We Need No Wings by Ann Davila Cardinal is an enjoyable read that could be said to be uplifting. . .(I live with 12 year old pun lovers). . .

Our main character Teresa has a problem, and the author whisks us from Vermont to sunny Spain, to delve more deeply into that problem. It is a genetic one, from her famous ancestress St. Teresa of Avila from who the title refers:

"We need no wings to go in search of God, but have only to find a place where we can be alone and look upon Him present within us."

Having read much about the Camino Real and those who walk that long road on Spain's coast, I was pleased to have it mentioned by Tere as one of her solutions. The read is not particularly religious, and Tere's wry humor kept me entertained, while her unexpected response to St. Teresa's life and celebrity was refreshing.

If you ever thought you'd like to fly freely (and who hasn't?!), you'll enjoy this read.

*A sincere thank you to Ann Davila Cardinal, RBmedia, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #WeNeedNoWings #NetGalley

Ann Dávila Cardinal’s We Need No Wings is a luminous exploration of grief, identity, and transformation, woven through with threads of magical realism. The narrative follows Teresa Sanchez, a sixty-year-old professor grappling with the loss of her husband and the subsequent unraveling of her sense of self. Her unexpected levitations serve as both a literal and metaphorical ascent, prompting a journey that bridges personal history and ancestral legacy.​

Cardinal masterfully blurs the boundaries between the tangible and the mystical, crafting a story that is both intimate and expansive. The prose unfolds with a leisurely grace, inviting readers into Teresa's world as she travels to Ávila, Spain, seeking connections to her forebear, St. Teresa of Ávila. This pilgrimage becomes a conduit for healing, self-discovery, and the forging of new relationships that anchor her in the present.​

Marisol Ramirez's narration enhances the experience, imbuing the text with warmth and depth that resonate with Teresa's emotional journey. Her performance captures the nuances of the protagonist's evolution, making the audiobook a compelling medium for this tale.​

We Need No Wings stands as a testament to the enduring power of storytelling to navigate the complexities of loss and the rediscovery of purpose. It's a poignant reminder that even in the face of life's upheavals, one can find grounding and grace.

A fascinating story that centers around identity, older women and grief.

I loved the immersive read I did with both print and audio, and the narration by Marisol Ramirez was wonderful!

*many thanks to RB Media and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

A grieving professor levitates one day in her garden and decides to research her ancestry, which included a famous saint.

The idea of the inconvenience of levitating was kind of fun. I liked all the different types of nuns. Overall I didn't get too much out of it and wasn't especially eager to finish.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I purchased for my library and shared.

What to love: celebrations of older women, consideration of colonized/colonizer aspects of identity, honest depiction of grief. While plenty of readers will enjoy this book, I hoped for more. I'm a big Teresa of Avila fan, so I loved the concept of this book, with the narrator connecting to the saint. But I didn't get the dose of inspiration I wanted. Instead, I felt that the book tries to take on too many characters and themes without enough development or follow-through. I struggled with the slow pace, as I already didn't love the character. Her outbursts were written more in the style of young adult fiction. I do hope this book finds its fans.

This novel follows one woman´s journey as she navigates some unexpected twists and turns of her life. Teresa Sanchez is a new widow, a female professor in the academia that is ruled by some unspoken rules, a 60-ish female in the man´s world - and she has recently started to levitate, as if all of this was not enough.
She also learns that she is a descendant of one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Church - St. Teresa of Avila!
So this distracted American woman flies to Spain in hopes to find the answers to her issues - and she might find her true self here.

Well, well...Some parts I enjoyed, some not. I understand the intention of mapping an unknown lands as this older female heroine faces the new stage of life, learning that we need no wings to fly. There is hope offered, a hope that life still could be exciting, and even a new romance still could be waiting. This is lovely.
BUT. This is also incredibly insensitive novel in its "americanism" and "feminism". Tere is a know-it-all, very sure of herself and her ways (and, of course, no one ever says her "no" within the novel - or if yes, then these people are not very nice, of course). She simply never learns, never confronts herself. She is right and this is it. There is this bad Catholic Church, this wrong culture, these strange habits. What happened to listening and learning?

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.

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.