There were good parts, don't get me wrong. There was even a time when I was really getting into it! Here's how it went down:
The Beginning
So, Aza has some mystery illness that no doctor can figure out and that causes her to have breathing issues. That has to be very difficult. Also difficult is Aza's attitude. But her friend Jason was pretty great, so I stuck with it, even though I was a bit bored. Then I actually started to enjoy their friendship, and the "will they or won't they?" thing, and it started tugging on my feels. There were points that I was in tears over Aza and Jason and her sickness, and other spoilery stuff that I won't mention. Suffice it to say, I was really starting to enjoy the book.
And Then....
Bird people. With giant ships in the sky. The hell?! I just.... couldn't. First of all, I was confused. So, so confused. What are bird people exactly? I was basically picturing a team mascot.
Things in the beginning had moved slow, and then suddenly Aza is a bird person, in this whole new world, and I simply couldn't keep up. And also, it was kind of too weird and I stopped caring.
There were a few things I enjoyed, though. The writing was very pretty, and Jason was fantastic as a character (even though some of the stuff about him was highly unrealistic, his character itself was great). And, some of the stuff at the end was pretty enjoyable, so there's that.
But it seemed rushed in general. There was a lot of stuff crammed into 320 pages, which is probably why I had a hard time connecting to the bird stuff (well, that and the fact that it was bird people flying through the damn sky on big old ships). And I don't know if this was an intended outcome, but as the book wore on, I felt pretty sure that I was being given an environmental lecture? I could be completely off base here, but that's how some things came off.
Bottom Line: This was just not for me, but a lot of people absolutely adored it. There's apparently a sequel, but I don't think I will be partaking. I was fine with how this one ended, and honestly, I can't do anymore bird people.
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight