e-Audio, 11:47:00
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Release Date: January 26, 2021
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: February 10-19, 2021
Wings of Ebony, #1
Source: Library
TW: Death, Violence
For Readers Interested In: Fantasy, Magic, Urban Fantasy, Diverse Authors, POC MC, POC on Cover, Sparkly Covers, Own Voices, Local Author, Series Starters, YA“Make a way out of no way” is just the way of life for Rue. But when her mother is shot dead on her doorstep, life for her and her younger sister changes forever. Rue’s taken from her neighborhood by the father she never knew, forced to leave her little sister behind, and whisked away to Ghizon—a hidden island of magic wielders.
Rue is the only half-god, half-human there, where leaders protect their magical powers at all costs and thrive on human suffering. Miserable and desperate to see her sister on the anniversary of their mother’s death, Rue breaks Ghizon’s sacred Do Not Leave Law and returns to Houston, only to discover that Black kids are being forced into crime and violence. And her sister, Tasha, is in danger of falling sway to the very forces that claimed their mother’s life.
Worse still, evidence mounts that the evil plaguing East Row is the same one that lurks in Ghizon—an evil that will stop at nothing until it has stolen everything from her and everyone she loves. Rue must embrace her true identity and wield the full magnitude of her ancestors’ power to save her neighborhood before the gods burn it to the ground.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This book was on my radar since I read the Rights Report for it. All I needed to see were the words, “Wonder Woman” and “The Hate U Give” together and I was done for. I had so many high expectations for this, and it almost met them all.
Rue and her sister were just girls when their mother died on their front stoop. Rue’s father comes out the woodwork to take her back to where he’s been, the magic island Ghizon. As it turns out, Rue is half god half human and nearly everyone there possess magical powers. But Rue is still upset that she left her sister behind. She goes back to visit and opens up a can of complications she was never expecting.
I had some issues with this, but overall it was still a great read. Even the things I didn’t like about it were small. For instance, I wasn’t a fan of the plot. It seemed to be EXACTLY what it said on the synopsis. If you know me, you know I’m not a fan of that. It just basically tells me what the entire book is about. And for this one, it basically does, until the end.
I also wasn’t a fan of the world-building. It just didn’t stand out to me. I wanted to see the difference between worlds and it just wasn’t shown. And there was so much potential. Especially when the magic was being explained… It was a bit of an info-dump. It could have been a setting for telling a bit more about the other world besides the onyx balls. I just thought there could have been more about the world we could have learned.
As for everything else, I thought it was pretty cool. The magic system was the most interesting. The orbs and the cuffs, they were a little confusing at some points, but they way they worked was pretty cool. It really made me want to see how they would actually be fused to the wrist as well as how big they were, etc. I definitely want to try using some of those onyx balls myself.
I also really liked the underlying message of this. As a matter of fact, this is what made this book. It’s not everyday that you find a fantasy book with African American characters or one that incorporates racism with the magic world. In all the time I’ve been reading, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. This was so unique and I loved that about it.
The ending itself was crazy. It had so much going on. I had to go back and rewind a couple of times to make sure I didn’t miss anything. The next book will be crazy because the one person that they’re looking for was a major player in this one. I can’t wait to see if they are brought to justice soon!
This book wasn’t exactly everything I imagined, but it was close enough. It was an interesting start to this series. It’s going to be so hard to wait for the next one to come out!
Overall, I give this
