Nine-year-old Kailani is rescued from a small boat that shipwrecks near some cliffs where two young people, Jason and Helena are enjoying the beach. Kailani is from the Blessed Lands where society is based solely on their religious beliefs and she has landed on the shores of The Republic whose society is based only on science and reasoning (no religion).
Jason and Helena have just rekindled an old childhood friendship after a several-year parting of ways when she went away to school. Helena had returned to nurse her father in his final days before succumbing to terminal illness.
Kailani is taken away by an officer of the Department of Separation for entering the country illegally and Jason and Helena, having been touched by the sweetness of the young child are concerned about her being imprisoned in such a place see what they can do to help her.
Daughter of the Sea and Sky was a very captivating story. It was a story with many dimensions. It was a love story. It was a story of endings and beginnings. And it was a story about spiritual beliefs and the right to have that belief.
Kailani was a very mysterious child. She would not tell anyone who her parents were beyond that she was the child of the sea and the sky. They knew she was from the Blessed Lands because of the things that she said. Anyone in the Republic would be put in prison for talking about spiritual things.
I enjoyed how Kailani's presence affected the relationships of the people around her. Without Kailani's presence, it's probably doubtful that Helena and her mother would have reconciled, and quite possible that they might never have seen one another again. Kailani shows how important spiritual beliefs are to people.
The love story in The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky is not just between Jason and Helena, but it is about the love of parents for their children, and what they will do to find them when they are lost. This was the most touching part of this book.
This was an emotional story, discussing a theme that many people have distinct and varying opinions on. I thought David Litwack’s did an excellent job of showing that there is room for both science and faith.
The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky is a memorable story. I definitely wanted to know who she was and why she was there. I got so lost in the story that I had to be careful when I was reading it because I would literally tune out everything around me and not hear my name being called (nearly missed an appointment!) while I was reading.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky and would happily read it again. I gave it 5 stars out of 5.
Thank you to the author for providing a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.
This review was published on my blog Shelf Full of Books [...]
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The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky Kindle Edition
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Product details
- ASIN : B00K434HRU
- Publisher : Evolved Publishing LLC; 1st edition (May 3 2014)
- Language : English
- File size : 2216 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 301 pages
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- #2,841 in Religious Fiction
- #3,452 in Religious & Inspirational Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #21,396 in Literary Fiction eBooks
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Reviewed in Canada on May 20, 2014
Book – The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky
Author – David Litwick
Star rating - ★★★★★
Plot – captivating, beautiful, nicely plotted
Characters – lovable, diverse, relatable
Movie Potential - ★★★★★
Ease of reading – very easy to read
Cover - ✔
Suitable Title - ✔
Would I read it again - ✔
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
First off, let me start by saying this book is something special. I don’t say that often, but there is something un-pinpoint-able and undefined that is wholly beautiful, endearing and magical about this book and the story. I’m going to lay this at the author’s feet. If this author bring out another book, you can bet I’ll snap it up as soon as it’s in print, because I can tell from this one alone that me and David’s books are going to be lifelong friends.
When I saw this book was up for a blog tour, I knew I had time in my blog calendar to fit it in, so although it didn’t sound like anything I’d read before, I snapped up the chance to read something new. And I’m glad I did. This may be one of my favourite YA novels, ever and it’s probably the biggest surprise a book has given me since I started reading at ye high.
I’m always nervous about starting a new book, especially one that I didn’t technically choose for myself. With Read4Review books, I tend to take a bigger chance and hope for the best, so when a new one comes along, I always worry that I’m not going to enjoy it and I hate to turn that first page and be proven right. This time, I was proven wrong.
From page one, this story sucked me in. The start was intriguing, and held a lot of promise for what would come next. Then, we got whisked away into the future and saw Helena and Jason’s story, which only caught even more of my attention. Helena is, to me, broken during the majority of this novel and a lot of what she goes through is a test to see if she can cope, if she can finally be honest with herself and if she’s willing to take a risk. All of that is down to Jason. And let me just admit right now that whether the author planned it or not, Jason is kind of my perfect guy. He doesn’t disappoint. Not once, throughout the story, do I fall out of love with him.
