I want to start by saying that didn’t love the writing style. For some reason, I didn’t mesh with it. It made enjoying the story a bit more difficult. However, I did end up getting used to the writing and so it became less grating to me.

I did like learning about the world of Ghizon. It was interesting and I liked the way it tied with colonialism and racism. I have to say that it was, in my opinion, the best part of this story. The book would've been a two stars for me, but the way the author deals and talks about racism raises the rating to three stars. It was really well done.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed the story and the premise of this book. I liked the characters and Rue’s growth throughout the book. I really was enthralled the entire time I read this book.

My problem with the book is the writing style. I felt like the way some of the dialogue was written kept pulling me out of the story. Every single character had multiple lines of dialogue where they stuttered. It got so annoying that I started being really bothered every time it happened. No one stutters half as much as Rue did throughout this book. It was too much and really started to ruin the book for me.

First off, this book has some major #BlackGirlMagic in it.

The cover and the synopsis is what drew me in, but J. Elle's writing kept me enthralled. Rue is a brave, headstrong and take no shit black girl who after her mother's dead finds out about her father's heritage and her magic. Rue has no filter in the best way, she says what’s on her mind and asks the hard questions until she is satisfied with all parts of the answer. She’s scared especially in situations she finds herself in, but she is never a damsel in distress. She's got this shit handled with or without your help.

The heart of this story is the relationship between Rue and her absentee father, Aasim. It is complicated and heartbreaking. Definitely needed to break out the tissues, which was hard to explain while I was reading it at work. As the story evolves, the emotional punch of the story hits you, and you realize this story is so much more than what shows on the surface. There is beauty and pain, courage and loyalty, magic and reality loaded into this book; and it's going to be a favourite for many young people out there who are fighting against injustices, like racism and sexism, all around the world.

Wings of Ebony brings racism and colonization to the front in a time when these conversations NEED to happen and need to be held bluntly. The way she incorporates it into the story is not harsh, but it hits your heart and cannot be missed. Wings of Ebony also shows that a non-racist ally may not realize how much they subconsciously sympathize with systems of oppression they benefit from. Everything is handled in a way that is immediate and in your face, which is what needs to happen when it comes to these topics.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC but it in no way influences my opinion, my thoughts are my own.



So this is a weird review to write, for many reasons. One this was one of my most anticipated books of 2020 and two I wanted and tried to love it so much.

I was going to give it a higher star rating, but then I had to really think about it and the fact that it is written by a BPOC person shouldn't mean I have to give it a higher star rating just because it did touch important subjects such as racism, colonialism and oppressions of Black people which is important, when I really did not enjoy it (the book not the subjects).

So take this, with this thought in front of your mind, a lot of people did enjoy it so maybe what I did not like you will.

From the point of view of someone who reads a lot of high fantasy and worked in a book store (one thing that bothered me is that at the beginning of the ARC it says 14+ and 10-14 years old and this book has a lot of swearing which I know parents would not like and thus I would have not been comfortable recommending to parents; I don't mind well placed swearing, within % of the book there had already been just under a dozen swearing incidents and this is a short book that is for young children. It did not affect my rating of the book, this is just a note to keep in mind).

I had a lot of expectations that were simply not met in this book. I found myself unable to connect to the world, I have no idea what Ghazan actually looks like and the most interesting information we learn about the world and the sort of castes type thing level in society aren't important and did not resurface in the second half of the book. So it felt like the best part of the book in my opinion was not relevant, or at least what I enjoyed the most.

Because of the time skips and lack of description I often found myself wondering where I was in the storyline or the world It always took me paragraphs if not pages to get an idea of where/when I was. For example, we start the book with Rue and for a long time she (the author) gives us a lot of info about her being in juvie twice, separated from her sister after their mother died, and how she has this magical watch made by Bri her best friend, which okay nice but where am I ? Between that and finally realizing I am in huston seemingly in the future, she gets arrested and then we have no warning and BOOM we are in the past, with her first meeting Bri. Which took me a while to realize, because there are no indications or descriptions, at least in the ARC of time skips. This made for a very frustrating read where I kept going back to read what I had just read with the new time-line in mind.

Another thing that bothered me is that this book is the writing, I found myself re-reading a lot to try to understand where and when we were, due to it being so dry. Dry in the sense that it was very action driven, again this is a short book and it was a true detriment to my experience. Rather than making this a duology it would've benefited from being one book with more description and character development.

For a fantasy setting to have so little description and make me care so little about it was really disappointing. Ghazan is one dimensional and this is not as advertised, it is not a fantasy, rather it is a fiction book with magical realism, most of the book is spent in Huston not Ghazan.

Even though we get a lot of random info on characters, I still felt disconnected to them everything felt "surface like" they did not feel tangible. It was more of a "the author said they felt this" so they must be feeling this. Any of them could've died and I wouldn't have cared, for the matter the world could've ended and I would've been like, "huh". (which is not a goal I want to accomplish when I read a book)

Overall, this book was hard to get through because it was hard to get invested into something you know so little about.

If you want to read half-human, half-god books there are other books that have executed this in a better way, for the age range the Rick Riordan presents has some really loved books (middlegrade) and if you want a fantasy (YA) I have started a couple of other fantasy books by BPOC authors that I am slowly reading and enjoying a lot such as "A song of wraith and ruins" by Roseanne A. Brown.

1.5/5 stars.

Unfortunately a flop for me, I hope you will enjoy it a lot more than I did.

Bookarina.

4.5 stars
It’s was a really good book, a little bit short but very good.
Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc.

*Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

"I'm a flicker, a feeling, a flame that can't be quenched"

Wow. I truly LOVED this book. This was such a refreshing read. It was real and honest, with a strong AF lead character. The author took very real issues of racism, injustice, and appropriation, blended it with some fantasy and the result was this kick-ass beautifully written book. Rue is the type of heroine I want to read about. A true diamond. Her strength is in her unwavering loyalty to her family; not just her sister.. but her neighborhood and all the people that live there that make up her big, beautiful extended family. This book was exciting, full of magic, action, and some cool sci-fi type technology... and it didn't fail to bring up some hard truths.

For a debut novel, this is just amazing. Definitely an author to follow.

Thank you to the author, Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the digital ARC of this book!

Rue is a normal teenager living in East Row, getting on as best she can with her sister Tasha and her mother. Her life is upended suddenly when her mother is shot dead and her dad whisks her away to a far away land called Ghazan. It turns out that Rue is half-human, half-god, and is begrudgingly brought into Ghazani society and given access to their magical powers. When Rue finds out her sister Tasha is in trouble back in Houston, she breaks several of Ghazan’s rules to get back to her, and in doing so sets off a chain reaction of events that puts the lives of everyone she cares about in danger. As Rue discovers more about her ancestry and the history of Ghazan, she begins to realize that the problems in East Row are more connected to her new life in Ghazan than she thought.

“Moms raised a diamond, and diamonds don’t crack.”

What an absolute powerhouse of a debut novel. The author J. Elle manages to take the classic story of ‘human brought into a magical world’ and flip it on it’s head, bringing new life into the tried-and-true genre. Rue’s story is captivating right from the beginning, and the action-packed plot kept me hooked from start to finish. While largely a fantasy novel, J. Elle manages to inject a lot of real-world situations into the story, making this a very topical read for 2021. The way J. Elle mixes social commentary into the other-worldly plot of the book adds to the powerful message of the story and helps to form a deeper connection with the reader.

As a main character, Rue manages to shine both as a powerful heroine and as a fun and relatable narrator. The book includes a lot of teenage slang which helps bring focus to Rue’s age and highlights her identity, and overall it fits quite naturally into the story. I really liked the side characters that made up the community of East Row, and I hope we get to see them develop more in a future sequel. I will admit I did enjoy the parts of the story that took place in Houston and East Row the most. While Ghazan was an integral part of the book, I found myself eagerly awaiting the next foray into the ‘real world’.

Wings of Ebony was a great blend of fiction and real life, with a main character who fits well into both worlds. I’m looking forward to reading more from J. Elle, and especially a continuation of Rue’s story. I would recommend this book to lovers of Young Adult Fantasy, especially anyone who wants a refreshingly new take on the classic ‘Harry Potter’ style fantasy novel. Available for pre-order or purchase on January 26th, 2021.

This was such an empowering book! I loved the characters, and Rue's inner conflict was such an endearing one that I think lots of kids in this modern age can connect with and learn from. Highly recommend!

Ohhhhhh I have such a book hangover from Wings of Ebony. How can you leave me like this! Set between the real world as we know it and a magical world Rue is forced to balance between what she knew and what she has just discovered. Little does she know her past and her present intertwine in more ways than one and she will have to make some big hard decisions to keep those she loves safe.

