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A review by simonlorden
The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I received an ARC through NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.
Definitely a new favorite. The Wings Upon Her back is an absorbing, fantastic story about following a charismatic leader even when it starts to look a lot like an abusive relationship. It's also about starting over when you've spent decades of your life dedicated to the wrong cause.
In a city abandoned by five sleeping gods, the followers of one take ruthless control of the other Four. Zemolai was born as Zenya in the scholar sect, but she's been a loyal member of the warrior sect for 29 years, using mechanical wings to soar to the sky and follow the mecha god's orders. When she makes a single, tired mistake, her sect tosses her out to the street to die - and from there we see the story unfold in two timelines. Zemolai, the jaded, middle-aged warrior being taken in by a group of young rebels ("bolt-babies"), and Zenya, the passionate youth who wants nothing more than to earn her wings and protect her city as a member of the warrior sect.
The writing is genius. There were so many sentences that I had to stop and read several times, because they were just that delicious. Stories with several timelines often disappoint me because I find myself bored by the past timeline and I want to get back to the present, but I didn't feel that in this case. The timelines put the story together and played off of each other, especially towards the end. The way the tension between Zenya and her brother and Zemolai and Vodaya is built up until it finally cracks is just... chef's kiss.
It definitely has the marks of an abusive relationship, and as the author says at the end - I hope you find something resonant in this, but I also kind of hope you don't.
I also appreciated the casual normalization of queer identities. Zemolai herself doesn't have a romantic interest or big gender feelings, but there are multiple nonbinary characters in the cast, as well as a polyamorous triad.
Definitely a new favorite. The Wings Upon Her back is an absorbing, fantastic story about following a charismatic leader even when it starts to look a lot like an abusive relationship. It's also about starting over when you've spent decades of your life dedicated to the wrong cause.
In a city abandoned by five sleeping gods, the followers of one take ruthless control of the other Four. Zemolai was born as Zenya in the scholar sect, but she's been a loyal member of the warrior sect for 29 years, using mechanical wings to soar to the sky and follow the mecha god's orders. When she makes a single, tired mistake, her sect tosses her out to the street to die - and from there we see the story unfold in two timelines. Zemolai, the jaded, middle-aged warrior being taken in by a group of young rebels ("bolt-babies"), and Zenya, the passionate youth who wants nothing more than to earn her wings and protect her city as a member of the warrior sect.
The writing is genius. There were so many sentences that I had to stop and read several times, because they were just that delicious. Stories with several timelines often disappoint me because I find myself bored by the past timeline and I want to get back to the present, but I didn't feel that in this case. The timelines put the story together and played off of each other, especially towards the end. The way the tension between Zenya and her brother and Zemolai and Vodaya is built up until it finally cracks is just... chef's kiss.
It definitely has the marks of an abusive relationship, and as the author says at the end - I hope you find something resonant in this, but I also kind of hope you don't.
I also appreciated the casual normalization of queer identities. Zemolai herself doesn't have a romantic interest or big gender feelings, but there are multiple nonbinary characters in the cast, as well as a polyamorous triad.