A review by dragonwriter
Wings of Ebony by J. Elle

adventurous challenging emotional informative sad tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

When Rue’s mother died, her absentee father, Asim, swept in and whisked her away to Ghizon, an isolated island with magic inhabitants. Despite the legends that the Chancellor fought the gods for the magic and shared it with the people, Rue is more than a little suspicious of the lack of history before the Chancellor came. Rue defies the Ghizon rules of isolation to teleport back to America on the first anniversary of her mother’s death to give her half sister a special present, and has to use magic to save her, revealing her rebellion to the Ghizon authorities. In order to preserve her magic, Rue goes on the run, and learns the history that the Chancellor didn’t want anyone to know. Faced with extermination effort in both Ghizon and her home streets, Rue has to accept both sides of her heritage in order to save the people who need her.

This story was very upfront and blunt about its anti-racist themes. I wasn’t in the best mindset for confronting my white privilege, so it took me a while to struggle through it, but I’m glad I finished. Rue was a bit brash and impatient, but I enjoyed her attitude overall. The entire story is told in her POV, and her voice is very captivating. She loves her home and her people, and she’s very protective of them. I love how her ‘family’ comes together at the end to fight, and I enjoyed the justice they found together. I did think that the split timeline was a little confusing; it wasn’t always clear when Rue was in the present, or remembering the past. The first few chapters she had a backflash, I was very confused on how she’d changed location. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I read it at a different point in time. I may try to read it again, just to see how it feels when my mental health is better.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings