A beautiful story of working through the grief process and overcoming and coming back into our own at our own time. Grief is not a straight line and the process will circle back in on itself time and time again and this is also true in this story.

I am a sucker for all book magical realism! If you love all things feminist with a touch of magic, and characters full of diversity and wit, this book is for you! this is an uplifting take on femininity.

This was a good book and I enjoyed it more then I thought I would. This is a character driven book following Tere on a journey to find herself and purpose again after the loss of her husband.

What I liked:
*Descriptive writing
*Tere - She was such a real character balancing grief with wit, humor and resilience
*The magical realism elements

Final thoughts: I enjoyed this book and how the topic of grief was portrayed along with discovering magical realism, family roots and the travel journey she took

I loved the premise of this book, but it fell completely flat with many loose ends, underdeveloped characters, and an overabundance of “fluff.” I think 100 pages could be trimmed and it wouldn’t make a difference. I was really excited for an older female main character, but in my opinion, she was written like a standard millennial American woman rather than an older Latina from New York. It really just missed the mark for me.

Tere Sanchez has been a widow for a year, and is on a leave of absence from her position as a professor of literature, when she begins to levitate.Ann Dávila Cardinal sees levitation as a problem and sends Tere to Avila where her ancestor, St.Teresa wrote books and levitated. We Need No Wings (paper fromSourcebooks Landmark) is a whimsical look of a Puerto Rican tourist in Spain who finds a friend and a relative in this beautiful part of Spain. She also discovers the emotional reason she has been levitating. Enjoyable but I wanted actual flying.

3.5 stars rounded to 4.

I decided to pick up We Need No Wings as I had previously read The Storyteller’s Death and loved it. I am also quite fond of Ann Davila Cardinal’s writing. She is a story teller and will have you hooked.

In We Need No Wings our protagonist Tere decides to reconnect with her Spanish lineage after she begins to levitate a year after her husband’s death. At 60 and after being passed over time and time again by less qualified men for department chair, Tere has no idea what lays ahead of her. She decides to fly to Avila to visit a long lost family member to reconnect with her roots.

I went into this book not knowing what it was about and I was pleasantly surprised. I love that Davila chose to write about a sixty-year-old woman who is reinventing herself, finding joy, love and community once again. As women we are told we cannot do that, especially specially after we hit our 30s.

Tere was a refreshing character to read about. She is sassy, knowledgeable, smart, down to earth and flawed. A year after the passing of her husband she is still reckoning with his loss in her life.

Growing up Catholic (now agnostic) it was also refreshing to have a focus on woman in the church and for our main character to challenge long established patriarchal beliefs.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmarks for a digital advanced reader’s copy of We Need No Wings.

I love a good story with a not so young protagonist. This story was cute and cozy and almost like a travel guide. There were some religious themes, but I didn't find it to be too preachy. I loved exploring the city on a bicycle with Tere. I would say this only very lightly has magical realism elements. It was a feel good read and a nice escape from the deeply depressing books that I've been reading lately.

Thank you to the publisher for providing the ARC.

A beautiful novel that explores grief and "moving on" (is that ever possible?) at an older age. It also explores latinx identity and the complexity of family history and connection when your ancestry is from colonizers - and the difference between race and ethnicity and how those lines are blurry in the United States especially.

I thought Cardinal did a fantastic job bringing Avila to life on the page, as well as her characters. I especially liked Rodrigo ;) Found family is the best. I appreciated how Tere was firm in her desire to not get involved romantically, focusing on herself and being in tune with her needs.

I took off one star because I thought some of the actions toward the end were over-the-top and not in character for Tere. I also wanted more levitation scenes woven in.

Overall a good read that I think would work well for a book club!

I would first like to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-ARC.

I really wanted to love this book. A woman overcoming losing her husband by examining her heritage and the role of women in the Catholic Church was very interesting to me. As someone who identifies as Catholic and has always had a problem with the misrepresentation of women in the Church, I was intrigued by the premise of this book.

This book promised to delve into the ideas of aging, misogyny, religion, grief, family, heritage. I’ve read books where the author has weaved these themes well; unfortunately, this book and this author is not one of them.

I especially had trouble with the religious aspects of this book. There are a lot of things wrong with the Catholic Church, but this felt more like a sweeping critique of religious history and the author’s own internalized hatred instead of an intelligent examination of why the Church is the way it is. In perhaps the climax of the book, we see Tere attempt to steal a relic of St. Theresa because Tere is disgusted by the practice of keeping religious relics in the first place. I would have liked to see more of a discussion about why this practice developed. Instead, each encounter with someone of the clergy is written in an antagonistic light, and I think it would have been better handled with some nuance. I am very aware of the real problems with the Catholic Church and our MC’s hyper fixation on this one, extremely outdated, practice was frustrating and ultimately off-putting for me.

As far as the writing, I was surprised by how ‘Americanized’ the language was. I kept being surprised when someone mentioned she was speaking Spanish. I just found it very hard to believe that Tere would be that conversationally fluent in a dialect of Spanish she has never used before. This limited by ability to be immersed in the story.

I am sure there is an audience out there for this story, but unfortunately that audience simply wasn’t me.

