I can’t count how many people I’ve recommended The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie since I read it ten years ago. It’s just such an atmospheric, beautifully written, absorbing story. And yet, when she came out with her next novel, Skye Falling, I inexplicably didn’t pick it up. Since then, Skye Falling has become McKenzie’s most popular book, and this month, I finally read it. To no one’s surprise, it was a five star read, and I don’t know why it took me so long to get to it.
Despite loving both of her novels, I’m not sure I would have been able to identify this as being from the same author as The Summer We Got Free. While that one had a brooding, engrossing tone, Skye Falling is one of the funniest novels I’ve ever read. Skye is an endearing mess of a main character whose narration is packed with jokes that had me snorting. She is in her late thirties and runs a successful travel company for Black tourists that has her on the road most of the year. She is determined to be independent, sure that people will only let you down. But when a kid, Vicky, tracks her down and tells her that she is the egg Skye donated years ago, that changes everything. Well, first it has her crawling out a bathroom window to escape from the kid. But then it changes everything.
To make things even more complicated, Vicky is being raised by her aunt, who happens to be the woman Skye unsuccessfully hit on earlier this week. Skye decides to try this whole “having relationships with other humans” thing, especially because Vicky is having a hard time since her mother died. But changing those habits is easier said than done, especially when people betray Skye in just the way she knew they would.
This is a story deeply rooted in Philadelphia, and in addition to Skye’s relationship with this found family, her biological family, and her friends, she’s also flirting with the idea of truly having a home here. Despite the humour, there are some dark topics and moments, including gentrification and police brutality.
Skye Falling felt so realistic to me. Skye is messy, and even when she’s trying to improve, she makes mistakes. The supporting characters all feel fully realized. And every relationship she’s trying to cultivate is complicated in some way. For example, Skye is still angry that her mother didn’t protect her from her father’s violence when she was a kid—but her mother has had a brain injury and no longer really remembers those times. She resents her brother for trying to get her to see their mother, while he’s hurt Skye would blame him. Vicky is a sweet kid who is also struggling to contain her anger problems. Everything is complicated—but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying to make connections anyway.
This has cemented Mia McKenzie as one my all-time favourite authors. And inexplicably waiting years to pick this up dies have an upside, because now I only have months to wait until her next novel: These Heathens.
