Very powerful & beautifully written story about the difficulty of living in the terror of domestic violence. There are good days and there are bad days for Leighton, which are captured by McCauley's writing. Don't blink the wrong way; don't breathe the wrong way or the dragon will come out. Leighton eventually finds her voice, albeit anonymously. As her truth comes out, the crows that have been overtaking the town are released alongside her truth. The bond between Leighton and her sisters is strong. Liam, the boyfriend, is written as extremely supportive and concerned but knows not to overstep his boundaries with this horrid situation. It was a book that I read in one sitting, very late into the night. ( )

A devastating portrait of domestic abuse and its impact on the entire family across generations. ( )

Very impressive and powerful, well written debut novel. ( )

Student Review (10th grade)
Age Range: Teen/Young Adult
Literary Merit: Great
Characterization: Great

If These Wings Could Fly is about a high school senior named Leighton, who is preparing to apply to colleges and figure out her future as a journalist. But she’s worried about leaving home at all. Her dad has been abusive for years, and she feels she is the only one who can protect her sisters considering her mom won’t leave him. He is constantly breaking stuff around the house or attacking her mom. Yet when a new day starts it is as if it never happened, everything broken is fixed as if the house itself repairs the damage, and her dad acts suspiciously nice until he eventually reaches his boiling point again. So she is stressing about everything in her life and seems to have no time for anything else, but a boy who she has gone to school with for years suddenly catches her attention. His name is Liam and he seems to have every good trait that she doesn’t see in men around her. So, she likes him and he likes her, but she’s scared. Throughout the book, she tries to figure out her new feelings, while also having so much to worry about at home.

Overall, this was a great book. I had quite a few laughs when it came to the jokes and fun times Leighton and Liam shared together, and also quite a few times I felt sad. I loved that the relationship between Leighton and Liam isn't cliche, they didn’t immediately have a serious relationship with each other and grew as friends and then more. My only confusion was the barely explained “paranormal” stuff with the house. It wasn’t clear to me whether it was a metaphor or not. But other than that I loved it, I would recommend this to readers who like suspense and romance. ( )

This review is going to be a bit shorter and more scattered than usual because normally when I review a book I write down my thoughts/feelings every time I put it down. However, with this book, I read it in three chunks so there were very few notes other than “I LOVE IT".

One big note I did take away from this book is that this is EXACTLY the kind of strong female character I want to read about more often. I think when young adult readers specifically are looking for the "strong female character" trope they lean towards pretty much everything other than contemporary because we want to see a powerful lady snap an elf's neck with a single glance or stand up to a dystopian dictator. This book is put under contemporary and magic realism but the main character herself is not really magical and it could not at all be considered a fantasy. Our main character, Leighton, is the most incredible example of a real-life strong female character. I'm going to try not to spoil things but she has the kind of story that needs to be told, and she took back power in her life in a way that was almost brutally realistic. I just love how she was written and how real she was without being bland or hard to read about. All of the characters were beautifully real, really. So many books that are tackling a strong issue become tunnel-visioned and none of the characters outside that problem get life in them or have any other problems, which is understandable because too many topics make writing hard, but it is also not how real life works. If These Wings Could Fly annihilated that! Domestic violence, abusers being victims, racial minorities, authority figures turning a blind eye, so many good things that all happen in real life at the same time got addressed.

The second thing is actually a big part of why I was interested in the book in the first place. Crows are my favourite animal. I've loved them pretty much my whole life (tiny me had a crow as my imaginary friend). So I was really interested to see just how they played into the book without it being a fantasy, and I was very pleased. Another topic that's a bit hard to describe without spoilers but I loved how clear it was that the author actually dug into in for about crows and didn't just look at some out her window and call it good.

Finally, I just want to say that this is my first five-star read of 2020, and already on my top books of the year list event though it's only February so if you enjoy contemporary books please go get a copy when it comes out! ( )