Book Title: Magonia
Author: Maria Dahvana Headley
Published Date: April 28th, 2015
Publisher: Harper
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Series: Book one of Magonia duology
Book Link: Goodreads
Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository
Synopsis from Goodreads
Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.
Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live.
So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.
Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.
Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?
Disclaimer: I received this book from Harper via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.
Review
This book was supposed to be weird, awesome and captivating. I love weird books, so I was excited to read this one. I’m a sucker for “sick lit” and throw in some sci-fi elements in there and I’m usually THRILLED with the result.
Unfortunately, my enjoyment of this book was short lived. It was super interesting initially and I looooved Aza Ray’s voice. As someone who spent a LOT of time in hospitals as a little girl, I could relate to what she was saying about hospital life. Aza Ray was wonderfully sarcastic and I loved that about her.
Things went downhill quickly when we meet the half-bird creatures. I love weird, but this was just too weird even for me. I became less invested as I kept reading. My enjoyment of Aza Ray even disappeared once she got on this weird cloud ship thing.
I enjoyed the writing all the way through. It was probably the only thing that kept me reading until the end. The characters were supposed to be interesting (I mean hello, bird people!) but the characters ranged from mildly annoying to insanely aggravating. But I kept reading the book.
It showed so much promise at the beginning, that I couldn’t help but finish it. I was holding out hope that things would improve, but they didn’t. Unfortunately, I have to give this book 2 stars. I will not be reading the sequel. I am so disappointed with this book, but that’s okay. I don’t have to like this book. I wanted to, but I don’t and that’s okay.
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