The way the magical world parallels the “real world” with colonialism, whiteness, and racism is incredibly well done. While the fictional story and world keeps you distanced from real events the realistic world of guns and racism and pain slaps you right back into a world that we keep suspended.

Fierce females. Strong families. Badass humans. And magic. Seriously I need and want more more more.

Some books leave me thinking about the plot. Some leave me thinking about the characters. Some leave me pondering themes or even various structural techniques used by the author. Finishing Wings of Ebony, all I could think for quite some time was, thank god this book exists. We have a protagonist who's unapologetically angry and conflicted. We have systems of power so deeply rooted in real forms of hatred, they grip the bones during the read and force us to confront what's going on off the pages. We have magic that serves more as an allegory for power than for a detailed system of quaint spells and clever wand waving. I didn't always follow how or why various magic or technology did or didn't work but when I stopped asking and just let the story unfold, the strength of the language and Rue's burning love for her community leapt from the pages. It's an endlessly quotable book, with lines that sneak up out of nowhere, so simple and yet packing an intense punch. This book will make queens of girls who see themselves in Rue. That's a pretty damned powerful gift to give the world.

ARC from NetGalley

Rue doesn't take shit. She grew up hard, and because of this she doesn't have a lot of faith or trust in anything outside of her family. Her mother dies, and then Rue's father comes and whisks her away. She leaves her little sister and the community that helped raise her far behind and has to try to navigate a landscape where magic exists. It's very different from the world she came from, and yet very similar; they don't like Black people in New Ghazan either.

This is an interesting meshing of the world we know and a magical world that is veiled off from the unmagical. The juxtaposition of East Row and New Ghazan is poignant. New Ghazan itself speaks to present-day society, with many people benefiting off the suffering of others, ignorant to it and holding hate in their hearts for anyone different or perceived as lower or less worthy than them.

We suffer with Rue as she discovers who she is and the power she can wield. We are angry right along with her. We cry with her. We boil over with a need for justice.

I quite enjoyed this book, but there was some sort of special spice missing to push it to a 5-star read for me, and there were a few things plot-wise that I found questionable. This book wasn't about the romance if that's something you're looking for, but it is laying some breadcrumbs for a love triangle to come. All in all, a very recommendable read.

The problem I often find with short fantasy novels is that there’s just not enough time to develop a believable world. I was really looking forward to Wings of Ebony, so I'm sad it underwhelmed me. I had a hard time connecting to the characters, and discovered that the magic and worldbuilding elements really fell flat for me.

Before I begin with my criticisms, I feel I should say this: Wings of Ebony is not a terrible book. Sure, some parts of the story weren’t as great as I expected, though I seem to be in the clear minority with my rating. That being said, take my review with a grain of salt, as the vast majority have discovered a profound love for this tale.

~★~ What is this book about? ~★~

After the death of her mother, Rue discovers her godly ancestry. She is taken to a place called Ghizon where her powers are unlocked, meeting the father she never knew in the process. When her sister back in the real world is endangered, Rue does everything she can to save her, except there’s one problem—she can’t touch humans anymore, or Ghizon’s magical history will be revealed.

~★~

It’s hard for me to discern what I enjoyed about Wings of Ebony, mostly because I began skim reading by the 80% mark.

Useless information was doled out in clumps. We learn backstory of different magic factions and go through a sorting ceremony only to realize that none of it is relevant for the rest of the novel. I had a really hard time picturing the magical Ghizon alongside Houston, as not much about it is really described.

Kudos to J. Elle for addressing the ever-present problem of racism unapologetically and without remorse. I really appreciated the parallels drawn between the magical world and colonization, plus the discussions about racism. Everything is handled in a way that is immediate and in your face, which is what needs to happen when it comes to these topics.

There isn’t much left I can say. This was an objectively decent book. I wish I loved it more. I’m sad I didn’t. Would I recommend it? That’s hard to say. I think other reviewers will help you formulate a better opinion in that regard. Anyways, thanks for reading my review!

Wings of Ebony has created a new magic system and a world full of dark secrets to match. I loved getting to learn about this new adventure. The reason it is only 3.5 stars is because there was a lot of world building and I felt like to took a while to get into the main plot of the book.
However, I really enjoyed the relationship between Rue and her sister Tasha. I don’t usually love sibling stories because I prefer romance, but it was nice getting to see Rue and Tasha connect after a year apart.
I also really liked Bri, it can be hard to write a good friendship, but I loved their Ride or Die friendship.
I think the next book will capture my attention more because there will not be as much world building, but needless to say, I really enjoyed this book and think it’s message is so important right now.

