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Does your reading life need a little spice?  Me too – I need to mix it up more, which is one reason we chose When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole to read with Virtual Book Club in April!  Is this book spicy in the romance way?  We have no idea, but Cole does write open door romances too.  For these purposes, we were really interested in reading Cole’s first thriller.  We’d love for you to join us in learning just what happens when no one is watching, and discussing it on Friday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. CST, but you do have to sign up here!

J is for Jess. Jess Elle has a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in rhetoric and writing from the University of Texas at Austin. Texas is home for her but she has been liking Southern California more and more. When she’s not writing or reading she’s cooking because she believes food is love. Wings of Ebony is her debut novel which was pitched on Twitter in #DVPit. After almost 300 likes and over 250 retweets in October 2018, Rue’s story was picked up by Simon & Schuster. It has since become a New York Time’s bestseller, and the second in the duology, Ashes of Gold, was released on January 11, 2022.

Looking at the original Twitter pitch, the idea of Rue’s story being a mashup of The Hate U Give and Wonder Woman where a “Black teen from the hood learns she’s half-human, half-god” and must destroy racist gods that were “poisoning her block with violence, drugs, and crime,” there’s no question why we were interested in the book. Had Rue’s story lived up to that hype for me, I wouldn’t feel like there are unfulfilled expectations. Rue’s story, however, had me having to hold on to the questions about the magical system and technology that comes from the island of Ghizon. I found Rue’s character filled with impatience. Her rage is justifiable living and growing up a Black kid in Houston’s East Row, but her choices feel like there’s a lack of forethought before she jumps in. Especially in the way she speaks to everyone, elder, peer, or enemy. There were other struggles I had. I felt like even the settings of both Houston and Ghizon lacked small details that could have really brought the places to life for me. They fell flat, and I didn’t have any connection to them. My biggest struggle, however, was several places with a lack of continuity which shows a lack of editing.

Unfortunately, I am going to have to give Wings of Ebony a 2.5 star review. The promise of the premise was there, and the action was on point, but the above issues are something that didn’t meet my expectations and became repeatedly disappointing.  I don’t think that I can read the follow up and ending of the story, I’ll just have to wait for Nikki to give me the overview.

~Ashley

Darling readers, I do so love to tell Ashley’s wrong about a book.  She’s not wrong about this book and it makes me sad.  That pitch, that I *just* read for the first time sounds magical, but it feels very different from the book I read.  I adore everything Wings of Ebony wanted to be, but I agree, it doesn’t live up to the hype, up to the pitch, or up to the story it wants to be.  Like so many other YA books that get a huge hype (I’m looking at you Red Queen) there is SO much potential in the book, but it doesn’t feel finished because I have so many questions about Ghizon and it’s origins because it doesn’t make sense in the context of the book (which is magical realism, in case there was a question).  Like the sense of place, and the magical system, the characters could have used more development as well.  Some don’t receive that development because…plot reasons, but for others, it just isn’t there.  To me, it reads almost like the author was trying to show and not tell, but she didn’t get to flesh it out enough before the text went to print (and according to the press kit, she wrote the manuscript in just 35 days).  It makes me wonder if the pitch competition came with a deadline to print, or maybe the editor was just tired.  

I’m giving Wings of Ebony three stars.  The idea is solid, the writing is fine, but I wanted more from the story.  I considered lowering my rating, but I’m not because I think Elle is communicating some important messages about racism, hatred, the power of all kinds of love and family, caste, and governments.  Those messages are so important, even if I’m underwhelmed by the rest of the execution.  I’m curious about the second in the duology, Ashes of Gold, but I’m not sure I’m 400+ pages curious.  I want good things for Rue and for Elle, but with just a year in between the books, I’m not confident the time was there to address the things I’m going to want in the follow up.  Only time, and my holds list, will tell.  

What’s a book (or series) that others seem to love but didn’t live up to the hype for you?

~Nikki

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