encouraging it. But I don’t understand why it pushed her over the edge. Because what she did after she had that dagger was very unMusely.

That brings me to the biggest issue I had in the book. If Urania knew that Clio was that unstable, why did she ask another Muse to create a room to hide it. Why didn’t she hide it and not tell anyone? That didn’t make sense to me. But then again, if she did that, then Clio wouldn’t have trapped her, gotten the dagger, and started her rampage.

The storyline with Sylvia’s mother bothered me too. I didn’t understand why she was brought into the book so late and why the author chose to have her do a 180. But, it made perfect sense once everything was brought together at the end of the book. Of course, there was a twist in her storyline that made me go “Shut up” when it was revealed. 

The storyline with Sylvia’s friends was pretty rough. The only one who actually wanted to be her friend was Bianca. Everyone else talked to her because of her father owning a bar that plays live music. I kind of wanted to smack Travis and Ryan when Sylvia was butt dialed. Talk about jerks. But Travis did end up being a true friend in the end. It takes a true friend to do what he did.

The romance part of We Own the Sky was actually very sweet. Sylvia was heads over heels for Vincent. She fell hard for him. He was also heads over heels for her. Which is what made the end of the book so hard to read.

There is no sex in We Own the Sky. At least I don’t think there is. Vincent slept in Sylvia’s bed a few times and they kissed. I didn’t get the feeling that anything happened between them other than kissing. If it did, it was so vaguely written that even I didn’t catch it.

The end of We Own the Sky made me cry. It was heartbreaking on so many levels. It was not a happy ending. I cried for Sylvia. She got the rough end of the stick. I liked that there was an epilogue and I loved that the chapter of the next book was included. I am very interested in reading Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.

What I liked about We Own the Sky:

A) Greek mythology. Loved that the Muses were used

B) Addiction/substance abuse/mental illness were correctly portrayed

C) Sylvia and Vincent’s romance

What I disliked about We Own the Sky:

A) Vincent falling in love on a dime. Every person he mentored, he fell for.

B) Urania knowing Clio was unstable and not hiding the dagger where only she knew where it was.

C) The storyline with Sylvia’s mother.

I would give We Own the Sky an Older Teen rating. There is mild violence (mostly Clio and nothing graphic, just implied), mild language. There are no sexual situations. Vincent and Sylvia do kiss but I believe that it stopped there. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

There are trigger warnings in We Own the Sky. They are drug use, alcoholism, talk of suicide, talk of OD‘ing, talk of depression and talk of rehab. If you are triggered by any of these, I would suggest not to read the book.

I would recommend We Own the Sky to family and friends. I would include a note on the trigger warnings. This is a book that I would read again.

I would like to thank Sara Crawford for allowing me to read and review We Own the Sky.

All opinions stated on We Own the Sky are mine.

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**