Big thanks to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster Canada and of course J. Elle for an ARC of Wings of Ebony in exchange for an honest review.

Wings of Ebony follows Rue, a young woman whos life is moved from a predominantly black American neighbourhood to an invisible, colonized island where the "grays" have harnessed the island's magic by bonding stones to their wrists. Rue sneaks back to the United States, with the help of her friend, so she can have one final goodbye with her sister. While there, Rue watches the car her sister is in get into a crash. Before the crash happens, though, Rue is able to use her magic and stop time just long enough to save her sister.
Witnesses see her magic and she is brought back to the island for punishment.
Back on the island, Rue quickly discovers that the 'history' she and the other Islanders have been taught isn't as accurate as they are led to believe. Rue realizes that her family, blood and otherwise, are in danger and must fight the oppressions her and her family face against both humans and the grays.

This was an excellent book. It's very much an urban fantasy, set in a current time. The challenges Rue faces can easily be translated into what a lot of people face in North America today (minus the magic). Rue is a strong female lead that any young woman can look up to.

There is a lot of action and it's fairly quick paced with some twists. It felt a bit unfinished which I assume means this will be part of a series.
Overall, I'm giving it 4.5 stars

4/5 it was a pretty decent read dealing with racial issues, cultural genocide, crime and more, within a magical & fantasy setting that manages to stay pretty grounded. I’m looking forward to a sequel. (Please let there be a sequel! I’m not ready to say goodbye to this cast of characters or their worlds) I’ll do a more thorough review on my blog close to release date.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an excerpt in exchange of my honest review.

Wings of Ebony is a book based in both Houston and a fantasy based country (I believe?) called Ghizon. Rue finds out that she has magic in herself after her mother's death and when trying to get back to Houston for her sister, she finds out multiple things about her own community in Houston and in Ghizon. She was taken by her father Aasim, a well-known figure in Ghizon. This book itself has important commentary, Ghizon mirrors colonization, systemic racism, oppression and culture stealing. It shows this all in Houston and is mentioned multiple times but it is deeply symbolized in Ghizon. Rue herself is a character you do not see often in YA. She is a teenaged, strong Black woman who is proud in who she is and will not back down. She speaks up for herself and those around her and it's most definitely a message for youth, especially young Black woman that's important for them to hear.

I believe the first thing I have to mention is that when I was browsing NetGalley, I happened to see this and although I hadn't had it added onto my to read list, I was interested. But I'm a bit sad and surprised I didn't like this book much compared to others who seem to love it in the reviews. Three stars isn't a bad rating honestly but there most definitely were some factors that made the book not fully satisfactory.

Fantasy based stories have many important factors that are crucial to have or else the book fails.
A interesting, intriguing and compelling plot.
World-building that pulls the reader right in and able to digest where you understand what kind of world this is and how it works.
A setting where you can almost visualize how this world looks, can visualize the difference between one world to another, one city to another.
Sadly, this book fails on almost all of these points. The plot, for me, was fast-paced but wasn't overly interesting. There were several twists back to back in the beginning of the book, roughly before the chapter 10 mark which I couldn't tell if these twists were supposed to be surprising for the audience or it was intentional to have it at the beginning where you don't know the world that well. As mentioned before, Wings of Ebony works in a fast pace environment. Those who are more favoured to fast paced plot will love that about this book but sadly, I couldn't find myself interested. Any and all twists and surprises I found myself going "huh" at or not saying anything because a lot of it, wasn't surprising to me. For example, there was a twist concerning around a character that is a Chancellor but I wasn't stunned - I actually saw it coming from the beginning of the book actually which is new for me.

