Mr Blue Sky

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date: 19 Dec 2018

Member Reviews

Took a little while to get into but once you’re into it happy days! I liked Rebecca and I liked the premise of the book, wasn’t sure about the ending but it was as an enjoyable read and it’s not one of isually go for!
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One thing Darke is excellent at is creating tension. There were so many times that I knew something was coming I just didn’t know what or when. I was quite literally on the edge of my seat for a good majority of the book.

That being said, it did take a while to get started and there was a time in the middle where I thought it was dwindling off but the last quarter reeled me back in so much so that I read it in one sitting.

I loved how the main character was flawed to the point that she was semi annoying but you could still root for her. In fact the characters were all well developed, some too developed but I definitely got a sense of who was who and they didn’t blend into one which can sometimes happen in a fast paced action novel.

This is the first “horror” book that I’ve read for ages and it’s really made me want to start reading more. That being said, though the tension was so high, I did feel that it could be a bit more horror-y. There was a little bit of gore early on but that was it, so I would say it’s more of a thriller than a horror book. So if you’re thinking about Horror as a genre and want something to wet your appetite, I would definitely recommend this.

Even if you don’t like horror I would recommend it as it was a good book and definitely kept me hooked most of the time.
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What a nightmare of a book, not because the book was chilling or scary, more because I found it to be badly written and hard to carry on reading the book. The longer I spent reading the book, the harder it became to read. There is an interesting idea in this book, but the characters are so lacklustre and hard to engage with that it is off-putting.

From the beginning I wasn’t happy about the way Rebecca was portrayed, I hoped that as the story went on, it would get better, but it really didn’t. The author doesn’t seem to know any women in their 30’s that are happy being single and also don’t spend their time thinking that they are past it! If that was the only problem with Rebecca that would be one thing, but she is written so badly that as things happen to her, that are obviously related to the wider story, she chooses to ignore what is in front of her eyes and believe her mother who she barely has a relationship with, so yeah, what her mother says must be true!

When Rebecca was younger, she made a friend of Mr Blue Sky, who is definitely not human, who gave her an escape from a home that she felt unloved in. After her father is murdered, Rebecca moves in with her Uncle rather than staying with her mother. Due to her lack of trust in people, Rebecca is surrounded by a lot of men who say they are looking out for her, but really just want to control her. Rebecca is isolated with no female friends and haunted by nightmares about the past, she goes to see therapists who do not understand her.

Rebecca decides to go and visit her mother to get to the truth of the matter and find out if Blue is real or just the figment of her imagination that everyone has been telling her he is. There is a big conspiracy around Rebecca’s childhood home, Rebecca wants to get to the bottom of this, but she doesn’t understand what her role is, or how far the conspiracy goes.

I wish I had something positive to say about this book, but the writing is turgid, with many redundant words littering its sentences. The storyline isn’t the worst, it's just the characters are bland. There is a lot of repetition, but also parts of the story that seems to have been forgotten from earlier in the book. So many twists and revelations, it is almost like the author knew they had one shot, so threw in as many ideas as possible to see which ones would stick!
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It took me a while to get into this book, but I'm glad I kept with it as I really enjoyed it in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for a  copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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I was intrigued when I read the synopsis for this book and whilst it wasn’t the type of genre that I’d normally go for, I thought I’d give it a try. 

Rebecca, a thirty something office manager living on her own in a Welsh town, starts having nightmares about Him. Him, or Mr Blue Sky, is an ape type creature with orange eyes who she encountered when she was a child in the woods near her childhood home. Nobody has ever believed that Mr Blue Sky existed and that he is and was a figment of her imagination. As the nightmares begin Rebecca starts to see a stranger outside her workplace and this brings hidden anxieties to the surface and she decides to go home to to tie up loose ends once and for all. 

This started promisingly and although I wasn’t overly keen on the main character, the story kept me interested enough to want to read on. Unfortunately by the time the book got two thirds in the plot became incredulous and I couldn’t quite believe what I was reading, it was a shame as it could have been an interesting read otherwise. 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Troubador Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
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A woman, Rebecca, has issues going back to when she was a child; she has memories of being befriended by an ape-like creature living in the woods near her house. Her memories culminate in the death of her father. Back in the present day, she has moved away from home and works for her uncle, where she is a successful office manager. However, she has started having weird dreams about the ape man, and it's really messing with her head. She's starting to see things - strange figures outside her apartment, people following her. She realises she needs to return home to sort out her issues once and for all. Was this ape man all in her head as everyone thinks, or did it really happen?

When I read the blurb on this book I thought it sounded great. And the idea is pretty original, I haven't read anything like it before. Sadly, the characters and the strength of the writing let it down. I'm not sure if this is the author's first novel or not, but it does seem like it. The writing is quite weak and simplistic. Perhaps for a younger audience it might work better, but some of the subject matter of the book isn't suitable for youngsters. I felt like the characters were not fully developed, and their speech was a bit unnatural. The characters talk to themselves out loud, and overly explain things to each other so that the reader hears the conversation. It's just a bit disappointing in terms of technique.

