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Reviewed by:
  • Wings of Ebony by J. Elle
  • Fiona Hartley-Kroeger
Elle, J. Wings of Ebony. Millner/Simon,
2021 [368p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9781534470675 $19.95
E-book ed. ISBN 9781534470699 $10.99
Reviewed from digital galleys Ad Gr. 8-12

One year after her mother was murdered and her absentee father whisked her off to the magical land of Ghizon, Rue breaks the rules of secrecy and returns to her old East Row neighborhood to see her younger half-sister, Tasha. When Rue uses her newly acquired magic to save Tasha from a suspicious car accident, she becomes a fugitive from magical law enforcement and uncovers a sinister connection between Ghizon and a local drug lord and a horrifying secret underpinning Ghizon's magic. Readers will easily fall under the spell of Rue's lively, compelling voice as she misses and then strives to protect her tight-knit, vibrant Black Houston neighborhood. Rue's lone Ghizoni friend, Bri, exhibits convincing privilege fragility when Rue informs her that the beloved Chancellor of Ghizon stole his magic, which he gifts to the Ghizoni, from a brown-skinned indigenous tribe that now lives in hiding. The magical world, unfortunately, is thinly sketched, and its racial dynamics lack clarity: it's inconsistent about what is real-world racism and what is fantasy analogy. Bri's empowerment through connection with her ancestors is nonetheless satisfying, and there's lots of room for a sequel to address the multitude of unanswered questions about the Chancellor and the indigenous magical history of Ghizon.

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