I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Rebel Wing by Tracy Banghart Series: Diatous Wars #1
Published by Alloy Entertainment on 2014
Genres: Action & Adventure, Dystopian, Fiction, Love & Romance, Social Issues, Young Adult
Read it as: eARC
Source: Netgalley
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis
The Dominion of Atalanta is at war. But for eighteen-year-old Aris, the fighting is nothing more than a distant nightmare, something she watches on news vids from the safety of her idyllic seaside town. Then her boyfriend, Calix, is drafted into the Military, and the nightmare becomes a dangerous reality.
Left behind, Aris has nothing to fill her days. Even flying her wingjet—the thing she loves most, aside from Calix—feels meaningless without him by her side. So when she’s recruited to be a pilot for an elite search-and-rescue unit, she leaps at the chance, hoping she’ll be stationed near Calix. But there’s a catch: She must disguise herself as a man named Aristos. There are no women in the Atalantan Military, and there never will be.
Aris gives up everything to find Calix: her home. Her family. Even her identity. But as the war rages on, Aris discovers she’s fighting for much more than her relationship. With each injured person she rescues and each violent battle she survives, Aris is becoming a true soldier—and the best flyer in the Atalantan Military. She’s determined to save her Dominion . . . or die trying.
This book didn’t made me want to marry it, but it was more like a nice boyfriend which you have a great time with, and while he doesn’t make your heart soar, it does make it flutter.
That was Rebel Wing for me.
See, to be honest, at the beginning, Aris the protagonist was a weakling and a very pathetic girl. Believe me, I was mentally groaning at her decisions, the way she thought and I swear, I wanted to hit her head for every time she swooned over her beloved Calix.
She had doubts, and fears, and was very prone to freaking out. Like this:
About halfway to the book, I understood. I’d come expecting a Juliette type of female character -you know, from Shatter Me-, which isn’t necessarily bad, but it is, in certain aspects, like the one in which Juliette doesn’t really change throughout her series (Haven’t read Ignite Me, so I wouldn’t know there.) For those of you who haven’t read it, or heard about it: Juliette is a weak-willed girl, but that has awesome powers. There is a war, and her priorities are messed up. First and utmost, her guy, and then… other stupid things, instad of focusing on the dangerous situation.
Well, that’s Aris too. But then, something happens. Aris starts realizing how important she is. Yeah, maybe she’s not a super savior, but she can fly, and she can help some people, and that makes a difference. Slowly, Calix drops down in her list of priorities.
This is when stuff gets real and I had to adjust in my very unconfortable classroom desk and scan my surroudings to make sure the teacher was distracted in order to continue reading, at this point.
And there’s also the fact that this storyline is so much similar to Mulan. :3
Another thing that gave this book some bonus points was the gender equality theme. I can’t say it was developed deeply and brought me to such a catharsis I fell into a hole of depression.
o.o
But it did explore it, and I’m satisfied with it. It was simple and to the point. Women have as much as a right as men to fight for what the believe in.
I’d have loved to see more world building, and some kind of closure on what became of Dysis (Another woman soldier), but I think I’m happy 🙂 I recommend this book, and I’m eager to know how this series will play out!
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