The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Beyond the Clouds, the Sky is Blue
Because Beyond the Clouds, the Sky is Blue was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.
Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.
This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.
Manang Muyang
The title and cover present hope. From the blurb, the reader knows that the book is a memoir of a family that emigrated from Puerto Rico to work on a sugar plantation in Hawaii. It is about their miserable experiences over several years. I am not drawn to memoirs nowadays, so I would not have been interested in the book outside the program. The first ten pages, which showed the Ortiz family's poor living conditions, did not change my mind; I am avoiding sad stories. As a Catholic, I appreciated that Gojo and Felicia recognized the power of prayer and the family prayed the rosary together. The book needs better editing, though; I noted several errors. A few of them follow: "Willie, now sixty-two years old, sat next her" on page 2 lacked "to" after "next." On page 4, "roughly Felicia placed small plates of dried fish" seemed not to need "roughly"; otherwise, the word also needed to be capitalized. "And the warmth of the brightblue sky brought big smiles to the children" on page 14 should have used "bright blue." The official OBC reviewer wrote a complimentary review, but I was not moved to reconsider my decision.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 5:00 am by Manang Muyang.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rodel Barnachea
Upon going over the title’s Amazon page and official OnlineBookClub review, I decided not to purchase the book. I am not fascinated by Gregory's plan to move from Puerto Rico to the United States so his family can have a better life. I am not intrigued by the tragedy that caused the Ortiz kids to be scattered in various foster homes. I am not interested in finding out if the entire family could be reunited later. Perusing its Amazon sample failed to change my mind. I would not acquire it because nothing in the text had me wanting to read the rest of the title. The first ten pages include the first section (”Honolulu, Hawaii, 1969”) and some pages of the second section (”San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1919”). My favorite part is when Felicia and Gojo silently embraced each other after being reunited. I identified one error in the text: The word "black-andwhite" in the sentence "...it wasn't so black-andwhite" should have been "black-and-white." Since the error is minor, I still believe the book is professionally edited. I have nothing to suggest to the author.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:59 am by Rodel Barnachea.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Stellah Chege
I would have read this book based on the cover page and title only. It has a cool and serene feel that promises quite the story. The OBC review that I saw also encouraged me to read this book. I did not see a blurb, but it did not change my mind about reading this book. After sampling the first ten pages, I fell in love with the author's writing style. I was ready to start life with Mary and Willie and hope that life will be kind to them on their new adventure. I found one error (But for Mary, it wasn’t so black-andwhite) and I believe the book may not be professionally edited. I suggest a round of editing to remove the errors. I will buy and read the book.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:59 am by Stellah Chege.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Jeremie Mondejar
I'm a part of this program. I sampled this book based on the cover photo, title, and reviews. The cover photo has a positive aura towards life's difficult situations, and the title is a reminder that whatever happens "beyond the clouds, there's hope." I can relate to the sample. A family is moving to another place in search for better opportunities. I can feel the excitement and the fear of the promise of fortune. The OBC review is very insightful in presenting the book. I learned about three generations of a family who want a better home from the review. I like the tone of the narrative because they're quite entertaining and readers can easily sympathize with them. I see an error, and I recommend another round of editing to fix some flaws. "But for Mary, it wasn't so black andwhite." There must be a space between "and" and "white." I may read this book in my spare time because it's free.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:58 am by Jeremie Mondejar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Asma Aisha Ansari
I like the title and cover of the book. I was sure that it was a non-fiction book which I like to read. The OBC review moved me because family separation due to economic reasons is a painful scenario. The Amazon blurb is a little long but amazing nonetheless. I looked everywhere but didn't find any other online reviews for this book. As for sampling the book, I liked the writing style and could easily picture what was happening in the story. I liked how wonderful Gojo and Felicia are as parents. There's nothing that I disliked about the sample.
