Title: Magonia
Author: Maria Dahvana Headley
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: April 28, 2015
A Quick Introduction: Aza Ray Boyle can't remember ever breathing easy. Since infancy, she's suffered from a lung condition, one that makes her feel like she's drowning in air. Nobody has really has any idea how long she'll live, but as her sixteenth birthday approaches, the symptoms worsen, and she's seeing a ship in the sky- one calling her name. Then Aza disappears into the clouds, into a world where, for the first time, she can breathe. A world where she has power. Now, Aza must decide who she can trust, and who should have her loyalty. Meanwhile, her best friend (and maybe something else too) Jason back on Earth searches desperately for her. The fates of both Magonia and Earth may depend on both of them.
Out of Ten: 9/10
Review at a Glance: This strange, marvelous book completely captured my imagination, and I thoroughly enjoyed the world, plot, and main characters.
Review: This books was wonderful, plain and simple. Its a strange little story, but the elements worked together in a way that I found quite enchanting. The mixture of human drama and out of this world elements really made it shine for me.
Aza makes an interesting narrator. At the start of the story, she has a very cynical, jaded voice, her way of coping with the fact that her body seems to be all wrong for the world, the fact that she's dying slowly. As the story progresses, especially after learning about Magonia and being taken to a completely new world, she grows a lot, while holding onto the aspects of her personality that make her her. Jason is a great partner for her, similar to her in a lot of ways, but also very much his own person, very clever and determined. I grew very fond of the both. While I wish some of the secondary characters were more fleshed out, I also enjoyed hearing about Jason's moms and Aza's family.
The world in this book has a delightfully dreamlike quality to it, especially once Aza arrives on the Magonian ship. The best way I've been able to think of to describe it is that its like a darker Miyazaki film; vibrant, quirky, incredibly imaginative, and uniquely magical. Even the environmental message fits. I would LOVE to see this as an animated film in that style, and I ended up picturing it in much that way. Like a Miyazaki movie, amid all the magic, its the human elements that really strike to the heart.
The story was, well, I want to say "all over the place," but that sounds negative, and it ins't really meant to be. Like the rest of the book, it has a sort of eclectic flow to it. Its fairly fast paced, and, with the enchanting world, had me completely engaged.
(I don't want to spoil, but they mention seed banks! I love seed banks!) The subtle plays on real-world issues like environmental damage and food security were something that I really appreciated. I'm an environmental science students, so this is very much where I'm at. Right here. In the food security area, with all the seeds.
This was really a very "Kelly" book, and I'm so glad picked it up!
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