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.