The book seems professionally edited, as I encountered only one error in the sample. The word 'to' should be added after the word 'next' in the following sentence: Her husband, Willie, now sixty-two years old, sat next her, his tanned skin beginning to age, a weathered testament to years of working under the elements of sun and sea breezes on the shores of Kauai. I suggest a thorough round of editing for such minor mistakes. As I enjoyed reading the sample and want to know more about the Ortiz family and their trials and tribulations, I'll read the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:57 am by Asma Aisha Ansari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Gabriella H
Neither the cover nor the title attracted me to this book, so I wouldn't have sampled it if I weren't a part of this program. When I read the blurb and OBC official review, I felt reading about Mary would be insightful. She endured so much and was still able to make something of her life, so I was curious about her. However, I was a bit confused about the part in the review that stated she was born in the 90s, yet, it mentioned old age. Having read the first ten pages, I can see it was a typo, as she was already old in 1969. I enjoyed how realistic the writing was and look forward to completing the book. My decision wasn't influenced by the editorial review or customer reviews. I have no suggestions for improvements. I noticed a few errors in the first ten pages. The comma after 'children' shouldn't be there, and the 'r' in roughly should be capitalized in this sentence, "roughly Felicia placed small plates of dried fish and sweet potato in front of her husband and six children, and then sat to join them." (Page 4).
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:56 am by Gabriella H.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Mutai Marshal
The book has no OBC blurb. And since I could neither connect with the book's title or cover page, I wouldn't have read this book outside the First Ten program. While I noticed some grammatical errors ("[unnecessary space] Ma'am, please store all personal belongings under the seat in front of you as we prepare for takeoff"), I still believe the book was edited professionally as they were minor typos. I loved the simple and straightforward writing style deployed by the author. It was easy reading about Maria's family. I didn't find anything worth improvement from the pages I sampled. The OBC review also didn't change my mind about the book. Since I am not looking for a book set in the 90s, I will not complete reading it.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:56 am by Mutai Marshal.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Soraya Bayah
Although the narrative seems wholesome and heartfelt, I am not interested in it much to continue the book. I am more into fictional stories and would prefer to skip such a memoir-like book. I would still recommend it to those I know would enjoy it. Gojo and Felicia’s conversation was one that indicated an unknown future and a ton of struggles that have to be overcome. I would not have picked up this book from the cover, title, genre, or reviews like OBC, as all of these indicated that this is a book with themes and a narrative that I will not appreciate. I found multiple errors, unfortunately. Page 2, “( )Ma’am, please store all personal belongings under the seat in front of you as we prepare for takeoff.”
- there should not be space after the opening quotation mark. I found other errors as well, which indicates the book was not well edited. Nevertheless, the pacing and descriptive writing are well done, and fans of non fiction, especially those interested in Hawaii, will find this book amusing. As for betterment, I only felt that the errors were distracting. Nothing else can be noted; the book was well written but I will skip it to the lack of interest in its plot and themes.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:52 am by Soraya Bayah.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
va2016
The title "Beyond the clouds, the sky is blue" and the cover that shows a landscape indicate the theme of the book. There are no Amazon customer ratings for the book. The Amazon summary states that the book is about a family that emigrates from Puerto Rico to Hawaii. As I am not interested in this theme, I would have skipped the book if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration describing Mary and her husband leaving Hawaii to live in central California. As I am not interested in this theme, I am not going to read this book in full. I didn't find the sample professionally edited, as I found mechanical errors in the sample. For example, in the second page, there is an hyphen missing between the words "and" and "white". What I liked most about the book is its rich narration of life experiences. As an improvement, I would suggest thorough proofreading of the book. Although I found one OBC review of the book, my decision to not to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:44 am by va2016.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Dzejn_Crvena
Outside this program, I'd have sampled this book because the title sounds inspiring and the cover looks soothing to the eyes. I enjoy reading the different categories of non-fiction books, so I'd have picked this book based on the genre. The editorial and customer reviews influenced my decision because I like to feel the nostalgia of true stories by old people. The OBC review and the sample convinced me to buy and read it when I learned that it's a family drama involving immigrants. Gregory, the head of the family, decided to quit his job in Puerto Rico to move to a better place in the United States of America. While his family didn't approve of it, they had no other choice but to follow their breadwinner. His hopes for a greener pasture turned out to become a disappointment that caused his family separate ways. I like the attachment of the characters to the land of their birth. I can feel that it's hard to let go of the memories of where you spent all your life. I'm looking forward to reading Mary's part in the story as she struggled to be reunited with her family in the end. The book seems professionally edited, and I don't have suggestions for improvements.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:21 am by Dzejn_Crvena.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Carson25