This. Book one's very interesting about this Woman named T e r e s a n c h e s. She had some problems because her husband died. Her son has moved away. My friend professor named Richard was trying to help.Her because she took a year off from her job at the University in Vermont.
Who's the minnesota vikings quarterback this year. It was very hard to her to accept the death of her husband. Shoot want to find out why she's Was floating over her body. She called her aunt In Puerto Rico. To find out how she was related to the saint.T e r e s a. The history goes back to Spain to a town AVO.I. She had an aunt who is in the nunnery there as well. She was very unhappy with her life in America.So she decide to take a trip to spain. She wanted to find out why she was Having these experiences with her body. She found the town very friendly and helpful. I could see why this woman felt disconnected because she was very much in love with her husband. She was trying to figure out what she really wanted to do in life.

This just wasn’t for me. It felt a little soft-handed and too gentle in its approach. While the book touches on many themes and important topics, none of them felt explored in enough depth to hold my interest. A large part of my initial intrigue was seeing how the author would capture grief, identity, and culture, but for me, it fell short of truly integrating the main character's identity into the core of the story.

There are some beautiful moments in the book, and the prose is clear and vivid. However, there were also too many instances where it felt like we were getting filler, which slowed the plot and pacing considerably. The main character is likable enough, and I’m sure many readers will be drawn to the lightness and uplifting spirit of the story. I’ve heard it described as wholesome, adorable, and touching, and in that, I agree.

Grief and aging are usually themes I love to see more of, especially as we don't often get main characters who are older. There’s something unique about seeing the process of rediscovery later in life, particularly after the loss of a loved one. While this book captures the essence of that, I just wanted more, especially when it came to the magical realism elements.

I do appreciate the book's attempt to incorporate other issues, including taking a critical look at religion, even if those moments didn’t always land for me. I think if you're a gentle reader who enjoys cozy, uplifting stories where nothing too negative really affects the main character, then this book is for you. Tere’s journey can help others, and I’ve already recommended it to my godmother’s book club.

Major Thank You to Sourcebook Landmark and NetGalley for this digital ARC!

this book guys!!! This book!!! It was such a whimsical, magical and historical read about a woman who has lost a LOT but finds something that makes her wonder what life could have in store for her and how, the story of her family could potentially help her heal.
How the theme of grief gets portrayed into this story is a heart breaking; it shows us that it’s not linear and it can hit at any time, for any reason and can take us backwards but also, forward in some ways.
I loved how the author explained the scenery of Ávila, I felt so connected and that I was there with Tere traveling and inhaling everything.

I love all the characters that we meet that become an essential part of Tere’s life. Everyone had something new and wonderful to teach her. Especially Sister Isa , she was wonderful and funny too; it made me change the perspective on some nuns. The critiques made to the Catholic Church felt pretty close to home and NEEDED to be expressed because of how they overlook women and their practices and rights.

The fact that she undergoes everything she does is heartbreaking yet heartwarming at the same time. I love how the author crafted this story and how she weaves her wording; it felt ancestral and exquisite. I really loved this book and want to listen to the audiobook when it comes out.

This is my second Ann Daila Cardinal story and just like The Storyteller’s Death, I was captivated.

Ann’s writing beautifully captures rich culture, grief and love in equal measure, and paints pictures of beautiful scenery.


The descriptions of Availa, Spain really made me feel like I was there and I loved that. Ann did this with the Storyteller’s Death as well where the setting almost becomes its own character. There were moments where I forgot where I was while reading this book and that is exactly why I read.

Magical realism is some of my favorite writing and I love the way it is woven into the story. I am looking forwards to reading more of Ann’s books!

3.85 stars

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. While I thought the premise of this was unique and intriguing, the structure and the particularly the unnatural/forced dialogue didn’t work for me, and I had to DNF.

A moving story about coping with loss. I loved the themes of processing grief and grappling with religious contradictions while exploring the magical realism element about Tere Sanchez levitating against her will. I enjoyed seeing intergenerational friendships and two people with different perspectives finding common ground and choosing kindness. I also enjoyed the beautiful descriptions of Avila, Spain. What I didn't love, both the themes and the relationships seemed to remain surface level. There were a lot of themes (subthemes?) covered in the book and none of them were fully developed into something deep and meaningful. The pacing was slow. And for a character rooted in the Latin community coming from Puerto Rico, she grew up in NY and resides in VT, so this felt more like an afterthought than a central point of the novel.

