The author's passion shines through in this book. It was well written and explored some intriguing themes, even though, I didn’t connect with it like I wanted to. It has great potential to appeal to other magical realism readers and I encourage others to try it out! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

A levitating 60yo main character ? I wasn't sure what to expect, but this book was a great read.
We Need No Wings gradually unfolded into something far more profound. The protagonist, Tere, is in the later stages of her life and struggling through a difficult year following the loss of her husband. Her world, both personally and professionally, seems to be falling apart.
To complicate matters, she begins experiencing episodes of levitation. As a distant relative of Saint Teresa of Ávila, a famous levitating mystic, Tere is determined to stop these strange occurrences. When the chance arises, she travels to Ávila, Spain, seeking answers-but what she finds goes far beyond her expectations.
At its heart, this is a beautiful meditation on grief, self-discovery, love, and family heritage. The levitation in the story serves as a rich metaphor for much more than mysticism, and it is handled with great skill. Ultimately, themes of acceptance, inner peace, and faith are woven throughout, offering a deep sense of reflection. The setting in the picturesque village of Ávila, Spain, is vividly portrayed, adding to the novel's charm and grounding the spiritual themes in a very real sense of place.
The audio was fantastic and transported me to Spain !
I loved the peek into the historical Teresa of Avila's life especially since my sister was named after her.

The premise was interesting enough and the narration was decent. Unfortunately, those were the only positives for me. Tere was one of the most unlikeable characters that I have encountered in a while - she was whiny, entitled, ranty, and rude. Maybe some of her adventures would have been interesting with someone else but I could not bring myself to care about Tere's experiences.

"We Need No Wings" by Ann Dávila Cardinal and narrated by Marisol Ramirez is the story of a literature professor in her 60s who is trying to recover from the loss of her beloved husband and trying to determine how the rest of her life should be. One problem is that she mysteriously levitates at the most inopportune moments--something she could never tell others because they would either see her as crazy or as something else entirely. When she discovers that she is the descendant of a catholic saint who also levitated, she heads to Spain to try to find answers.

I really wanted to like this book, but it was a slow start and it never really brought me totally into the story, although the descriptions of Spain and her encounters with the locals there were delightful.

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this audio book. My opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!!

What a good book! I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I loved the main characters! They had great chemistry and worked so well together. I loved how the book just flowed. My first by this author but will not be my last!!!

This book was sent to our IRL book club for review this past month. I wasn’t over the moon with the description, but was willing to keep an open mind and give it a try. IN the first chapter you learn that Tere is still grieving the loss of her husband, who passed 1 year ago when all of sudden she levitates in her backyard. After that she goes on a trip to Avila, Spain to learn more about an ancestor who also levitated. The writing wasn’t bad, which kept me reading it, however Tere was a bit annoying as a character and I didn’t feel be the end that much was resolved. Maybe this would be a good book for someone dealing with grief and how to move on with your life and find happiness. However it’s not one I will be recommending anytime soon. I ended up listening to the last few chapters of the audiobook as I just couldn’t get myself to pick up the physical book and finish it.

Dear Author,

You painted a beautiful portrait of the inner turmoil of finding oneself we all face, often times again and again; coupled with some magical realism, your book took flight in my imagination. I love your main character, Teresa. Her grief is palpable and raw. Repeatedly I found myself routing for her to levitate on every page. A heart warming book.

Marisol Ramirez narration was sublime and held my attention with every sentence.

Yours truly,

J. D. McCoughtry

Thank you, NetGalley and Recorded Books, for the chance to listen to this audiobook arc.

I like the idea of this book. The focus on aging, grief, womanhood are all plot points that work for me. This just didn't pull me in. It felt like there was a lot of telling instead of showing. Even the dialogue felt clunky.