I don’t want to go into too much detail about what I loved about this story because I could be here all day. It’s safe to say that I want, no, NEED you to read this book. And trust me, you NEED to read this for you too. I’m not going to include spoilers, so let’s get down to what I thought about what I can talk about.
The story itself is original, and somehow familiar. Not in the way that I’ve read anything similar, but in a way that it’s comforting and sort of similar in a dream sense. Like when you have Deja Vu and you swear you’ve felt a certain way before; that’s how this book makes me feel. All warm and fuzzy and slightly disorientated and not sure if I’m dreaming. It’s a good feeling.
I didn’t have a lot of time to read this book, but I started early enough that a few hours at the end of each night, I’d have enough time for a chapter before bed. Well, that chapter turned into 20% of the book each time I sat down to read it. I even spend four hours, one day, just reading it when I first started it because it was so good. I don’t even care that I’m completely sleep deprived; it was more than worth it.
This author is a new favourite of mine. Yes, it’s only one book and it may be a fluke, but the writing isn’t. This is a great author with a talent for storytelling. Litwick weaves an intricate, but not complicated tale into a book that would seem long if not for the fact that it was easily devoured in not a lot of time. Overall, it took me three days, which is pretty good for a book this size.
The characters are all real, lovable people, relatable and with vast personalities. There are no two characters alike in this story, as far as I can tell. Each one is an individual that is enjoyable to read. Even Benjamin, because although he’s sometimes overbearing, scary and often unhinged in my opinion, he’s still a complete mystery that, as a read, I want to solve. The same goes for Martha. I spent most of the book believing both were as dangerous as each other to little Kailani, our MC, but I was surprised by what really happened.
Kailani herself, the Daughter of the Sea and the Sky, is adorable, too cute and beyond words for me. She is the character the book is about, but we’re shown her story through other characters, which is pure genius. She’s a character you want to know and hold and love, and tell everything is going to be okay. At the same time, you wonder about her fate and the effect she has on others, whether she’ll get back to the Blessed Lands or have to stay with the Soulless.
I also really like that the author gives different characters the chance to show their side of the story. This is a method I fell in love with years ago, because you get such different angles on the same story, and it’s done excellently here.
The ending is, in one word, perfect. I couldn’t imagine a better ending. Not everything is wrapped up in bright red ribbon, wrapped up for convenience and a nice tidy finish. But we get the story we want and asked for when we opened the book. And that’s pretty perfect to me.
Author – David Litwick
Star rating - ★★★★★
Plot – captivating, beautiful, nicely plotted
Characters – lovable, diverse, relatable
Movie Potential - ★★★★★
Ease of reading – very easy to read
Cover - ✔
Suitable Title - ✔
Would I read it again - ✔
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
First off, let me start by saying this book is something special. I don’t say that often, but there is something un-pinpoint-able and undefined that is wholly beautiful, endearing and magical about this book and the story. I’m going to lay this at the author’s feet. If this author bring out another book, you can bet I’ll snap it up as soon as it’s in print, because I can tell from this one alone that me and David’s books are going to be lifelong friends.
When I saw this book was up for a blog tour, I knew I had time in my blog calendar to fit it in, so although it didn’t sound like anything I’d read before, I snapped up the chance to read something new. And I’m glad I did. This may be one of my favourite YA novels, ever and it’s probably the biggest surprise a book has given me since I started reading at ye high.
I’m always nervous about starting a new book, especially one that I didn’t technically choose for myself. With Read4Review books, I tend to take a bigger chance and hope for the best, so when a new one comes along, I always worry that I’m not going to enjoy it and I hate to turn that first page and be proven right. This time, I was proven wrong.
From page one, this story sucked me in. The start was intriguing, and held a lot of promise for what would come next. Then, we got whisked away into the future and saw Helena and Jason’s story, which only caught even more of my attention. Helena is, to me, broken during the majority of this novel and a lot of what she goes through is a test to see if she can cope, if she can finally be honest with herself and if she’s willing to take a risk. All of that is down to Jason. And let me just admit right now that whether the author planned it or not, Jason is kind of my perfect guy. He doesn’t disappoint. Not once, throughout the story, do I fall out of love with him.
I don’t want to go into too much detail about what I loved about this story because I could be here all day. It’s safe to say that I want, no, NEED you to read this book. And trust me, you NEED to read this for you too. I’m not going to include spoilers, so let’s get down to what I thought about what I can talk about.
The story itself is original, and somehow familiar. Not in the way that I’ve read anything similar, but in a way that it’s comforting and sort of similar in a dream sense. Like when you have Deja Vu and you swear you’ve felt a certain way before; that’s how this book makes me feel. All warm and fuzzy and slightly disorientated and not sure if I’m dreaming. It’s a good feeling.
I didn’t have a lot of time to read this book, but I started early enough that a few hours at the end of each night, I’d have enough time for a chapter before bed. Well, that chapter turned into 20% of the book each time I sat down to read it. I even spend four hours, one day, just reading it when I first started it because it was so good. I don’t even care that I’m completely sleep deprived; it was more than worth it.
This author is a new favourite of mine. Yes, it’s only one book and it may be a fluke, but the writing isn’t. This is a great author with a talent for storytelling. Litwick weaves an intricate, but not complicated tale into a book that would seem long if not for the fact that it was easily devoured in not a lot of time. Overall, it took me three days, which is pretty good for a book this size.
The characters are all real, lovable people, relatable and with vast personalities. There are no two characters alike in this story, as far as I can tell. Each one is an individual that is enjoyable to read. Even Benjamin, because although he’s sometimes overbearing, scary and often unhinged in my opinion, he’s still a complete mystery that, as a read, I want to solve. The same goes for Martha. I spent most of the book believing both were as dangerous as each other to little Kailani, our MC, but I was surprised by what really happened.
Kailani herself, the Daughter of the Sea and the Sky, is adorable, too cute and beyond words for me. She is the character the book is about, but we’re shown her story through other characters, which is pure genius. She’s a character you want to know and hold and love, and tell everything is going to be okay. At the same time, you wonder about her fate and the effect she has on others, whether she’ll get back to the Blessed Lands or have to stay with the Soulless.
I also really like that the author gives different characters the chance to show their side of the story. This is a method I fell in love with years ago, because you get such different angles on the same story, and it’s done excellently here.
The ending is, in one word, perfect. I couldn’t imagine a better ending. Not everything is wrapped up in bright red ribbon, wrapped up for convenience and a nice tidy finish. But we get the story we want and asked for when we opened the book. And that’s pretty perfect to me.
Top reviews from other countries

RaiH
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good but slow at times
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2015Verified Purchase
The story centres around a young girl, Kailani, who washed ashore the republic, an island separated from her home, the Blessed Land, both physically by the ocean and by the way of life of the people. People of the republic live by science and reason, while the people of the Blessed Land believe in the spirit, myth and fantasy. Both places are very strict with enforcing their ideals. When two young adults, Jason and Helena find the girl, they're moved to keep her safe. The authorities however are determined to keep her isolated from society. Helena and Jason find a solution, they can take her to a farm which is a sanctuary of sorts for those that need emotional healing. Kailani can stay there until a tribunal to decide if she can stay in the republic. Meanwhile there are those from the Blessed Lands who want her home.
Kailani's character is quite endearing, but there is an impression she is of importance, even she herself believes she has been 'sent' to improve relations between the two islands. However, this is never truly realised. By the end the truce between sides is given little more credence than a few lines that everything is fine. The mystery surrounding the little girl who calls herself the Daughter of the sea and sky and her almost prophet like status on the farm turns out to be of little significance.
