Sky City 🌌
By Jacqueline Crooks.
What does it mean to find a place to belong when you've spent your life searching for the people you lost?
That is the question running through Sky City by Jacqueline Crooks, a beautifully written story that explores friendship, identity, family and healing against the backdrop of 1990s London and the east coast of the United States.
After years living in a hostel for young homeless women, Jaycee finally has a place of her own in Sky City, a North London housing estate. Yet the security she has worked so hard to build is fragile, with memories of her childhood continuing to haunt her. When her first love, Sol, reappears, and her closest friend, Ella-G, embarks on a search connected to the father she has never known, Jaycee is forced to confront the past she has spent years trying to leave behind.
Before even opening the first page, I was drawn to the striking cover, which perfectly captures the reflective and emotional tone of the story within.
One of the book's greatest strengths is Jacqueline Crooks' writing. The prose has a lyrical, almost dreamlike quality that allows the characters and settings to come alive without ever overshadowing the story itself. Every chapter feels carefully crafted, creating an atmosphere that is both intimate and immersive.
I also loved the way music flows through the story. It is far more than a backdrop, becoming another thread that connects the characters, their memories and their search for identity. It adds warmth to even the more difficult moments and reinforces the emotional depth running throughout the book.
The friendships at the heart of the story were another highlight for me. Jaycee, Sol and Ella-G all carry the weight of their own pasts, yet the relationships they share feel authentic and believable. I have always enjoyed stories that follow friendships over long periods of time, and seeing how these connections evolve through changing circumstances made me even more invested in each of their journeys.
Setting the story during the 1990s also works incredibly well. Without today's social media, DNA testing and instant communication, the search for lost family members feels far more uncertain, giving the story an added sense of realism. The alternating timelines gradually reveal each character's past, allowing their motivations and experiences to unfold naturally while keeping me engaged throughout.
Although the story is often melancholic, it handles its themes with compassion and sensitivity. The exploration of childhood trauma, abandonment and belonging is balanced by hope, making Jaycee's journey towards understanding herself feel both believable and rewarding.
Sky City is a thoughtful, emotionally rich book that stayed with me after I turned the final page. Its beautifully crafted characters, lyrical writing and exploration of friendship and identity have definitely made me want to read more from Jacqueline Crooks.
Thank you to Gaby and the team at Vintage Books for sending me a copy of the book!
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