Very few people can say they were born inside a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Disease, starvation, and much worse, prevented most prisoners from surviving. For infants, it was nearly impossible. I became an anomaly. I shouldn’t be alive. As a child, I didn’t know my life was different from that of others. I had nothing to compare it to, and I had no insight about the day I was born … born … until the moment I overheard the truth. In a split second, I became a stranger to my reflection, my name, and my reason for being. I was not Annie anymore, and the people raising me were not my parents. Even the blue sky I cherished became an unfamiliar sight. I felt utterly alone in a foreign world, but that changed when I met another person who was lost, like me. Fisher offered his hand to hold and began to prove his theory of, “When two missing people find one another, they can consider themselves found.” Fisher enlightened me, and through him, I gained a deeper understanding of life. Now, I know there are two sides of the beautiful, blue sky. I’m on one side, and my lost loved ones are on the other, but at the end of it all, we’ll be together again under the one and only sky.
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This book was a very good telling and mystery for me. A grip me from the beginning and kept me wanting to know who the main character really was, I enjoyed her journey of self expiration and the trip through history
The Other Blue Sky by Shari Ryan
5++++++ Stars (another favorite for 2018!!)
Phenomenal!! Geez this book… its so dang powerful and strong… such a really hard sensitive topic.. left me so overwhelmed! Heartbreaking. So beautifully written! Shari Ryan nailed it once again!!
“Life isn’t about the hate. It’s about the growth from experiencing hate.”
I have not yet read Last Words, however, it is now at the top of my list to read. Though The Other Blue Sky by Shari J. Ryan is in the same world, it can be read as a standalone, though I do think there is some interconnections I may have missed.
This is a story that was emotional and heart wrenching. It is also a story about survival, hope and truths. Annie is a Holocaust survivor trying to find her place in this world. It was her search for truths, as harsh as they can be, we follow throughout this book. And Fisher, I can admit I swooned over him. So sweet, caring and understanding.
The Other Blue Sky by Shari J. Ryan was a look at the harsh reality of how hard life can be, but it also showed the strength a person can have. It was raw, emotional and honest. I loved the characters and their journey, even as their story broke me at times.
4.5 emotional stars! Happy reading!
The Other Blue Sky was such an amazing story. Actually it’s a story filled with hatred and violence toward mankind that we all need to learn from. But the over all meaning was one filled with love and the need to find oneself; the story of one person who needs to find herself in the past to live in the present.
Annie learned a very big secret when she was just a small girl and has lived with this secret her entire life, until now. She needs to find out about her past to move forward with her life and her family. She and her husband Fisher take the journey together as much as possible to find what they’ve been missing.
The author has brought us into her world by telling us a little more about her heritage and the struggles her family has faced. Although this is a work of fiction, it’s still based on her families history. She knows how to break your heart and mend it back together as we finish the journey with Annie and Charlie and Amelia. It’s definitely a story not to be missed, full of emotion, heartbreak and finally resolution.
WOW!!!!!
Shari Ryan did it again. This book was beautiful on the inside and out. The story is difficult to read. I always get emotional when topics about racism/hate come up. And the Holocaust was one of the worst times in our history. Why can’t we all just get along?
Thank you Shari Ryan for opening up your heart and home and telling us this beautiful yet painful story and help educating us in a way. I know this is fictional. But I also know a lot of this was researched and was not fictional and my heart goes out to all those people who suffered through that time and still struggle.
I’m not going to recap the book. All I can say is once I started I couldn’t put it down. It is definitely a MUST read. It is emotional but it did have some laugh out loud moments. And left you with HOPE and HEALING at the end.
This was a book that will stay with me for a long time. Annie was searching for answers after she realizes that she does not have a valid birth certificate. That’s where her journey begins. This was also a love story, but not in the traditional sense. It’s about love of “family”, romantic love, and the love of one’s self. What a journey this was! I was hesitant to read the book but so thankful I did. I would have missed out on an incredible experience about one of our darkest times in history.
Thank you for the privilege of reading this book! An amazing job! Well done
5 BEAUTIFUL EMOTIONAL STARS!! Beautiful words again from this phenomenal author. Annie’s story will be engraved on my heart forever. This story is so beautifully written with all the feels, my emotions were all over the place while reading this book. Shari J. Ryan is by far in my top 5 authors, she can write any genre and turn it into a 5 star read. I highly recommend this book for 2018.
Annie’s emotional, heartbreaking journey as she searched for answers from her past was beautifully told. Fisher was amazing and I loved the relationship that he and Annie shared. After reading The Other Blue Sky, I want to go back and read Amelia and Charlie’s story in Last Words.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary Advance Reader Copy.