We need no wings to fly is a story about the long and painful process of mourning the loss of someone. Tere, a 60-year-old literature teacher, lost her husband a year ago and everyone expects her to have got over Carlos' death and be able to get on with her life. However, it is when Tere begins to levitate in the courtyard and is faced with the fear of this surreal event that the character decides to leave her refuge and look for answers in Ávila (where her family comes from).
The narrative crosses many themes more or less successfully: feminism, mourning, religion, ageing, etc. Although some themes are lost in the middle of the story, we understand how rediscovery, ageing and mourning are the main focuses, enhanced by magical realism.
Even though I'm not a religious person, the narrative captivated me with its reflections and criticisms of the Church, which are still very relevant today. In addition, Ann Dávila Cardinal explores many themes from history and art that captivated and fascinated me. The theme of religion and the cult of the saints is something that intrigues me and that I really appreciate in the Latinx and Spanish literature I've been reading over the last year. However, I wish the main character's memories of her Puerto Rican heritage had been explored more, rather than just popping up sporadically as reminders to the reader.
Despite this, there are many positive aspects, and I would highlight the charming characters, especially the female ones, who are full of life and vigour, and the descriptions of the city of Ávila, which are vivid and full of detail.
All in all, I came away from this book pleasantly surprised and wanting to travel the paths of Tere and her distant relative, St Teresa of Avila.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an electronic ARC from SOURCEBOOKS Landmark through NetGalley.
The synopsis intrigued me and I appreciated receiving this ARC.
Tere has struggled through the grief of losing her husband. She took a leave as a professor and has stayed in her home simply being. To her shock and surprise, her world changes one day when she levitates while working in her husband's garden. This launches her search for answers and connection to distant generations - in particular, the saint she is named after. Her answers come as she seeks journeys to Avila, Spain. Her encounters with her living cousin and her inner conversations with Saint Teresa bring her through the grief process and closer to answers for her own levitations. In the end, she faces a serious health situation which provides a realistic explanation this phenomenon. However, readers also listen as a witness shares what they saw before her accident and surgery. Readers can draw their own conclusions but will lean toward the mystical based on the final chapter.
Davila Cardinal takes readers on this adventure with beautifully written descriptions of the scenery and locations in Avila. Many may feel they've been there. She writes with a bias toward the Catholic Church which may bother some readers. The opening scene captured my attention but the story began to bog down with excessive details shortly afterward. It does pick up again but the ending feels a bit abrupt. I do appreciate the final sentence; it offers readers a chance to think about what is weighing on them in their own lives.

This is a book about rediscovering yourself (and your whole history) after grief--it's more about the messy, unwilling work of moving on and changing even when you were perfectly happy as the person you were before. Tere Sanchez was happy as a wife, professor, and mother of an adult son before her husband's unexpected death, but a year later, she's still not recovered or willing to go back to her teaching job (no matter how much her university threatens her). She feels unmoored--and then she literally becomes unmoored, because Tere is shocked to find herself levitating. This sounds like wishful thinking--drifting upward, becoming weightless--but one of the most convincing aspects of the book is how terrifying and inconvenient Tere finds it. It turns out Tere is going to need to figure out her relationship with her history (present and quite distant, personal and inherited) before she figures out anything else. She is drawn to St. Teresa of Avila and discovers a family connection; she stumbles to Avila to learn more and the novel takes off. It was satisfying reading a sixty-year-old protagonist who needs to figure out her life again. I found the dialogue a little flat, but enjoyed the characters and especially the warm descriptions of Avila itself.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my free earc. My opinions are all my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed “We Need No Wings.” This is a compelling story that is light and airy yet covers very real issues of anxiety, grief, finding your place, reevaluating and reinventing yourself at a later age in life, misogyny, and to top it all off, the idea of levitating and finding yourself outside of your own body and looking down on the world from afar.

I think everyone can relate to these themes at a number of points in their lives. I loved Dávila Cardinal’s writing style and approach to this story, particularly her character development and how the story unfolded. Tere Sánchez is authentic, insecure, dynamic, and flawed. I couldn’t help but feel for her as she tried to come out from under a mountain of grief and try to sort herself out, even if that meant going against the norm to spontaneously book a trip to Spain to research her roots and find help for the sudden onset of levitation. I also really enjoyed how immersive the novel’s setting was and felt I was in Avila alongside Tere. And oh, how I wish I were in Spain right now!

I laughed out loud, learned more about the actual definition of magical realism, became interested in Saint Teresa of Avila, cheered Tere on, was annoyed as some of the men in her life tried to push her towards what they thought was right, understood her complicated relationship with the Catholic Church, and thoroughly appreciated her journey of self discovery even as she was reinventing herself.

Available September 10, 2024! Thank you @bookmarked and @netgalley for the #drc of #weneednowings by @anndavilacardinal

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We Need No Wings is a compelling story about finding and transforming oneself at any age. It's a novel that intertwines themes of grief, loss, and new friendships.

The protagonist, Tere Sanchez, has been grieving her husband for a year, leading her to become almost reclusive and take a leave of absence from her work as a professor—a job she loves. One day, Tere experiences the unbelievable: she begins levitating. In search of an explanation for this phenomenon, she travels to Spain, where she discovers that to truly fly, one doesn't need wings.

The novel is layered with various themes, including grief, loss, misogyny, the effects of colonialism, colorism, heritage, and religion. The author has skillfully woven these elements into the narrative. I found the sections about Saint Teresa particularly fascinating, especially in how they explored the misogyny and patriarchy of that era. As someone who isn't Christian, these insights were informative and engaging.

However, I felt the story dragged a bit at certain points, which slightly affected my overall enjoyment. Despite this, We Need No Wings is a worthwhile read, rich with thought-provoking themes and well-researched historical details.