Black Wings Beating by Alex London

Black Wings Beating (The Skybound Saga, #1)

by Alex London

Brysen and Kylee are twins but they couldn't be more different. Brysen wears his heart on his sleeve and strives to be a falconer like his late father.

Kylee has no time for love and runs their family's business to make end's meet. She wants nothing to do with falconry even though she may have a power hidden deep inside that begs otherwise.

Together they embark on a journey - Brysen to save the boy he loves, and Kylee to save Brysen from getting killed - into the treacherous Uztari mountains. They are hunting the legendary Ghost Eagle, a beast deadly enough to sway the tides in a territorial war about to ravage their village.

Alex London weaves a gripping tale to begin this trilogy about the power of communal memory, genocide, and the bonds of blood.

Reviewed by Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub on

3 of 5 stars

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Admission: I picked this book up simply because Kendare Blake said “Prepare to be riveted”. Does that make me lame? I think it does. Regardless, I quite enjoyed this book.

Brysen and his twin sister, Kylee, live in a society where falconers are everything. The religion is based on falconry. Jobs and prestige are also tied closely to that skill. Both twins want to pay off their debt- the only thing their deceased, abusive, dad left them- and leave their village. Kylee wants a life free from falconry, despite having an almost mystical gift for it. Brysen wants to run away with the boy he loves (who, incidentally, is a jerk of epic proportions).

They’ve almost reached that goal, but things suddenly change. Kylee goes with Brysen to attempt to catch the Ghost Eagle, the most dangerous bird in their world, in an attempt to save the life of Brysen’s crush. It’s incredibly difficult to capture; in fact, this bird is the cause of their dad’s death. Of course, from there things get complicated, as war rushes toward them.

I probably haven’t described the premise all that well. In this book, the storyline takes back seat to character development. I felt bad for Brysen because he’d been so beaten down by his dad that he was desperate for approval, even though the boy he loved had no regard for him at all. His selfishness (and Brysen was very selfish) came from a place of hurt and loss.

Meanwhile, Kylee would do almost anything for Brysen. She was basically the caregiver, but she also did some really dumb things from time to time. There were a couple of times that I wished I could reach into the book and shake her. I struggled a bit with why she refused to use her power to communicate with birds, even when it would have made things much simpler.

I must say, I saw the twist coming from a mile off. That doesn’t make the book less fun, though. It wasn’t the best book I’ve read this year, but it was a solid fantasy, one that I’ll happily read the sequel to.

https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2019/06/08/black-wings-beating-by-alex-london/

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 7 June, 2019: Finished reading
  • 7 June, 2019: Reviewed