And I'm sorry, but the ending is terrible. As the book went on I found it became more and more ridiculous, until I actually exclaimed out loud as it reached a new level of unbelievable. I did finish it, however, and it wasn't the worst book I've ever read. But it was very far from being the best, and I wouldn't recommend it. The idea has definite promise, but it was poorly executed.
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Mr Blue Sky was a mixture of Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and King Kong. An ape/human hybrid made in a lab with the end goal  of making them into super soldiers. The story had promise but was let down by poor execution. The dialogue in some parts was nothing less than appalling. There was an excruciating sex scene with the weirdest bedside speech flung in afterwards, it totally made my skin crawl. I wanted to care about the characters but it was such a strange bag of stone cold badness that I couldn't possibly recommend this to anyone.
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The cover and blurb made me want to investigate this book further and I was glad I did.
With hints of Michael Crichton and his books that deal with splicing D.N.A. and giant ape like creatures this book delivers a gripping, entertaining read.
 As a child Rebecca's upbringing whilst not idyllic  was tempered by her friendship with a friend she called Mr Blue. Not any ordinary friend though he was not all human, with a greater height and body strength he seemed ape like. He never hurt her he loved her in his own way and tried to protect her from an increasingly unstable home life, until she found him stood over her dead father.
 With people disbelieving her ' imaginary  friend ' exist she eventually leaves her home town and her memories fade. While her memory might be shaky its her nightmares that call to her and eventually drive her back home. Its once she arrives home that events take over and Rebecca is  thrown back into Mr Blues life.
With a global conspiracy , genetic  engineering and a gripping pace this book delivers a great storyline. It keeps you gripped within its pages once you get into it ( some may find it a slow starter stick with it ).There are plot twists thrown at you that leave you thinking 'I didn't see that coming ' which gets my thumbs up.
Altogether a good book which I got to read through Net Galley in exchange for my impartial review.
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I did not finish this book as I found the story confusing to follow. The characters were likeable but the plot was not consistently engaging and I could not continue with it.
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This was slow for me, I had to force myself at the beginning. It did get better and is well written. Its just okay though I didn't love it or hate it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance read
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I want to give this a good review for the original premise, but honestly, every chapter was a struggle for me, mostly because I couldn’t stand the extremely wispy washy main character,  whom couldn’t figure out her loyalties almost up until the very end. A very long  portion of the start of the book is dedicated solely to her mental state, which turns out to be fine, other than being mostly ungrateful and cowardly. She has rare flashes of courage that are jarring at best, and more usually just thrown in to try to redeem her. I was much more interested in the title character, Mr. Blue Sky, who sadly doesn’t get nearly enough time or characteration other than the main character’s vague and untrustworthy recollections which she isn’t even sure are real, or the villain, who is a typical greedy carbon copy dumb brilliant scientist who is smart enough to set insightful traps, but dumb enough to ignore most basic factors of safety and takes a almost humorous pleasure in “monologuing” to explain all his motives, despite there being no reason for him to tell anyone why he’s doing what he’s doing, much less pay repeatedly annoying visits to the main character, her family (who are all apparently both horrible people and total liars, yet the heroine has an almost saintlike ability to forgive them all, including her abusive deceased father, but not the only character who protected her for trying to keep her safe) and her lack luster cardboard boring love interest, who could have been cut out altogether without being missed but had to be added to further explain how attractive the main character is, which is, as far as I can tell, her only redeeming quality. Honestly, I’d take this entire book apart, and do almost a total rewrite on it, were I the author. It’s that poorly plotted, despite a few decent ideas.
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This isn’t my usual choice of read and it was slow going at first but I found myself enjoying it and really getting into the story. Definitely worth a read if this book is your preferred genre. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.
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Rebecca is 30 and does not get on with her parents so leaves home. Her uncle gives her a job and helps her get a flat. She has recurring nightmares and the book is structured so we get a good insight into these, but who or what is causing them? I chose this as my Halloween 2018 listen and was hooked all the way through. The pace is steady yet action-packed and detailed enough so you get a good idea of what's going on and also into Rebecca's sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy. Rebecca is likeable and strongwilled and a good lead character. I got annoyed with her uncle for being so sceptical and disbelieving about her nightmares. The book is very twisty and there's lots of tension. 

Thanks to John Darke and publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.
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Oh dear, I really struggled to get through this. It's an exciting premise but, for me, just didn't deliver.

I found the writing confusing and the storyline unintelligible. 

Not for me.

Thanks for the opportunity though, Netgalley and the publishers.
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The cover art really sucked me in but that couldn't save the fact that the book itself was a bit boring. Sci fi / Horror is my favorite genre but I could not get into this.
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Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. While I was - and still am! - intrigued by the overall premise, the writing needed more development. Most of Rebecca's internal monologue is externalised, creating a protagonist who speaks to herself - in extreme depth - more than I can realistically swallow. Her flashbacks - also in great depth and detail - should have been internalised or better incorporated into the narrative, rather than explained to the reader in excruciatingly unbelievable dialogue.
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Key Take Away: "Since I am ignorant, my conscience is quite at ease in my enjoyment of the twists and turns through the story’s ending revelations."


