Review: A Rush of Wings
Six more days for me before I have to return to studying for a thrice damned college entrance exam. Fuck my life. Like seriously, why can't the universe let me pull my life together and take a gap year and make it seem like I'm actually trying to do something with my life. Let me live LMAO. Not me using LMAO to hide my pain.
Rowenna Winthrop has always known there’s magic within her. But though she hears voices on the wind and possesses unusual talents, her mother Mairead believes Rowenna lacks discipline, and refuses to teach her the craft that keeps their Scottish village safe. And when Mairead dies a sinister death, it seems Rowenna’s only chance to grow into her power has died with her. Then, on a fateful, storm-tossed night, Rowenna rescues a handsome stranger named Gawen from a shipwreck, and her mother miraculously returns from the dead. Or so it appears.
The resurrected Mairead is nothing like the old one. To hide her new monstrous nature, she turns Rowenna’s brothers and Gawen into swans and robs Rowenna of her voice. Forced to flee, Rowenna travels to the city of Inverness to find a way to break the curse. But monsters take many forms, and in Inverness, Rowenna is soon caught in a web of strangers who want to use her raw magic for their own gain. If she wishes to save herself and the people she loves most, Rowenna will have to take her fate into her own hands and unlock the power that has evaded her for so long.
The resurrected Mairead is nothing like the old one. To hide her new monstrous nature, she turns Rowenna’s brothers and Gawen into swans and robs Rowenna of her voice. Forced to flee, Rowenna travels to the city of Inverness to find a way to break the curse. But monsters take many forms, and in Inverness, Rowenna is soon caught in a web of strangers who want to use her raw magic for their own gain. If she wishes to save herself and the people she loves most, Rowenna will have to take her fate into her own hands and unlock the power that has evaded her for so long.
QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 3.2/5, PRETTY MUCH MEH, IT DOESN'T INVOKE MUCH IN ME.
Possible Trigger Tags:
1. Gore
2. Mentions of burning people alive
3. Violence
4. Mentions of Blood
WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE BOOK'S:
1. Writing Quality: The writing quality is good and it flows really well. Well, after the first chapter, because the first chapter shows little to no development. But the writing style considerably gets better with the second chapter and is good enough to keep reading. The chapters kind of remind me of a mini skirt, long enough to cover everything, but short enough to keep a reader interested. And it's fast paced, so I went through this book really quick, except for the times that I actually got distracted.
2. Character Development: Character development is quite interesting, even though there isn't much that happens when it comes to the side characters. Rowenna's character is really well developed, she goes from becoming this homely, motherly, sisterly caretaker of the house to being the wild feral saviour of her brothers and Gawen. In the beginning she's afraid of her powers, the unknown and the future, but by the end, she's embracing them and she's embracing the darkness that is calling out to her. It would almost be a villain story, had not Rowenna decided to save everyone in her village. It would have made a wonderful villain origin story.
I'm sad that the other characters aren't developed much. Everyone else Torr, Gawen, her brothers even. They had so much more room for development. There were just certain moments of them where they were bitter or had a sudden change of heart, but other than that, they simply seemed unidimensional to me. Kind of sad to see a story with so much potential die like that.
3. Couldn't put it down- Ness: 6/10.
4. Plot Twists: For a fantasy novel, this novel lacks plot twists. Like it seriously does and its absolutely disheartening to see a fantasy novel with no plot twists. Maybe fantasy would be pushing it, but I remember that this book is tagged as Historical fiction in Goodreads as well. Historical fiction without plot twists? Come on don't make me laugh. Even books that I haven't liked in historical fiction [hasn't happened much] contain some form of plot twists however small or predictable they may be. WHERE IS THE PLOT TWIST!!?
5. Plot: The writing style and plot reminds me a lot of the story "Six Crimson Cranes" by Elizabeth Lim, where Shiori's brothers turn into cranes with crimson heads while she loses the ability to speak. Here Rowenna's brothers turn into swans and Gawen turns into a black swan. And also Rowenna loses her ability to speak while her brothers and Gawen are in swan form. Also, Rowenna has to fight against a monster who has taken the shape of their mother. Now, tell me, whether I am high or not to see the glaring similarities between the two of them? The difference was that Six Crimson Cranes was an absolute blast and I'll read it again whereas this book is so meh, I regret leaving the Nowhere Girls and reading it. I liked the premise, I liked the fact that this girl has something deep inside her which is potentially dangerous, but all the plot points have been worked so little upon, it's just sad. Seriously sad, a lot of potential plot points, sorely missed out.
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