Month: April 2020

If These Wings Could Fly

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Plot:

Home is supposed to be a refuge. For Leighton, it’s the center of the storm. Most of her peers are figuring out what college to attend when their senior year is finished. Leighton is trying to decide if she’s going to be able to escape her hometown, or if it’s more important for her to stay home continue to protect her mom and younger sisters from her dad’s rage.

While she’s navigating the murky waters of her last year of high school, thousands and thousands of crows are descending on her hometown. No one knows why the crows are lingering, or how to get rid of them. Between writing a column for her school newspaper about the crows, fighting her growing attachment to a great guy named Liam, and keeping her sisters safe in her room while her dad escalates in violence toward her mom, Leighton has to figure out how to chart a course forward.

Favorite Passage:

“I take Mom’s hand.
I see a fractured system, delicate and damaged, that could collapse right under our feet.
She sees home.”
— Chapter Fifty-One
[This passage was quoted from an ARC; as such, it may change before final publication.]

What I Loved Most:

Violence at home is such a real issue in our society. In the author’s note of the Advanced Reader’s Copy that I got from Katherine Tegen Books (thanks, friends!), Kyrie McCauley shares that she’s writing the book she wishes her sixteen-year-old self would have been able to read. If These Wings Could Fly is heart breaking and empowering and motivating. It calls attention to emotional abuse, as well as the way that domestic violence is cyclical and tends to escalate over time. Especially in this time of quarantine and staying-at-home, my heart has been drifting to those who home is not a safe place for. It’s crucial reading at any time, but seems extra important right now.

I want to put this here in case anyone needs it: the National Domestic Violence Hotline number is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), and you can also chat with an advocate on their website. If you need help, and can get to a place where it’s safe to reach out for help, please contact them. Also, I love you, and it’s not your fault, and you deserve to be safe.

Read this book if you like:

Strong female protagonists, magical realism, gut-wrenchingly real pain mixed with hopefulness

Book Details: