Black Wings Beating (The Skybound Saga, #1)

by Alex London

[layawaydragon]

Content Warning: Child Abuse, Abusive Father, "Crazy" Religious Mother, Animal Attack, War, Battles,

I liked the prologue with the father in the mountains. Then came Chapter One.

I cannot lie. I did not enjoy this at first.

The putupon sister, the abused brother were so been there done that in the beginning. I did not see the point. I was exasperated with the repetition. It's not new ground they're treading. It honestly felt condescending how much was hammered over and over.

Hence, the first half was boring and dragged. But I got an ARC and didn't want to DNF. I was so close to doing so anyways. Then shit finally started happening!!

The Owl Mothers. The Covey. The attacks, the switching of POV's, it started popping off the page and I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

I was impressed with some twists and the ending. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. What a turn around.

I still say the first half can be shortened by half easily without repetition, better use of flashbacks, and maybe a prologue if you're really insistent. But YMMV.

If you can get through that long ramp up, I say it's worth it. Unless you're already into birds and the previews are your thing, borrow from your library or get it on sale.