About the Book- Wings of Ebony
“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.
This is something that is happening with me for the first time, that I am so pissed with the central character that it made me hate a book.
Read on for our review of the book
Our Review of Wings of Ebony
I can’t exactly pinpoint what was it that ticked me off, but right from the beginning, I found it hard to connect with the book. I strongly believe that maybe it was my annoyance with the central character that made me not look anything beyond it in the book. Nothing about the story, secondary characters or the settings were able to grab my attention, because all I could think was how much I had issues with the central character.
We all know that usually, YA books originate when the central character goes opposite to what is being said and told. It’s when they rebel and starts questioning the norms when things start moving and the balls start rolling. Technically that is what is happening in the book too. Somehow though maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the portrayal or maybe it is simply the nature of the character, that I couldn’t help feeling that everything that is happening in the book is because the central character likes to stir trouble. And not in a nice way. I kept feeling that our central character was one of those who goes poking the bear just for the sake of it and unleash the beast onto innocent bystanders all the while justifying the action as a necessary evil.
Nothing that the character did or said grabbed at me and on more, it was pissing me at the highest level. This is something that is happening with me for the first time, that I am so pissed with the central character that it made me hate a book. But yes that’s what is happening with me when it comes to the wings of Ebony. That is why I feel very unreasonable being judgy in my review.
So I am admitting that I didn’t like the book because I couldn’t relate or reason with the central character.
That being said there was another thing that completely baffled me. The book which is narrated by our central character sounds like a very sophisticated, highly intelligent woman and then when she is conversing with someone it is like she gets possessed by some Ghetto gangster. That was creepy and something I kept wondering about. It is like my mind sounds like Oprah Winfrey but when I talk I sound like Nicki Minaj. Maybe that would be a good idea in a movie but not in a book.
It was like somebody else is running the show and some stranger kept popping in and interrupting the flow
Conclusion
I had huge… no scratch that… I had massive issues with the central character. The issue majorly being that I HATED HER. So that little detail completely clouded my judgement of the book. Who knows maybe it’s the central character that might be the reason the book clicks for you, but not for me.
I am OUT
Squirrel Rating
