"The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe," -Gustave Flaubert
Whoa! What is this? Another book review on another amazing indie author?
Hell yes.
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Disclaimer: I was sent this novel in exchange for an honest review.
As if being a teenage girl wasn’t hard enough already, Isabelle Parke has a significant other burden on her shoulders. Ever since a car crash killed both of Isabelle’s parents and sister, she has been struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, ‘friends’ who don’t stop talking about the fateful Accident, plummeting grades, a (stupid) therapist and a cranky adoptive aunt.
So when Isabelle finds a guardian angel sitting in her bedroom, she just assumes he’s another one of the side effects from the Accident. The angel introduces himself as Jophiel, assigned by God to help Isabelle accept and get over what happened to her. Again, totally PTSD. However, Jophiel begins doing things that no figment of imagination can: picking out tasteful outfits, bantering with Isabelle, and actually helping her when others cannot. Isabelle comes to realize that whether Jophiel is actually her guardian angel or she really is crazy, her life will never be the same.
~
You all know the drill!
Spoilers, duh.
Spoilers, duh.
The Bad
1. Nitpicks
First off, this book was fantastic, and all of the bad things I'm going to say about it are nitpicks. But I nitpick them so the author can see these and learn to make her work absolutely perfect. Because it's damn near there.
There was some unneeded description of menial tasks. Things that could have been described in two sentences were entire pages long. Transitions were also a bit slow. Sometimes I got to the end of a bit and thought - wait, what was the point of that dialogue? or - wait, what was the point of Scott showing X-character doing this? Just a small thing, but it would have tightened the prose up a bit.
My second nitpick is that the theme of Isabelle 'needing someone to blame' for the accident was underdeveloped. In retrospect, it made sense because her needing someone to blame is a natural, human reaction. However, it wasn't hit hard enough, since that ended up being the climax of the book.
If Scott had woven in themes of Isabelle's discontent with not having someone to blame, and showed her blaming other people - and herself - more, the big emotional moment of Jophiel revealing to her that he was the driver would have been a moment of astounding clarity and heartbreak. Now, the moment didn't fall entirely flat, but Scott could have taken it up a notch and tied the whole story together.
I think this last nitpick comes from Isabelle not being entirely aware that she has to change. No one can truly change unless they admit that they need help, that they need to change. If she was more aware of her dysfunction, but didn't exactly know how to change or didn't believe she could, then her whole arc and especially the climax would have absolutely knocked me out of the park.
It sure as hell came close to, though.
The writing was a bit juvenile but perfectly functional. It also worked with the context and tone of the story. I suppose my apt towards purple prose is a personal preference.
Some things were a bit cliche, but the cliches didn't fall flat. Cliche isn't really a bad thing. It would only have been a bad thing if it was poorly written or the cliches felt contrived or just didn't work, which certainly wasn't the case for Wings.
First off, this book was fantastic, and all of the bad things I'm going to say about it are nitpicks. But I nitpick them so the author can see these and learn to make her work absolutely perfect. Because it's damn near there.
There was some unneeded description of menial tasks. Things that could have been described in two sentences were entire pages long. Transitions were also a bit slow. Sometimes I got to the end of a bit and thought - wait, what was the point of that dialogue? or - wait, what was the point of Scott showing X-character doing this? Just a small thing, but it would have tightened the prose up a bit.
My second nitpick is that the theme of Isabelle 'needing someone to blame' for the accident was underdeveloped. In retrospect, it made sense because her needing someone to blame is a natural, human reaction. However, it wasn't hit hard enough, since that ended up being the climax of the book.
If Scott had woven in themes of Isabelle's discontent with not having someone to blame, and showed her blaming other people - and herself - more, the big emotional moment of Jophiel revealing to her that he was the driver would have been a moment of astounding clarity and heartbreak. Now, the moment didn't fall entirely flat, but Scott could have taken it up a notch and tied the whole story together.
I think this last nitpick comes from Isabelle not being entirely aware that she has to change. No one can truly change unless they admit that they need help, that they need to change. If she was more aware of her dysfunction, but didn't exactly know how to change or didn't believe she could, then her whole arc and especially the climax would have absolutely knocked me out of the park.
