Book review by Corey
Her Name in the Sky
Her Name in the Sky follows Hannah, a teenage girl growing up in a close-knit Catholic community while trying to understand what she feels for her best friend, Baker. Their friendship is already intense, but once those feelings start becoming harder to ignore, Hannah has to deal with fear, religion, family expectations, and the possibility that being honest could change everything.
I got way more attached to these characters than I planned to. What worked for me was how real the friendship felt before the romance ever fully came into focus, because that made the emotional side hit a lot harder. Some of their decisions drove me crazy, but that’s part of what made them believable, especially when both of them are trying to figure out what they want while feeling like everyone around them already has an answer.
The Goods
- Strong lesbian coming-of-age story
- The friendship feels really believable
- Good emotional tension
- Religion and identity are handled thoughtfully
- The romance develops naturallySome misunderstandings drag on
- The religious conflict can feel heavy
- A few side characters are frustrating
- The pacing slows in places
- The emotional back-and-forth gets repetitive
The Bads
- Some misunderstandings drag on
- The religious conflict can feel heavy
- A few side characters are frustrating
- The pacing slows in places
- The emotional back-and-forth gets repetitive
My Recommendation
This is a really good choice if you like lesbian YA romance, best-friends-to-lovers stories, and books about identity, religion, and coming out in a world that doesn’t always feel safe or accepting. I liked that Hannah and Baker’s relationship wasn’t treated like a simple romance because their history, faith, and fear all make everything messier. If you enjoy LGBTQ+ coming-of-age stories that are emotional, a little frustrating, and very focused on the relationship between two girls who already mean everything to each other, Her Name in the Sky is definitely worth reading.