I don’t mind judging a book by its cover, whether literally or figuratively. In life, my conscience takes no burden in having a pleasant face to look at when in conversation, and like so, an interesting cover on the bookshelf has no ill effects. In both cases, if the inside is complete garbage, well....we all do the same thing with garbage. My shelf won’t mourn it.

So when I look in the horror category and see a scary eye with the words 'Mr. Blue Sky,'  I’m all over it.

Then five minutes in I ask myself, “Is this a Bigfoot story?” and the answer seems to be “Yes."

My heart is lifted and all I can do is give myself a sincere pat on the back—“Thank you, Alex, for judging a book by its cover.”

Well, it ends up being not a true Bigfoot story, not really at all. This is ok. It’s pretty close and can probably fill the hole in my heart temporarily until the day an author out there creates something worthy of filling my hole.

Something with the word 'squatchin.'

Mr. Blue Sky takes us through the truth and reconciliation plot of a woman named Rebecca Samuels. A lonely, early-thirties, semi-independent adult. Although she does live on her own, she is employed by her uncle, a man who has taken on the role of father since Rebecca’s own was murdered when she was a teenager.

Her father’s murder has been a constant burden on her adult life (she is blamed for it by all people who have any common sense). And her history is the cause of constant therapy, doomed relationships, and tormented nights. The story sets forth at the beginning of the most recent mental breakdown as Rebecca begins to have vivid nightmares causing her to relive and retell her childhood experiences with her current therapist.

An adequate method for the writer to tell her past, a child growing up with an almost-Bigfoot best friend, and how this childhood friend ended up killing her father. This, of course, no one believes and Rebecca ends up leaving her little childhood village and mother to live with her uncle.

Well, almost 20 years later and she decides her best course of action is to travel home, reconnect with her mother, and figure out if her many therapists over the years were right and her Bigfoot friend (a.k.a Mr. Blue Sky) is all in her imagination. Her sanity depends on it. A pretty straight-forward, generic plot—to go home and confront the demons of the past to be able to grow into someone deserving of a happy-ever-after ending.

Is Bigfoot real?  Is he as mean a horror as the dreams foreshadow? Is it something else entirely?

Turns out it’s something else...but not entirely.

The build to the climax introduces the love interest, Patrick, an old childhood crush of Rebecca’s that for some reason she holds a huge grudge for well into her adult life. There is some mother/daughter bonding. Then there is some cryptic covert government angst about her small little childhood village.

We find ourselves in an “us against the man" type situation. Then by the end we have monkeys dressing in trench coats waving around assassin's creed type wrist blades. A clown inspired telepath that is in and out of the story in a blink of the eye (almost as if the author forgot what his role was). Conspiracy on conspiracy topped with a world domination ultimate plan.

Poor Patrick, all the while, is just wanting to have relations with Rebecca, as nobody listens to the common sense coming from his mouth.

I don’t want to ruin any endings here. The story gets a little outlandish. I’m not a doctor or biologist or accomplished in any study of genetics so I can enjoy the craziness. I have a strong feeling that if I had a stronger grasp in any of those fields, I might put this book under a comedy genre. Since I am ignorant, my conscience is quite at ease in my enjoyment of the twists and turns through the story’s ending revelations.

All in all no heavy duty complaints with John Darke’s Mr. Blue Sky. If I were in a mood, I could deep-dive into an almost in-your-face comparison to human brutality versus the innocence of animals and nature.

I’m not, and I won't.

Didn’t hate it, and it had some imagination, but neither would I read it again.

Rated 16 out of 23 chromosomes

Have a nice day.
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Boring, boring, boring.
This is written like someone has read a bunch of horror, loved the genre and thought, hey, I can do that. But... They can't. It's written on par with a first attempt at a creative writing course, filled with all the clichés and narrative tropes that make it truly boring to read. Protag describes herself in a mirror. Adjectives abound, instead of creating meaningful sentences with tension, filling up space with unwarranted descriptors. Dream sequences to fill in back story. Yaaaawn. 

Topping of this tower of errors is the story starting as natural, ie, within the normal world, but becoming more and more fantastical and finally adding in our of nowhere supernatural elements to explain plot. 
I'd suggest going back to the draft. And re writing the whole thing a couple of times. Make every sentence count. This is doubly important in horror! 
Would not recommend.
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This novel had me absolutely addicted! I've never read something quite this unique! The author is amazing with his descriptions & sets the world up beautifully! Definitely recommend!
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This book was a well written science fiction outing, about a young girl who meets a “monster” in the forest and befriends him but after a family tragedy, loses contact with him and eventually moves away, only to be plagued by nightmares and general mental health issues.
After seeing weird sights, she feels she is being called back home to finally get answers.
It didn’t really make much sense to me, certain parts anyway, (clown face!) and although well written, none of the characters really moved me or kept me interested, worth a read if this is your genre, just not my cup of tea.
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