I was fortunate enough to read the first ten pages of this book. It appears to be an inspirational and daring autobiography. Mary Santos is presented in the first few pages. She is waiting at the airport to board a Boeing 707. Her spouse, Willie, is seated next to her. The title was the element of the first ten pages that I loved the most. It seems well thought out to me. In the first ten pages I read, there wasn't an element I disliked. Being a huge admirer of autobiographical literature, I'm excited about this one. It is now on my list of essential reads. I'll buy it later and finish reading it. Additionally, I recommend it to people who enjoy reading autobiographical literature. Furthermore, the book appears to have undergone a careful editing process because none of the first ten pages I read contained any grammatical or spelling issues. I chose to buy and finish reading this book because I adore the category in which it is classified. Although the title and cover were attractive, they had no influence on my decision to purchase and finish reading this book. Additionally, the book is fine and doesn't require any additional changes.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 4:17 am by Carson25.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
BruceP
I read the first ten pages of a sample copy of this book. It appears to be a well-written, enjoyable read. Willie and Mary Santos are about to depart. At the Honolulu airport, where they are. As the book states, this took place in 1969. Non-fiction is not my genre, so I won't buy or read this book all the way through. I'll give it my recommendation for those who enjoy nonfiction and memoirs. I found the writing skills to be the most impressive feature of the first few pages I read. I adored how beautifully the book was written. In the first few pages I read, there was not a single element that I didn't like. The book doesn't, in my opinion, need to be improved further because it is good enough already. The book appears to have undergone a thorough editing process. This is due to the fact that the first ten pages of the book were error-free. I didn't find any official reviews of this book. I still would not have decided to buy and continue reading this book, though. As was already noted, the book belongs to the category of books that I don't particularly enjoy reading, and that is what influenced my choice. Although the title and cover were stunning, I decided not to purchase and read the entire book.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 3:56 am by BruceP.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Vidhi Adhikari
Although the lack of customer and OBC reviews, the generic cover design and the simplistic title were off putting, the description of the book was quite unique and I was keen to read more about this family that was brought up during the sugar revolution. I did find some punctuation and alignment errors in the sample that should be rectified ('I admire her not only for her writing skills that surpassed mine, {remove comma} but also for her ability to warm the hearts of many through song.'). Sadly the story progressed too slowly for me with the first few pages just about meeting of the family members and then having a meal together. Hence, I shall not be finishing this book anytime soon. I would suggest fixing the alignment issue to make the book seem more professional.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 3:30 am by Vidhi Adhikari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
KafeliKe
Beyond the Clouds the Sky is Blue seems like a fascinating book to read. I read the first ten pages, and the story, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1969, opens the book. A character named Mary Santos is also introduced in this section of the book. At the Honolulu airport, she is seated on a plane. She was there with her husband, Willie. The book's cover was the aspect I liked the most throughout the first ten pages I read. It was simple and well-designed. The first ten pages I read had nothing in them that I didn't like. I found no errors in the first ten pages of the book, which suggests that it has been professionally edited. I'd recommend this book to everyone who enjoys reading non-fictional works. I'll buy the book and finish it. This is because I enjoy reading books of this genre. This book has no official reviews that I could discover. The lack of an official review had no bearing on my decision to buy and read the complete book. Because of the book's genre and the sample I read, I decided to buy it and finish reading it. No part of the book appears to need improvement; it is well-written and seems to be OK.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 3:28 am by KafeliKe.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Shrabastee Chakraborty
Despite the official OBC review and other published reviews, I did not intend to read this book because of the premise. I found three errors in the first ten pages (pg 1: "sat next her" should be "sat next to her", pg 2: there should be no space between the opening quotation mark and ma'am, of 4: there should be no space between the opening quotation mark and the word welcome.) Mary, traveling with her husband toward the home their son has built, reminisces about her childhood. The memories show a happy family with many siblings. Their father arrives home with exciting news. I liked the flashbacks of the happy days. I did not have any suggestions for improvement. Yet, I did not want to read a story that would be strife with loss and grief, so I decided not to read the whole book.
First Ten review added on August 23, 2022, at 1:41 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
evraealtana
The title and cover are nondescript, so they don't really draw me to read the book. The blurb makes the book sound like mid- to late 19th century historical fiction, which is somewhat appealing to me. However, the official OBC review reveals it as a biography of the author's mother predominantly set in the "90s", implying the 1990s. This is unappealing to me because I don't like late 20th century historical fiction and I certainly don't like memoirs/family biographies. Therefore, I would not have chosen to sample the book on my own. Because I want to be able to form my own opinion about books rather than be influenced by others’ opinions about them, I choose never to read editorial or customer reviews other than OBC reviews, and so I did not read any about this book, either. I was intrigued by Mary carrying $14,000 in cash on the airplane. I was confused by the airplane takeoff scene, in which Mary starts crying and then later "began to cry"; how can she start to cry when she is already crying? Given that the book starts in 1969 and then flashes back to 1919, I am confused about both the OBC review and the blurb, neither of which portrays the setting accurately. I was irritated by the way Gojo and Felicia kept repeating each others' names as they conversed, since real people never speak that way. Overall, there was nothing in the first ten pages to really catch my attention and make me want to read more of the book, so I will not continue with it. I found no errors in the first ten pages.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 9:56 pm by evraealtana.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
IconReviews
Living in poverty is very hard. When Mr. Ortiz got the opportunity to go abroad to work, he saw this as his opportunity to take his family out of poverty. I would read this book based on the cover, blurb, title, genre, and the official OnlineBookClub review. I liked how although the book was nonfiction, it read like an interesting fictional story. Although I found an error on the 4th page, (years before. roughly Felicia placed small plates) it did seem professionally edited. The word roughly should be in uppercase since it starts the sentence. There were no customer reviews on this book but I will be reading it because I think it contains a wealth of life lessons.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 9:12 pm by IconReviews.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Kaitlyn Canedy
If Beyond the Clouds, the Sky is Blue hadn't been the OnlineBookClub's book of the day, I would have read the sample because of the cover. Even though there are no customer reviews, I liked the bright cover and the description; the lack of reviews did not affect me. Even though it was difficult, the family kept their faith while traveling for eight days on a boat in the Pacific Ocean. This shows readers that America is a land of opportunity, which is nice to see. I did not find anything that I disliked or thought needed improvement, but there is a grammatical error on page 2. It is a spacing error- "[]Ma'am, please store all personal belongings under the seat in front of you..." An official OnlineBookClub review for this title exists, but I did not need to read it to know I wanted to read the rest of the book. I made the decision to read the rest of the book because I am curious to know how the family forgave each other after everything they had been through together.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 7:47 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Mbali Qalinge
Beyond the Clouds, the Sky is Blue by Dennis Santos tells the story of the Ortiz family and their move to the US, which unfortunately came with tragedy. The book's title made me curious, and so did the blue sky and fields that are shown on the cover. The blurb also made me want to read about the Ortiz family, so I would still have sampled the book even if I were not part of the First Ten program. What I liked from the little I read is the great love and family dynamic of the Ortiz family. The kids were described as devoted to their father and excited to have him around. I only found one error where there was a missing preposition, but other than that, there was nothing that I disliked, and I have no suggestions for the author. The book's OBC review highlighted the themes of family, love, and forgiveness, which convinced me to read the book. After reading the first ten pages, I will read the rest of the book because it sounds interesting, and I want to read more about the Ortiz family.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 6:38 pm by Mbali Qalinge.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
AntonelaMaria
The title of this book is beautiful. The synopsis doesn't appeal to me. I didn't find any Amazon reviews of this book. There is an informative Official OnlineBookClub review of this book. After reading the sample, I haven't changed my mind. I enjoy reading nonfiction but this family saga didn't catch my attention. I don't like nonlinear storytelling. The author wrote about his family. We follow Mary as she set to retire in Santa Barbara. She is going there from Hawaii where she moved from Porto Rico. I noticed some spacing issues. The first one is on page 2.
