Welcome back to my blog after my end-of-year hiatus. This year I’m doing a new kind of reading challenge. In past years I’ve made total books reading goals, but this year I want to do something different. Each month of the year, I want to read one debut novel. (So if you happen to be debuting this year, let me know!)
For the month of January, I read Wings of Ebony by J. Elle.
I had heard a TON of hype for this book leading up to release, and I was relieved to find it did NOT disappoint. Wings is the story of Rue, a teenage girl who learns of her heritage as part god after the death of her mother, and must embrace it in order to protect her block from the machinations of racist gods.
There are so many things to love about this book. One part that stood out to me was the strong presence of family. Rue’s love for her younger sister is a strong motivator in a lot of her actions, but her sister isn’t the only family around. There’s also Rue’s estranged father, but what I really loved was how Rue’s family wasn’t limited to her blood. The reader gets to meet plenty of characters around Rue’s neighborhood that aren’t related to her at all, but are her family just the same. I don’t remember the last time I read a contemporary YA with such emphasis on community.
If you enjoy any kind of YA fantasy, or stories of empowerment, or even just like a well told tale, I can’t recommend J. Elle’s debut enough.
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