The Girl With Borrowed Wings (review)

The unforgiving desert that surrounds Frenenquer's home forces the seventeen-year-old to stay inside, but even if she could bear the heat and had the nerve to brave it, her strict father wouldn't allow her out. When Sangris, a Free person and shapeshifter, finds his way into Frenenquer's bedroom and offers her a chance to fly, though, she breaks the habits of a lifetime and goes. The two spend their nights visiting Frenenquer's childhood homes together, but the idyll ends when Sangris expresses his love for her; since Frenenquer cannot reciprocate, she returns to the isolation of her father's house. The supernatural element of this appealingly odd tale is as symbolic as it is magical: the possibilities presented by Sangris and his wings have the same sort of reckless freedom that often accompanies first love, heedless of the rules of the regular world. Rossetti deftly portrays this sense of invincibility in the luxurious beauty of the open sky in direct contrast to the insular, bland world of Frenenquer's school and house (with little indication of actual geographic setting or time period). Frenenquer herself is superbly drawn, and her narration is a lesson in nuanced character development: at times, she directly addresses readers with an arresting sense of intimacy while simultaneously holding them at arm's length, a device that mimics her push-and-pull relationship with Sangris. Fortunately, there is a happy ending here, so hand this to teens who like their love stories thoughtful, dramatic, and ultimately optimistic.