“ Ma’am, please store all personal belongings under the seat in front of you as we prepare for takeoff.” I wouldn't change anything about the book.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 6:28 pm by AntonelaMaria.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Chelsy Scherba
I like that this is a true story that is written like a novel. I felt for the lady who was leaving her life in Hawaii behind to start a new life in California, and I enjoyed the transition to the little girl greeting her dad in the year 1919. Very interesting stuff. I did see some errors, “black and white” didn’t have correct spacing, and so I feel the editing needs a little work. Overall though, the OBC review made the book sound more interesting to me since I don’t really read a lot of memoirs outside of book club. I also like the cover and title. I think the story is interesting, so I’d like to keep reading my free copy. I didn’t see any blurbs, editorial reviews or customer reviews.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 5:30 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Jorge Leon Salazar
The title and cover are in absolute harmony but do not shed light on what the story is about. Hence, I'm unsure if interested readers will notice this book. In general, I like stories based on true events. The blurb highlights that the story spans three generations of the Ortiz family as they migrate from Puerto Rico to Kauai. There are no customer reviews for this book. The official OnlineBookClub review indicates that the story features Mary as the protagonist and presents the Ortiz family's struggles as they immigrated to Hawaii. Based on these aspects, I might try this book. The first ten pages were entertaining and aroused curiosity about all that could have happened between 1919 and 1969. This is from when the Ortiz family moved to Hawaii to when the story begins to be narrated. The story seizes my attention since it can be that of many families from third-world countries that emigrate looking for better opportunities. I found it thought-provoking when Gojo told the plan to move, and both Felicia and the kids react in a variety of hard ways to deal with. What I read generated expectations about how the Ortiz family fared in those first days after arriving in Honolulu. It seemed the “Free Housing” they offered Gojo was not such. Although what I read was entertaining, it did not completely capture me. Apart from the fact that the plot did not progress much more than expected, it seems to have a lot of family drama. The editing looks adequate, although I noticed a typo on page 3. It says, "it wasn't so black-andwhite." The expression "andwhite" is not separated by a dash as expected. Apart from this, I did not see anything else that I believe could be improved. In short, I will not read the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 4:20 pm by Jorge Leon Salazar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Timothy Rucinski
From the Official OBC Review, this book falls somewhat into the memoir category, even though the main character's son retells the story. I don't care much for memoirs or, in this case, family stories. I read no other reviews or blurbs. The cover was nicely done, but nothing that would have prompted me to look closer at the book. After reading the first ten pages, I decided to read no further. The story didn't grab me. What I liked most was the confusion faced by the children when they realized they would have to leave their friends behind to start a new life. What I also didn't like were the errors, of which there were enough to be distracting. For example, on page 2, there is an unnecessary space between the quotation marks and the word "Ma'am" in the following: " Ma'am, please store all personal belongings..." On the first couple of pages, the formatting changes with some paragraphs separated with a blank line, the others without any separation. On page 3, there is no hyphen between "and" and "white" in the following: "But for Mary, it wasn't so black-andwhite." On page 4, the word "roughly" is not capitalized at the beginning of a sentence: "roughly Felicia placed small plates of dried fish and sweet potato..." The book was not professionally edited. As a recommendation for improvement, I suggest the author arrange for an editor to clean up the typos and formatting.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 2:23 pm by Timothy Rucinski.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sanju Lali
Only because I was fascinated by the cover, title, and genre, I was interested in reading the sample even outside the program called the first ten. I could not find any editorial reviews or customer reviews. The OBC official review inspired me by revealing that this is a story of the migration of seven family members. After reading the first ten pages, I realized that the book was not professionally edited because I found some grammatical errors in the free sample. For example, the sentence, "His eyes met hers with a warm smile and she catapulted herself into his embrace, nearly knocking him over." This sentence could be as follows. "His eyes met hers with a warm smile, and she catapulted herself into his embrace, nearly knocking him over." In the sample, I liked the romantic bond between Willie and Mary because I found it sensational. From the sample, I learned how much emotional baggage Willie and Mary experienced while shifting to a new place. From the details given in the narrative, I could not glue myself to the story. I will not buy and read this book today. My suggestion to the author is to give adequate details of the scenes. A round of professional editing would make this book polished.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 2:20 pm by Sanju Lali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Laney K
This is not a book I would consider reading normally. I did not read any review of this book that sparked my interest either. I did notice an error: " Ma'am please store all personal belongings... (pg 2). There was an extra space between the " and the word Ma'am. I liked that the book jumped right into the plane ride, it drew me into the action. However, I did not feel as though I cared about why there were on the plane. The motive seemed like it should have been obvious, but it was not. Since I did not find a compelling motive I will not be continuing the book as it didn't convenience me to care about the characters.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 1:20 pm by Laney K.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Diana Lowery
The hopeful tone of the title and the soothing cover made me think this was a self-help book. I was surprised to learn from the blurb that it was about the sugar industry in HI. I was further surprised in the OBC review to learn that it was one family's experience with that industry. I have been to Kauai and so the setting held an interest for me. I liked the opening scene in the book where the husband and wife are on the airplane leaving the island. The title of the book is mentioned at the end of that passage. There was an error at 22%. The word 'roughly' is unnecessary. "...years before. [roughly] Felicia placed..." I am not going to finish reading the book because it is a coming-of-age story about a dysfunctional family, and I am not interested in that genre. Neither the title, cover, blurb, nor review convinced me to read the book.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 7:15 am by Diana Lowery.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Stephanie Runyon
I am not a fan of autobiographies and would have refrained from sampling this book for that reason. The cover sports a nice picture, but I think the title should be larger to catch the notice of potential readers. There was an error which I noted below. There was an OBC review; however it did not influence my decision to pass on this BOTD. I didn't find anything online to alter that choice. I liked the family unity when Gojo returned home from working. The stories from the six children seemed to be important to him. Mingo sounds exactly like I would expect a three-year-old to behave. Getting into everything seems to be a talent for toddlers and the description fit his character well. I am passing on this book because of my aforementioned dislike of reading autobiographies.
ERROR: roughly Felicia placed small plates of dried fish and sweet potatoe in front of her husband and six children, and then sat to join them.
Roughly should be capitalized.
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 2:38 am by Stephanie Runyon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ari Martinez
If it wasn't for the First Ten program, I wouldn't sample this book based on its title, cover, genre, blurb, Official OnlineBookClub review, or other reviews because I don't tend to read non-fiction books, and I am not a big fan of coming-of-age stories. After reading the first ten pages, I will not read the rest of the book because as I was reading, I was filled with feelings of melancholy and sadness, and I'm not in the mood for reading depressing stories. My favorite part of what I read was the parallels between Maria and her mother, such as praying with their rosary. It was a nice way of tying them and the story together. The book doesn't need to be improved. On page 5, there's a missing closing quotation mark (“No, Maria, not this time... I must discuss it with your mother.).
First Ten review added on August 22, 2022, at 12:34 am by Ari Martinez.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kira Bonita Reece
I like the title of this book so I would read it based on the cover, blurb, title, genre, and the official OnlineBookClub review. I liked the feeling the book gives. I felt like I know the Ortiz family as they moved from Puerto Rico in search of a better life. The sample was professionally edited but I did find an error on page 4. The author wrote, "years before. roughly Felicia placed small plates of dried fish..." The word 'roughly' should be capitalized. I did not find any customer reviews on Amazon for this book but that did not dissuade me from reading this book. I will be reading it because the sample was intriguing and I would like to find out if the Ortiz family was eventually successful.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 10:07 pm by Kira Bonita Reece.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Hazel Arnaiz
I will skip this book outside the program. The cover and title did not grab my attention. Likewise, the blurb mentions a coming-of-age story, which I seldom read. Customer reviews are unavailable. After sampling, I appreciate that it explores the complexities of interracial blended families. However, the storyline is not for me, and I find the pace slow to my liking. I have no suggestions for improvement. For editing issues, here are examples.
Page 2. Grammar. It seems a preposition is missing. Consider adding "to."
Her husband, Willie, now sixty-two years old, sat next [] her, his tanned skin beginning to age, a weathered testament to years of working under the elements of sun and sea breezes on the shores of Kauai.
Page 3. Spelling. Consider adding a hyphen to fit in this context.
But for Mary, it wasn’t so [black-andwhite].
The official OnlineBookClub review has helpful insights. But I will pass.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 7:28 pm by Hazel Arnaiz.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Amy Luman
In the very first chapter, where Mary and her husband, Willie, were on an airplane from Honolulu to Santa Barbara, Mary was thinking about how easy it was for him to leave, but it wasn’t so black-andwhite for her. It should have been black-and-white. Based on this occurring so early, I cannot say for sure that this was professionally edited. I found neither editorial nor customer reviews of this book, but the OBC review and the blurb told me it was an account of Mary(Maria)’s life. I don’t like to read non-fiction, so I won’t be finishing this. I didn’t really have a favorite part of this book, but I can’t suggest changes to it because others like to read non-fiction of this type. I found that the cover and the title depicted the relief found on the other side of forgiveness.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 4:16 pm by Amy Luman.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
MsH2k
This book’s cover is appropriate and a nice picture of sugarcane plants in Hawaii. I read nonfiction often, but based on the title and blurb, I probably would not have sampled this book if I were not part of this program. In the blurb, it was sad to learn that Mary was given away as a small child, so I was not interested in reading the story. The writing in the first ten pages was vivid and easy to read. I thought it was clever for Gojo to note the similarities of moving from one island to a U.S. state that was also an island, while earning more money for his family doing the work he knew. It doesn’t sound like things went as smoothly as he hoped, since he gave Mary away at some point. Although their journey is interesting, I will not finish this book because I don’t want to read about Mary’s separation from her family. The book flowed smooth, but I’m not sure if it was professionally edited. Perhaps it was just the formatting. It was hard to tell when there were paragraph breaks, and I noticed extra or missing spaces between words. An example is on page 2, where there is an extra space after the opening quotation mark: “ Ma’am, please store all personal belongings under the seat in front of you as we prepare for takeoff.” The formatting issues were not distracting, and I have no suggestions for improvement. The featured OnlineBookClub review confirmed my decision not to finish this book. I did not notice any Amazon ratings or any other reviews, but they would not have influenced me anyway.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 4:13 pm by MsH2k.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kajori Sheryl Paul
'Beyond the Clouds, the Sky is Blue' is written by Dennis Santos. Mary Ortiz and her husband, Willie, are finally leaving Hawaii to settle in California so that they could be close to their children. The move reminds Mary of a time when she was called Maria. Years ago, Maria and her family moved from Puerto Rico to California in the hopes of a better future. I like the lovely bond shared by the Ortiz family. I really want to know Mary's story. So, I will definitely read the book. I found some punctuation errors. For example, the full stop should have been there after "roughly" in "..seventy years before. roughly.." Apart from this, the book seems perfect. I will not change anything about it. The OBC review is detailed. Though there are no editorial reviews and customer reviews, I would have read this book based on the cover, title, genre, and blurb as I like the plot.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 2:52 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Laura Ungureanu
I like seeing nature in covers. However, after reading the blurb and the OBC review, I realized that the plot doesn't interest me. It seems like there are no Amazon reviews. After considering everything, this program was my main motivation for sampling the book. Mary and Willie prepared for moving out for quite some time. The writing felt warm. It was easy to relate to the characters, especially Mary's emotion of fear and excitement as she left Hawaii. However, the book didn't present anything of interest to me. It didn't have much action, so it didn't stir my curiosity. I won't be reading the rest of it. I don't think the book can be improved. The book can benefit from some more editing. It seems like there is a missing particle in "sat next her."
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 2:43 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
The cover is so generic I never would have given it a second glance. The blurb is well explained, and the premise is socially meaningful but too tragic for such a happy time in my life. The book also lacks ratings. Therefore, I wouldn't have bought it based on my first impressions.
I have mixed feelings about the first ten pages but they didn't convince me to read the whole book. On the one hand, there are beautiful images (i.e. "The moon was full, and seemed to make her dark, smooth skin glow in the twilight.") I can also see in Felicia and her worn rosary my mom and grandma who are Latinas, too. On the downside, the metaphor that makes up the title is explained way too early for my liking. Also, why did Gojo call Felicia by her name and not "mi amor" as he called his kids? That's not usual in Latino culture. Finally, there are several editing mistakes. For example, the wrongly-placed full stop or missing capitalization on page 4: "Gojo had constructed for them several years before. roughly Felicia placed small plates of dried fish..." I suggest polishing the edition and improving the cover. The official OBC review didn't change my mind.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 2:42 pm by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kenesha Latoya Fowler
I generally prefer fiction to non-fiction, so this typically wouldn't be my type of book. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that I liked the tone of this one. That is, to me, it didn't read like non-fiction, but rather like just another great story that happens to be true. The book description didn't do much to pique my interest, and while I thought the OBC review was nice, describing some events as "heartfelt, lovely, and exciting," it didn't sway me. No, that came from actually reading the book. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. I think it's because of that tone I mentioned earlier, as well as the story itself. I was curious about the title, Beyond the Clouds the Sky is Blue; I didn't know what to make of it. But seeing it used in the book, it took on an encouraging, uplifting note for me.
I did notice mistakes in the first 10 pages. One specific example is: "...it wasn't so black-andwhite." (page 3). The errors were minor and didn't detract from the story. All things considered, I think I will read the rest of this book. I also liked the cover. Very fitting, I'd say.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 2:39 pm by Kenesha Latoya Fowler.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Bertha Jackson
I am not a fan of non-fiction books or memoirs, so I would not have checked out this book based on the title and cover. I think the cover is beautiful with the blue sky and is appropriate for the title. The blurb did not entice me to read the book because I am not interested in sugar plantations or reading about a child whose father gives her away. To my surprise, the first ten pages pulled me into Mary’s story. I loved the family’s loving relationship and their support for each other while traveling to Hawaii, and I cannot imagine why her father would give her away. I will have to finish reading the free copy of this book to find out. There were no customer or editorial reviews to read. The OnlineBookClub review did not influence me because the reviewer states that there is only one error in the entire book, and I found more than that in the first ten pages. The first one was on Page 1 in the sentence: “Her husband, Willie, now sixty-two years old, sat next [to] (insert missing word) her, his tanned skin beginning to age, a weathered testament to years of working under the elements of sun and sea breezes on the shores of Kauai.” The second one on Page 2 in the sentence, “But for Mary, it wasn’t so [black-andwhite] (black and white).” There were more after these two, so I recommend that the author have this book edited by a professional editor. I will finish reading this book because I am curious about what this loving family endured.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 2:37 pm by Bertha Jackson.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Emy Katherine
Although the cover and title caught my attention, I would not have read the book based on the genre. Normally, I do not read non-fiction books. However, I am pleased to say that reading both the OBC review and the first ten pages made me change my decision. When Gregory "Gojo" Ortiz decides to move his family from Puerto Rico to Hawaii to build a better life, he does not know that this move will negatively affect the lives of his children. In particular, the story focuses on Maria Ortiz's journey from childhood to adulthood as she faces adversity after being forced to live with the Fernandez family. I thoroughly enjoyed the fast-paced writing style and had no problems connecting with the characters. The inclusion of Spanish words also made the story more believable and entertaining. I was not pleased to note that the book had editing issues, though. For example, it should be written "black-and-white" in the following sentence: "But for Mary, it wasn’t so black-andwhite." (page 2) I noticed a missing closing quotation mark at the end of the following sentence: "'No, Maria, not this time. But I do have exciting news for our family. But first, I must discuss it with your mother." (page 5) The book had neither customer reviews nor editorial reviews, but I found the Amazon blurb very informative. Other than another round of editing, nothing needs to be improved.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 1:52 pm by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Theresa Moffitt
I would have picked this book up based on the cover alone because it looks like it may be an inspirational book. The title has a positive aspect to it. The cover art is also attractive. It piqued my interest about the story. The onlinebookclub.org review gave me additional insight into the story. It is based on a true story about a family that immigrated to the United States. Through tragedy, the family is separated. The review described a heart-wrenching story. However, it increased my interest in reading the book. I didn’t read any additional customer reviews or blurbs about the book. The first ten pages introduce Mary and her husband. They are traveling to California with their life savings in Mary’s purse. They lived in Hawaii for sixty-two years. It seems like she’s worried about the move and wonders why her husband is not. I saw some errors in the first ten pages, so I don’t believe the book wa a professionally edited. I think the author could have improved the book with additional editing. On page 3 it states, “but for Mary, it wasn’t so black-andwhite.” There should be a space or hyphen between “and” and “white.” Although the first ten pages contained some errors, they were not too distracting. I am interested in this story and would like to finish reading this book.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 11:35 am by Theresa Moffitt.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Andrada Madalina
"Beyond the Clouds, the Sky is Blue" by Dennis Santos is a non-fiction book that presents the spiritual journey of Mary Santos. I liked the simplicity of the book cover and found it suitable for its catchy title. I did not find any editorial or customer review for this book, but I sampled it because of its descriptive blurb and excellent Official OnlineBookClub review. The Kindle version of this book does not seem professionally edited since I found several errors while reading its first ten pages: the first error is a missing hyphen("But for Mary, it wasn't so black-andwhite."). I would not improve anything on the story because I liked its authenticity and how Dennis Santos illustrated the Ortiz family's life. I appreciated how Felicia and Gojo took care of their children. Nevertheless, I will not buy and read the whole book because I am not interested in books about life on a plantation.
First Ten review added on August 21, 2022, at 10:56 am by Andrada Madalina.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 43%
Beyond the Clouds, the Sky is Blue earned a score of 43%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 43% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
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