This is Annie’s powerful and moving story of a Holocaust survivor. We first met Annie in Last Words, learning how as a baby, she was rescued heroically from certain death, and eventually came to the United States to be raised in a safe and loving home. As a teen, she overheard a conversation that caused her to question and doubt all that she knew. She felt lost, and alone, not sure of her place in this world. As she set out, in a dangerous time, to find her truth, she will find a strength she didn’t know existed. My heart broke at times for Annie, her Mom, Fisher, and her whole family. The lessons they learned were not easy, but peace and strength could be found in the simplest places. This poignant journey is so gripping, heartbreaking, but also hopeful and healing. It sinuously moved from past to present, weaving a tale that kept me engaged and my heart racing. The emotions it made me feel, from laughter to loss, horror to joy, and everything in between is the reason I love to read. This story touched my soul and reaffirmed that even the smallest of life’s gifts deserves appreciation. I absolutely loved and swooned over Fisher, he is the perfect book boyfriend/husband! It was also so much fun catching up with Annie’s family, including Charlie and Amelia, they were so adorable together. This is storytelling at its absolute finest and I loved every moment of this beautiful, raw and emotional journey!
Very few people can say they were born inside a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Disease, starvation, and much worse, prevented most prisoners from surviving. For infants, it was nearly impossible.
I became an anomaly. I shouldn’t be alive.
As a child, I didn’t know my life was different from that of others. I had nothing to compare it to, and I had no insight about the day I was born … until the moment I overheard the truth.
In a split second, I became a stranger to my reflection, my name, and my reason for being. I was not Annie anymore, and the people raising me were not my parents. Even the blue sky I cherished became an unfamiliar sight.
I felt utterly alone in a foreign world, but that changed when I met another person who was lost, like me. Fisher offered his hand to hold and began to prove his theory of, “When two missing people find one another, they can consider themselves found.”
Fisher enlightened me, and through him, I gained a deeper understanding of life. Now, I know there are two sides of the beautiful, blue sky. I’m on one side, and my lost loved ones are on the other, but at the end of it all, we’ll be together again under the one and only sky.
Wow! What a journey Shari takes you on with this book about Annie. It’s flawlessly written and will take you on an emotional journey like no other. Highly recommend.
Another EPIC book written by Shari Ryan..
Shari is the queen of breaking our hearts..When she told me she was writing Annie’s story, I was thrilled and very excited. What I wasn’t prepared for the was the emotions. The Other Blue Sky takes you on an emotional roller coaster. Annie’s story is powerful and heart shattering. She is a survivor, born in an Holocaust camp. She just wants to know who she is and where she came from. This is probably one of the most powerful books I have ever read. The Other Blue Sky will leave you with emotions that will stay with you for a while, if not forever…
Another 5 star EPIC read by Shari Ryan…
This book is sneaky. I made it through the first half of the story and was starting to doubt my decision to have the tissues on standby. But I’ve learned from my history with Shari Ryan titles: I will need the tissues far more often than I won’t. The story kind of crept up around me, surrounding me with what appeared on the surface to be a very simple tale of a daughter’s search for her birth family. It wasn’t until I was neck-deep in the drama that I realized I had been carried out to sea by the powerful emotional undertow. Annie is a woman who is coming to terms with the life-altering events that happened both before and since her birth. Fisher is just the sweetest, most precious man ever to be a husband. Personally, I want a Fisher of my own. I loved having this opportunity to come back to this family and see Annie learn about her heritage, even if I do feel hollow and emotionally drained and I’m asking “why do I keep doing this to myself?”
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book.
The Other Blue Sky is one of the best books of 2018. Ryan did a phenomenal job of telling the story of young Annie, a missing baby from a concentration camp and her journey for answers. We originally met Annie as a child in Ryan’s release Last Words, however please note while The Other Blue Sky has some of the same characters it’s complete written as a standalone and can be read without having read Last Words.
While I more than enjoyed Last Words, Ryan brought a whole new layer to her storytelling with Annie. Last Words was all about love and survival. With Annie’s story, Ryan took us further into the aftermath of the devastation post Holocaust. As missing child Annie struggled to right herself and live the life she deserved, setback after setback, she persevered despite the misfortune she had been given upon birth. Ryan’s character development with Annie was so deeply complex that with every layer she unveiled, she tugged you into this emotional story further and further.
My review doesn’t begin to give this book the justice or notification it deserves. The Other Blue Sky is an absolute must read and it’s compelling message will stay with you long after reading.
This beautiful story! It has all the feels. I loved Last Words. I didn’t think I needed anything else from this story. I was so excited to hear Annie was getting her story. This book is everything. Grab a tissue 😉
4.5 Emotional Stars!
I loved everything about this book, from the Beautiful cover to the words weaving an incredible story of Love and Loss.
Annie has not always had it easy; from her birth during the Holocaust through her elder years – but she is a survivor that is surrounded by an amazing family that loves her to depths she isn’t always aware of. This is a story of emotional struggles, illness, hope & healing.
I cannot recommend this book enough….