Scan barcode
A review by jugglingpup
All of Us with Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil
2.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I read yet another book based on the cover. Look at that. Gorgeous. The colors, the details, the Golden Gate Bridge (weird fact about me, stories set in SF make me cry and feel homesick despite not liking living in California when I lived there).
Hands down, the best part of this book for me was the cover. The second best part was the writing. The writing was gorgeous. I loved the writing. It put me in this trance where I just felt like I was wrapped in a fuzzy blanket and fog. It was magical. I would read more things by Keil without question.
The issue I had with this book falls down on the plot. The plot described on the cover (I ACTUALLY READ THE SYNOPSIS!) is really like a side plot. The healing and revenge are all secondary, or at least feel secondary through most of the book. The real plot is the romance between a 17 year old girl and her boss/landlord a 28 year old man. There were a few instances where people were like “wow, she is too young”. They were then talked out of that by others or they were just ignored or it was revealed the real issue they had was there were worried about the man’s emotional safety. So I did some research. The book does not specify a time period, but it appears to be in the 80’s/90’s, though there was enough graphic talk about HIV/AIDS, that I am leaning more 90’s. The age of consent in California is 18. So statutory rape. It is compounded by the issue that he is also her boss and her landlord since she is a live in nanny for his 12 year old daughter. So so many reasons why this should not happen logically. We haven’t even touched ethically why it is wrong to engage in a relationship with a minor.
The story revolves so heavily around this romance that it was bad. The issue that finally resolved itself in the end was she would move out so they could be together, maybe. She was fired. The relationship didn’t end. All of this was done in the name of “free love”, which was the old school way of saying poly (ish, not quite) or having sex with less boundaries. Sooooo not going to go into that rage since it should never have existed since she is UNDER THE AGE OF CONSENT.
To be fair, there is no scene where they technically have sex. If I have to say “technically, it isn’t pedophilia” then there is something fishy happening. It technically isn’t pedophilia since she is too old for that label, but it is illegal and immoral. The book had so many issues like that it was hard to get through.
It is so gorgeous and I loved it, but I hated the content. The plot is usually what pulls me through a story. The writing isn’t enough for me to recommend this book. In the first fifty pages, I was recommending it to everyone. By the hundredth page I was taking back recommendations since enough of my friends have had similar lives and so have I. It is not something I would recommend, as it is so graphic and difficult to read. I do give props to Keil for giving a content and trigger warning at the beginning of the book. The warning was not descriptive enough for me to turn this book away since I didn’t think it would have the statutory rape love plot being a main focus.
I read yet another book based on the cover. Look at that. Gorgeous. The colors, the details, the Golden Gate Bridge (weird fact about me, stories set in SF make me cry and feel homesick despite not liking living in California when I lived there).
Hands down, the best part of this book for me was the cover. The second best part was the writing. The writing was gorgeous. I loved the writing. It put me in this trance where I just felt like I was wrapped in a fuzzy blanket and fog. It was magical. I would read more things by Keil without question.
The issue I had with this book falls down on the plot. The plot described on the cover (I ACTUALLY READ THE SYNOPSIS!) is really like a side plot. The healing and revenge are all secondary, or at least feel secondary through most of the book. The real plot is the romance between a 17 year old girl and her boss/landlord a 28 year old man. There were a few instances where people were like “wow, she is too young”. They were then talked out of that by others or they were just ignored or it was revealed the real issue they had was there were worried about the man’s emotional safety. So I did some research. The book does not specify a time period, but it appears to be in the 80’s/90’s, though there was enough graphic talk about HIV/AIDS, that I am leaning more 90’s. The age of consent in California is 18. So statutory rape. It is compounded by the issue that he is also her boss and her landlord since she is a live in nanny for his 12 year old daughter. So so many reasons why this should not happen logically. We haven’t even touched ethically why it is wrong to engage in a relationship with a minor.
The story revolves so heavily around this romance that it was bad. The issue that finally resolved itself in the end was she would move out so they could be together, maybe. She was fired. The relationship didn’t end. All of this was done in the name of “free love”, which was the old school way of saying poly (ish, not quite) or having sex with less boundaries. Sooooo not going to go into that rage since it should never have existed since she is UNDER THE AGE OF CONSENT.
To be fair, there is no scene where they technically have sex. If I have to say “technically, it isn’t pedophilia” then there is something fishy happening. It technically isn’t pedophilia since she is too old for that label, but it is illegal and immoral. The book had so many issues like that it was hard to get through.
It is so gorgeous and I loved it, but I hated the content. The plot is usually what pulls me through a story. The writing isn’t enough for me to recommend this book. In the first fifty pages, I was recommending it to everyone. By the hundredth page I was taking back recommendations since enough of my friends have had similar lives and so have I. It is not something I would recommend, as it is so graphic and difficult to read. I do give props to Keil for giving a content and trigger warning at the beginning of the book. The warning was not descriptive enough for me to turn this book away since I didn’t think it would have the statutory rape love plot being a main focus.