People always say not to judge a book by its cover (although this one is pretty nice), but with Sky Daddy, I'd say don't judge it by its title or its premise.
This might be the most controversial book we've reviewed so far, but I promise it's much more than what the title, cover, or synopsis might suggest.
Sky Daddy takes us into a world most people aren't very familiar with: object sexuality. Many of us have probably heard of the woman – Erika Eiffel – who held a commitment ceremony with the Eiffel Tower in 2007. But Linda, the protagonist of Sky Daddy, would hate the comparison. In her eyes, planes aren't objects. They're sentient beings. She's in love with them and sexually attracted to them.
Not going to lie, I picked up this book because I was in the mood for something lighter. Something fun. And while it was a fun read, the material itself wasn't necessarily light.
Linda is socially awkward and lives on the fringes of society. She struggles to understand social cues and is often treated poorly or spoken down to, though she mistakes it for kindness. She works a lonely job that pays for the essentials: a room and the monthly plane tickets she buys just so she can be close to planes. Her greatest dream is to marry one.
In Linda's mind, that means dying in a plane crash, because if a plane crashes with her on board, it means it loved her so much that it lost control.
Her closest friend is Karina from work, who one day invites Linda to a vision board brunch. Every few months, Karina and her friends gather to present their vision boards and manifest the lives they want. Linda is sceptical, but she's desperate to marry a plane, so she joins in.
And, unexpectedly, she's very good at manifesting.
Again, the premise sounds completely bonkers, but the book goes much deeper than simply following a woman and her unusual fixation.
It's much sadder than you might expect. At times, it's genuinely uncomfortable to read. The more Linda's obsession grows, the further she drifts from society and social norms, until it feels as though there's no way back.
Yet the book is also about female friendship, loneliness, and the desire to be accepted for who you are. Kate Folk somehow manages to tell a bizarre, funny story with a surprising amount of nuance, and despite everything, you can't help but root for Linda.
It's definitely an out-there story, but Sky Daddy has been trending all over BookTok and social media. I even spotted it in an actual bookstore, in case you were wondering whether this was some self-published Wattpad fever dream. It isn't. It's so much more.
I would just suggest maybe not reading it right before boarding a plane.
That's my only advice.
