Above: Review

Title: Above

Author: Leah Bobet

Release Date: April 2012

Published By: Arthur A. Levine

Pages: 368

Goodreads Rating: 3.44 stars

Review: Matthew has loved Ariel since he found her in the tunnels, her wings falling away. They live in Safe, an underground refuge for those hiding in the city above, including Whisper, who speaks to ghosts, and Jack, who shoots lightning from his fingers. But one night an old enemy with an army of shadows attacks, and only Matthew, Ariel, and a few others escape above. Now Matthew, unraveling secrets in the process, must remake their haven, not just for himself but for Ariel.

The most remarkable aspect of ABOVE was the writing. It's rare to find a novel with writing quite like this, so beautiful and sad and gorgeous and sparse. This is the kind of writing that can carry you away if you're not careful, the kind of writing that's poetry masquerading as prose in the most beautiful way. No one else could have told this story the way Leah Bobet did.

This story is incredible because it's not really a story in the most traditional sense. It's as if the point of this book was not just to tell a plot sequence but to focus down on the pain and suffering of a group of characters that is unimaginably different from anyone in real life. This is a book not about humanity that is very deeply about humanity.

ABOVE is not a book for everyone. It can be hard to read. But if you're the kind of person who likes "different" books, such as those along the lines of "The Space Between the Trees", then I cannot recommend more that you pick this up.