It sure as hell came close to, though.
The writing was a bit juvenile but perfectly functional. It also worked with the context and tone of the story. I suppose my apt towards purple prose is a personal preference.
Some things were a bit cliche, but the cliches didn't fall flat. Cliche isn't really a bad thing. It would only have been a bad thing if it was poorly written or the cliches felt contrived or just didn't work, which certainly wasn't the case for Wings.
The Good
1. The Characters
Oh my goodness. I absolutely adored the characters in this book.
Jophiel and Isabelle were fantastic together. Their humor and relationship dynamic was beautiful, and I felt all of it. I even believed that they were in love even after a short amount of time. I just . . . wow. Even writing this, I think back to how they helped each other and just smile. It was all so beautiful and perfect. They were so broken, but they worked so well together. I'm a sucker for good character arcs, and this sure did hit the spot.
I also liked Isabelle's family dynamic with her aunt and cousins. They each had distinct personalities, and I loved how their relationship with Isabelle changed over the course of the book. The whole dynamic between them felt so . . . real. Loving, yet distant. Accepting, but unsure. I liked that the family wasn't vilified or patronized.
I just, gosh. I loved this book.
2. The Plot
Now, this part might be entirely biased because I just adore stories like this. The plot of Wings is simple. Angel comes to Isabelle to help her work through her problems. Angel inevitably has problems of his own. Healing and fun stuff and character development.
But it works so well because Scott's writing along with the deeply flawed and likable characters creates an incredibly realistic and heartfelt world. You can't help but love Isabelle and Jophiel. You can't help but tear up at the sad parts, and laugh and the witty dialogue.
I'm such a sucker for stories of personal change and healing, and Scott has crafted a simple yet exquisite story of pain, loss, love, life, and friendship.
And I adore it.
3. Pretty Much Everything
I loved the integration of faith. It wasn't overly preachy, but worked within the context of the story. This is about angels, after all. I loved how in tune Scott seemed to be with teenagers, and how high school works.
Just, the emotional dynamics, the characters, the arcs. I hate to sound repetitive, but pretty much everything in this book was a success.
Objective Rating: 8/10
Enjoyment Level: 9.5/10
Oh my goodness. I absolutely adored the characters in this book.
Jophiel and Isabelle were fantastic together. Their humor and relationship dynamic was beautiful, and I felt all of it. I even believed that they were in love even after a short amount of time. I just . . . wow. Even writing this, I think back to how they helped each other and just smile. It was all so beautiful and perfect. They were so broken, but they worked so well together. I'm a sucker for good character arcs, and this sure did hit the spot.
I also liked Isabelle's family dynamic with her aunt and cousins. They each had distinct personalities, and I loved how their relationship with Isabelle changed over the course of the book. The whole dynamic between them felt so . . . real. Loving, yet distant. Accepting, but unsure. I liked that the family wasn't vilified or patronized.
I just, gosh. I loved this book.
2. The Plot
Now, this part might be entirely biased because I just adore stories like this. The plot of Wings is simple. Angel comes to Isabelle to help her work through her problems. Angel inevitably has problems of his own. Healing and fun stuff and character development.
But it works so well because Scott's writing along with the deeply flawed and likable characters creates an incredibly realistic and heartfelt world. You can't help but love Isabelle and Jophiel. You can't help but tear up at the sad parts, and laugh and the witty dialogue.
I'm such a sucker for stories of personal change and healing, and Scott has crafted a simple yet exquisite story of pain, loss, love, life, and friendship.
And I adore it.
3. Pretty Much Everything
I loved the integration of faith. It wasn't overly preachy, but worked within the context of the story. This is about angels, after all. I loved how in tune Scott seemed to be with teenagers, and how high school works.
Just, the emotional dynamics, the characters, the arcs. I hate to sound repetitive, but pretty much everything in this book was a success.
Objective Rating: 8/10
Enjoyment Level: 9.5/10
~
Wings will be finding its way onto my favorites shelf. Thank you, Olivia Faye Scott for writing an amazing book. Oh, and thanks for sending it to me, too.
~The WordShaker
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