Riot Grrrl Reads

Magonia
By Maria Dahvana Headley

Source: Physical copy
Page count: 320
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, 

Goodreads Synopsis:

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?

My review:

I picked this book up expecting to absolutely adore it. I had heard so many good reviews, and the cover was so beautiful... I actually had an argument with my sister on who got to buy it (obviously I won). In the end, it was a huge flop. I actually had to force myself to get through it because it got really slow in the middle.

The author definitely has a talent for writing. The style was beautiful and vivid: I could find no fault in it. I really liked the fancy formatting too of the book, which paired really nicely with the poetic style. I think I will read books by her in the future because she's obviously very talented. 

My main problem was the weirdness of the book. I think in the middle it got a little bit confusing and far-fetched, so I found it hard to get into. I thought the concept was clever and original, but just not done well. It got too weird, so I found it hard to believe and got a little bored.

The characters were very enjoyable. My favourite was Jason because he was written really well, and had an original personality. You could definitely see why Aza liked him, and why they were friends. 

Another thing that I thought was done well in this book was the romance. A love triangle could easily have been written in, but Aza and Jason stayed loyal to each other throughout the whole book. It didn't detract from the main storyline, but helped to progress it. I usually don't like romance, but in this case, it was done really well.

Overall, I couldn't really enjoy the book, even though certain elements were done well. I feel like the weirdness and pacing of the book made me lose interest, and by the end I was very ready to finish it. I got bored, so found the book to be a big flop.

My rating: