Some books are more than stories—they’re mirrors, holding up truths we often avoid. Kennedy Ryan’s Skyland trilogy did that for me. It’s a series about love, yes, but also about resilience, therapy, friendship, grief, and the quiet power of women daring to rebuild their lives.
This is not just a simple recap—it’s my Skyland trilogy review, told through the themes that made these books unforgettable.
Therapy and the Stigma Around Healing
One of the most striking parts of this series was how therapy was woven into the characters’ journeys. In many Black communities, both African and African-American, therapy is often dismissed. You’re expected to pray, to endure, to carry your struggles silently.
But Kennedy Ryan refuses that silence. She shows us characters who choose therapy, who stumble through it, who find pieces of themselves they thought were gone. As an African woman, I couldn’t help reflecting: therapy isn’t part of our culture either. Yet these books reminded me that healing doesn’t make you weak—it makes you brave.
Having Something of Your Own
The Skyland women are mothers, lovers, friends. But they are also women who build something for themselves. Whether it’s creating income, pursuing a dream, or carving out time to simply be, they remind us that fulfillment doesn’t always come from roles we play for others.
As women, we often give and give until there’s nothing left. These characters reminded me of the importance of having a corner of life that belongs to you—something that cannot be taken away.
Parenting Children with Disabilities
Another theme that struck me deeply was the honest portrayal of parenting children with disabilities. There was no sugarcoating. It was love laced with exhaustion, joy tangled with fear, and resilience born out of necessity.
What Kennedy Ryan did so well was show how these parents aren’t defined by pity or struggle, but by courage and tenderness. It’s a reminder that every child deserves to be seen fully, and every parent deserves to be honored for the love they pour out daily.
Women’s Friendship at the Core
For all the romance and drama, the heart of Skyland is women’s friendship. These women laugh together, cry together, call each other out, and hold each other up. Their bond isn’t perfect, but it’s strong enough to weather storms.
Reading their friendship reminded me of the women in my own life—the ones who show up without asking, who make space for both my failures and my triumphs, and who never judged me even in my mistakes. It’s a reminder that female friendship isn’t a side story. It’s the foundation.
(Later, I’ll share a whole post on what makes women’s friendships so powerful—and I’ll link it here.)
Grief and Community Support
Grief runs through this trilogy like an underground current. Sometimes it bursts into the open, raw and overwhelming. Sometimes it lingers quietly, shaping choices in silence.
What moved me most was how grief has to be lived, not ignored. When we bury grief, it doesn’t disappear—it shows up somewhere else in our bodies and lives. Just like Josiah struggling with erectile dysfunction, or like my mum who sometimes experiences sharp back pains. The message was clear: grief will find a way out.
Skyland reminded me that grief isn’t something to escape, but something to carry—together. Community, love, therapy, and friendship became the places where healing happened.
Final Thoughts on the Skyland Trilogy Review
The Skyland trilogy left me with a profound sense of hope. Not the cheap kind that ignores pain, but the hard-won kind—the hope that comes after grief, after brokenness, after daring to start again.
And when I say starting again, I don’t mean only in romance. I mean starting your life over, reinventing yourself, depending on where you are in life. Because sometimes, the bravest thing a woman can do is choose to begin again—with herself.
That’s the lasting gift of this Skyland trilogy review: a reminder that healing is possible, that friendships matter, and that reinvention is always within reach.
💬Your thoughts
- Which theme in the Skyland trilogy resonated with you most—therapy, friendship, grief, or reinvention?
- Do you believe women should always have “something of their own”? Why or why not?
- Have you ever read a book that made you reflect on your own journey of starting over?