The Muse Chronicles – Sara Crawford (Review)

Title: We Own The Sky, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (The Muse Chronicles #1-2)
Author: Sara Crawford
Publisher: Createspace, 2017
Genre: YA Mythology, YA Paranormal

**I received a copy of this book from the author and my review is in no way affected or influenced by receipt of this book**

This review can be found on my Blog, TeacherofYA’s Tumblr, or my Goodreads page

My Review:

ALAMW (I will post Part III soon, don’t worry) had me all kinds of thrown off. I can’t believe it’s been a month: my birthday was on March 8, and it’s now already the 10th. Time went really really quickly. I have been too lax on my Review writing and I am going to make up for that, starting now. (Plus my email keeps blocking notifications from the blogs I follow, so I’m missing all the good reviews you guys post!!)

I feel extremely bad for Sara, who sent me this book months ago, and I got busy with other things…and when I finally did read it, I HAD TOread the next book. And then after that I was desperate for the next – but alas, it’s not ready yet.

Then I haven’t posted a review for the books when they are absolutely fabulous books!! If you know me, you know I’m a supporter of the underdog, the little book that could, and Sara’s Muse Chronicles are just that: undermentioned and underrated. I loved these books and they should be on every shelf and in every YA fan’s hands.

How many people love books about mythology?? ::raises hand:: 🤚

When we think of Muses, we think of art, theater, poetry, and definitely Greeks. The Muse is said to inspire – to hit us with a shot of creativity and set us to our task with passion. Sara Crawford took the Muse and made it into something modern and real…and made me love mythology all over again.

Her books do one thing I haven’t yet seen done correctly: they mix art, music, and the written word into prose that sings to the eyes and pulls at the heart. Her love of music is palpable – I had to look up several bands to find out what my protagonist was listening to, and I found new music as well as a favorite book.

But enough gushing…let me tell you ABOUT the book so you know why I love it so much.

Sylvia Baker sees what she calls “flickering people.”

She can’t seem to focus on them…but they have been there all her life. They seem like ghosts, but Sylvia knows she can’t tell anyone about what she sees or she will be thrown in a padded cell.

When one flickering man comes into focus, and he looks directly at Sylvia, she has so many questions. Who are these people? Why can she see them when no one else can? When the man she sees, Vincent, explains he has been assigned to be her Muse, Sylvia cannot believe her luck. Not only is she not crazy, but Muses exist! And she actually has one! Now that she puts it together, the flickering people have always been by artists…apparently they have been inspiring them. It’s not uncommon for Muses to make themselves known to those they inspire, but Sylvia is the first that can see other people’s Muses and interact with all of them.

What she learns is that the original nine Greek Muses take turns ruling the “Earthly Muses,” people that were artists before they died and were given the option to continue to inspire the world through others.

“The Muse” – Gabriel de Cool (1895)

Vincent is an Earthly Muse. Currently Urania, one of the original nine, is awake and in charge, and she has filled the world with Muses…but when one of her sisters wakes and thinks that the state of art has been corrupted, that there are too many artists, she goes on a mission to rid the world of Earthly Muses.

While this is happening, Sylvia cannot help develop feelings for Vincent. He is passionate about music like her…he inspires her to write songs she would never feel confident to write alone. She even joins a band to her young father’s surprise (it has just been he and Sylvia since her mother left so many years ago). While she is on top of the world, finally feeling something besides the crippling depression she has fought for years, Vincent learns that Sylvia is in danger…and so he must stop being her Muse, if only to keep her safe.

Because though he’s not supposed to, Vincent loves Sylvia…Sylvia has begun to love Vincent….and a reckoning is coming that will put their lives both in danger.

Is it Classroom-Appropriate?

Actually yes. It’s not something I would necessarily need to use, but it does shine the light on Muses in Greek mythology. It also deals with teenage suicidal urges, a topic that gets skirted. I tend not to recommend books that aren’t standalones in the classroom, because there isn’t time to read more than one book on a subject, but it would make a good tie-in for a college mythology class. It would also be a book I would recommend to YA readers that are fans of mythology. The artistic expression alone would really speak to a young reader – I’m not young and it spoke to me. Sylvia’s emotions are strong, but students can relate to the feelings that she fights. It would definitely be one I would put on the shelf for free reading.

So for classroom use alone, I would give both We Own the Sky and Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming ★★★☆☆ – not for high school classes in my opinion, but definitely an option for higher education.

Age Range

Since independent books are always left out of the Lexile, I will go with my best assessment here: I would recommend readers 15 and up. Nothing is explicit but Sylvia does deal with some strong feelings and suicidal tendencies, and it can be one of those things that might be a little too strong for the younger YA audience. However, I think anyone who can read Speak by Laurie Hals Andersen and be okay with rape in a YA book would think this is tame (sorry, sometimes I think what passes for young readers is a little heavy). I would feel wholly confident that a teen who is struggling with strong emotions could identify with Sylvia and her passion, and they might find music an outlet like she does.

End Result:

If you haven’t guessed by how much I gushed in the beginning, I’m a huge fan of The Muse Chronicles. I read book one and two back to back and will read three the min I have it in my hands. Crawford’s books have strong characters and she definitely knows her subject matter. I love the Muses, and I love this representation of Melpomene I found online – once you read the books, you’ll understand why I was drawn to this picture of one of the original Muses.

I don’t need to read the final book to know that I give this series ★★★★★, though I will definitely review the final book in the series. Sometimes you just know…but I guess to be fair and unbiased, I will stick to giving the two I read, We Own the Sky and Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming ★★★★★.

If you love music, if you love mythology, and if you love stories with love that melts your heart, you will love Crawford’s Muse Chronicles. If you don’t believe me, pick up We Own the Sky and give it a read…I bet you’ll be as impressed as I am.

No male Muse pics, but if I could represent Vincent, this is how I picture him. (He’s from another era and he’s a Muse, so this seems like a good likeness – in my imagination at least)

I’ll have more reviews a comin’ so I hope I don’t bore the heck out of y’all!!