I did enjoy this book overall, it's a light read delving into the debate between reason and religion, though I'd say the spiritual side comes off more favourably. It does have some nice moments with the three protagonists, but I found it quite slow going in parts. I had to make myself go on a couple of times. I was also left wondering if the whole situation with Kailani couldn't have been solved much more quickly and with less drama had certain characters just opened up more. Why didn't Helena and Jason try harder to find out who this little girl belonged to? And why didn't one character who clearly knew who she was just tell them what he knew? It left me feeling the tension in the book was slightly false.
Kailani's character is quite endearing, but there is an impression she is of importance, even she herself believes she has been 'sent' to improve relations between the two islands. However, this is never truly realised. By the end the truce between sides is given little more credence than a few lines that everything is fine. The mystery surrounding the little girl who calls herself the Daughter of the sea and sky and her almost prophet like status on the farm turns out to be of little significance.
I did enjoy this book overall, it's a light read delving into the debate between reason and religion, though I'd say the spiritual side comes off more favourably. It does have some nice moments with the three protagonists, but I found it quite slow going in parts. I had to make myself go on a couple of times. I was also left wondering if the whole situation with Kailani couldn't have been solved much more quickly and with less drama had certain characters just opened up more. Why didn't Helena and Jason try harder to find out who this little girl belonged to? And why didn't one character who clearly knew who she was just tell them what he knew? It left me feeling the tension in the book was slightly false.

Lissa
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2019Verified Purchase
An interesting read. Different from my usual reads. It took me several chapters to really get into the story but once I had I found it gripping and easy to read.

BS
4.0 out of 5 stars
Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2016Verified Purchase
Strange but very readable. An odd, not entirely believable, futuristic scenario inhabited by believable characters.

Mrs. Linda Cunningham
4.0 out of 5 stars
The daughter of the sea and the sky.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 24, 2014Verified Purchase
An interesting book. Title sounded slightly mystical. An easy read and has a deeper meaning beneath the ease of the writing. Enjoyed it.

Tiffany Marin
5.0 out of 5 stars
I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of this book from ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2016Verified Purchase
I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review and honestly, thought I'd already done so. Somehow, this book got lost in the shuffle and, now that I've read it, I can honestly say that I missed out!!
This book had me hooked from the first sentence and I found myself lost in the world that David has created. I fell in love with the main characters from the beginning but they weren't the only aspects that made this book spectacular. David obviously put a lot of thought and work into each character and each of their personality traits. He managed to portray the struggle within that each person carried and how that affected the way they reacted and interacted with each other. Benjamin was so well written, with his intense desire to do the right thing at any cost but being misguided as far as what that right thing would be. He was such a conflicted person and I felt so sorry for him. Jason and Helene had so much to struggle with as they tried to find the best way to help Kailani without getting into trouble themselves and the difficulties between Helena and her mother. The story line was seamless, and everything progressed in a way that didn't drag out too long or try to hurry you to the ending. I enjoyed every moment of reading this book and was a little sad to see it end because I wanted to find out what would happen to Jason and Helena, Kailani, and her parents, really all involved. This wasn't the first book I've read by this author and I dearly hope that it's not going to be the last.
This book had me hooked from the first sentence and I found myself lost in the world that David has created. I fell in love with the main characters from the beginning but they weren't the only aspects that made this book spectacular. David obviously put a lot of thought and work into each character and each of their personality traits. He managed to portray the struggle within that each person carried and how that affected the way they reacted and interacted with each other. Benjamin was so well written, with his intense desire to do the right thing at any cost but being misguided as far as what that right thing would be. He was such a conflicted person and I felt so sorry for him. Jason and Helene had so much to struggle with as they tried to find the best way to help Kailani without getting into trouble themselves and the difficulties between Helena and her mother. The story line was seamless, and everything progressed in a way that didn't drag out too long or try to hurry you to the ending. I enjoyed every moment of reading this book and was a little sad to see it end because I wanted to find out what would happen to Jason and Helena, Kailani, and her parents, really all involved. This wasn't the first book I've read by this author and I dearly hope that it's not going to be the last.
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