The world building and setting though is where I personally feels is what fails the book. For the parts in the book where Rue is in Houston, there isn't a need for any world building or setting really due to the fact that Houston is very much a real place and if you need to visualize it, there are tons of photos on Google to help. With Ghizon though, it falls apart. At the beginning, it's a place where you're born around magic and use Onyx to help with the magic to enhance it. There are a few small details like the food and etc but that's it. There is a scene which contains Rue and Aasim talking to other citizens of Ghizon where it goes a little bit more into the world building of Ghizon which mirrors colonization and systemic racism but it's not enough. There one scene with Rue and her friend Bri who mentions that her and her family are Zruki. Rue mentions how she hadn't heard much of Bri talking about how she was Zruki but it had been mentioned once or twice. Before this moment, there was no mention of 'Zruki'. Nor is there one after this scene. This incredibly small scene of this mentioned Zruki is all you get which is a point of how the world building in this book is failed. The reader leaves this scene wanting to read more about what it could be; is it a religion in Ghizon? A different race?
The setting is also failed due to the above and also due to the fact that Ghizon isn't in huge detail of how it looks. I personally cannot picture a scene or setting in my mind - no matter how little or how much detail is written in but I can imagine that for those who can picture that in their head, picturing Ghizon would be a tough feat. The entirety of Ghizon seemed interesting, especially after mentioned scene with Rue and Aasim where they talked to the citizens of Ghizon and ancestors but so little is given. There is so much potential which makes this so disheartening. The magic itself does have some explanation which is at least the one good thing I can say for the world-building aspect.

The relationships in this book are set in the core of this book, specifically Rue and her sister, Tasha, Rue and her father, Aasim and Rue and her best friend, Bri.
Rue and Tasha was a nice relationship in the book, will be so joyful for readers who love this book. It's a sister-sister relationship, one where Rue will do anything for Tasha, will risk it all for her.
Rue and Aasim was rocky in all shapes and ways. Aasim takes Rue away to Ghizon (which is explained towards the end) after her mothers death but when Rue is in Ghizon, Aasim makes multiple attempts to grow closer to his daughter but Rue denies him. I guess it could be typical teenage behaviour but to me, it seems like so much tension between them could've been solved if she would accept his attempts.
Rue and Bri is quite something. Bri is the closest thing Rue has to a best friend in Ghizon. Personally, I didn't care for Bri (nor did I care a huge amount about any characters but that's probably more about the fact that I didn't vibe with the book itself) but towards the end when Bri learns the truth about Ghizon, it's a prime example of white people being racist and not realizing it. A prime example of one that will put themselves first, victimize themselves in a problematic or horrid situation instead of thinking of those who have it much harder, much tougher and have been hurt by said situation for much longer.
Last relationship is incredibly minor, one I cannot think of why it was added in. Rue and her romantic love interest (I forgot to write down the name sorry). This romantic LI you meet roughly in the last 20-30% of the book and after then you have about 2 or 3 more scenes with them, one or two being very quick scenes. At the end, they kiss and it was the only thing that surprised me because it came out of nowhere. There was no build-up or any details that either character felt attracted to each other and even character wise for Rue, it felt useless. Especially considering the type of character she is.

Although it seems I have a lot of negative things to say about Wings of Ebony, I will remind that I don't believe the book to be a bad book or even a book that has a hint of being a awful book to read. For some people, as there is some in the reviews, they love this book, love everything about it and good for them, I am glad they were able to enjoy the book. The book itself isn't a bad book but when it comes to fantasy books, if neither the plot or characters grasp me, it's hard to get me to continue to be interested which all people will have for certain books. The book itself is beautiful in different ways, both cover wise (the cover really is gorgeous shout out to the cover artist) and story wise. The commentary in this is extremely important in todays environment, extremely important for youth either today, a few months, in a year or in a few years. The positivity around Rue not backing down on who she is, how she is indeed a strong and brave Black woman who loves who she is and loves her community undoubtedly is so incredibly important and a beautiful story to tell.

Despite this review sounding like the negatives outrun the positives, if you are interested in the story, don't find yourself overly discouraged by my words and criticisms. Everyone will have different opinions and criticisms for books but this book for sure does have a strong and great message that needs to be shared.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Wings of Ebony in exchange for an honest review.

Wings of Ebony is absolutely stunning. J. Elle combines social and historical commentary, magic, and reality into a coming of age story for one kick-ass Black woman. After the death of her mother, Rue is taken away from her half-sister Tasha by the father she's never met only to learn that she's not entirely human. When Rue returns to give Tasha a present on the anniversary of their mother's death, she accidentally turns the entire magical realm against the two of them and has to fight to keep herself and her sister safe while also uncovering sinister forces working against Black people in both her magical and human lives.

I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say the way the magic system mirrors colonization is hauntingly well done. I also really liked the way Elle sets up the reaction from one of the white characters on Rue's side to demonstrate that even non-malicious people can unknowingly be racist/exploitative and that ignorance is not a choice.

Rue is also such a powerful character to follow. She's strong and confident, but also has so many little flaws that make her feel like a real person. Her narration was entirely her own and it made her a really easy character to connect to.