Black Wings Beating

Black Wings Beating Book Review by Alex London 

Do you ever have to go to a work/school/mandatory meeting and then think to yourself an hour later...wow, that could have been summed up in an email?

Black Wings Beating by Alex London kind of felt like that to me. 

Black Wings Beating is a series that surrounds twin siblings, Brysen and Kylee, and the ornithological world that they live in. Ornithology, in case you don’t know, is the zoological study of birds. 

This book has so many birds. 

My god. The birds. 

And bird references, allusions, metaphors, and expressions. I didn’t even know that many bird-like turn-of-phrases existed until this book and now I am painfully aware. 

But these siblings live in a world that is dominated by the presence of birds, the training of birds, the selling and buying of birds, and the companionship of birds. Even the legends, myths, culture, civilization, and religion surround freaking birds. It didn’t bother me too much at the beginning, and all the little facets you learn about falconry and bird species was intriguing at first, but it was something that very quickly outgrew its welcome for me. 

In this world, Brysen wants to be a great bird-handler hero by catching the legendary Ghost Eagle, a feat that many have attempted and all have failed, and his sister simply just wants to live her life in peace and harmony while ignoring the special language deep inside of her that allows her to command birds (a gift that is largely ignored and mistrusted by her, but revered by everyone else who knows about it). 

Neither of them get what they want, as Brysen idiotically offers to go on a hunt to fetch the Ghost Eagle himself (without help, foresight, or experience) all in the name of love for a guy who obviously doesn’t give a shit about him, and Kylee, being the kind, good-natured sister that she is, follows him into this idiotic quest despite her obvious misgivings about it. 

This is then followed by another character named Nyall who then follows after her as he loves her and bam, you’ve got three teenagers up in the mountains attempting to catch a mythological bird creature that no one has even been able to catch before. 

That’s pretty much the book. 

You’ve got some confusing miscellaneous stuff thrown in there as well, like the leader of the Kartami-a new group that despises birds and believes in slaughtering all of them and the people that have anything to do with birds-which is um, everyone? 

So basically, a terrorist group out there to kill the whole world. 

You’ve got the Council of Forty, which is some government that doesn’t really make sense in some far-off place, you’ve got some random Kyrgs that don’t seem to accomplish much, and then you’ve got the ghostly Owl Mothers and their coven boys who also are somehow entangled with the political nonsense of the Council of Forty wanting the Ghost Eagle and that’s really about it. 

So. Why did this book feel like a two-hour long meeting when it could have been a succinct email?

Because nothing really happens. It does, but not really when you get into the meat and potatoes of it. 

The whole book is the trio climbing the mountains, facing off against the Owl Mothers, getting the Ghost Eagle, miraculously getting back in like three pages compared to the three-hundred it took to get them there, and then a sporadic and puzzling fight at the end for who gets to control the Ghost Eagle and how its powers could be utilized the best. 

This book was just...odd in terms of how it decided its pacing and its logic. 

I’ll start by saying that this isn’t a bad book and I did enjoy portions and aspects of the world that London created. However, I also was heartily annoyed by several of the things that occurred. 

The highlights of this book are definitely it’s world building, entertainment value, and relatively mindless experience. This isn’t a hard book to read and it comes across as a juicy novel with action and adventure if that’s what you’re looking for, especially if you adore birds. 

Now onto the laundry list of items that aggravated me. 

The birds were too much. It’s like they asked London to come back with a sprout and he brought back a forest. I would have enjoyed the world of Uztar and all its intricacies if the bird analogies and references weren’t shoved down my throat every other sentence in the most ludicrous of ways, most non sensibly being the dialogue. Aka, referring to others as fledgelings and eyas’ made me want to hurl every time it was used. 

The POV of this book swapped back and forth between Kylee and Brysen, and originally, I thought I’d favor Brysen as he was the cool gray-haired eager eyed rascal that runs off to fight for what he believes in, but Brysen was easily the most irritating thing about this whole experience.

 He’s stupid, impulsive, selfish, naive, and just...kind of a jerk? Especially to his sister that literally does nothing else but try to protect him and love him. 

Now, for those of you who have read this book, you might be screaming at me. But his father beat him! He is the way he is because Kylee didn’t protect him as a child! His mother is useless! He’s had a horrible life. All of this is true. 

As London likes to remind you EVERY SINGLE PARAGRAPH, Brysen was abused heavily by his father and their father was a horrible, despicable man without a single redeeming bone in his body. 

Now, I obviously don’t condone abuse and the effects of child abuse are varied and complex, but in this case, I felt like London used it often and debilitatingly as a crux for Brysen just to be a bad character. Bysen does something you don’t like? It’s because of his abuse. Brysen is being dumb? Because of his abuse. Brysen not thinking things through again? Obviously because of the abuse. 

Now, I’m not trying to be callous here, but abuse, especially child abuse, has been done in YA literature before and done well. Meaning that the effects of the abuse are varied, nuanced, and not the whole sum of the character’s personality.

 A great example of this is basically any character from Nora Sakavic’s The Foxhole Court. All of the characters from that series are influenced by abuses they’ve suffered, but it isn’t the totality of who they are as human beings and it also isn’t brought up every goddamn second in order for it to be weighty and important. 

I understand that child abuse is a hugely sensitive and important factor. You don’t need to remind me every other sentence in order for it to be treated as such, which is unfortunately how it plays out in the novel. 

Kylee, on the other hand, I thought was the far superior twin. She also had a troubling childhood, but it didn’t define her and she also didn’t use it to justify her good or bad qualities. I would have preferred if the whole book had been from her POV with lovesick Nyall following after her in the mountains. 

Another important thing to mention is the anticlimactic sequence of them actually catching the Ghost Eagle. For a mythological bird that has killed hundreds and is supposedly impossible to catch and contain, Brysen, Kylee, Nyall and a coven boy are able to do it with literal ease.

I think it was a five page fight before Brysen was strapping the humongous bird onto his back like a lumberjack and skipping on back to the village. It was disappointing to say the least. 

Lastly, there are just some things in this book that if you think too hard about, don’t make any sense. 

How can four teenagers catch the Ghost Eagle of legend with a few kicks and punches where hundreds of trained men have been unable to do it before? According to London, it’s because they have love and because they’re operating as a group.

I’m sorry, you’re telling me that not a single group has attempted it before? Why not make a huge expedition party if that was the case? It makes no sense. 

Another example is the ending scene. Why can’t Brysen go with Kylee to the Sky Castle? Well, according to the Owl Mother it’s because Brysen is too important to Kylee and it affects her ability to use the Hollow Tongue too much.

Translation: London doesn’t want them together in the sequel for a variety of reasons so he made up this bullshit excuse that doesn’t have any levity. 

Again, on the surface, it’s fine, but then if you think deeper about it, a lot of the book's choices and so-called logic collapse in on itself like a deck of cards which makes for a frustrating reading experience and personally unsure if I’ll pick up the sequel or not (probably not). 

Recommendation: If you are a bird-enthusiast, want to become a bird, or need something to alleviate your Angry Bird obsession that has still somehow not died down, this book will have you frothing at the mouth.

For everyone else, this book is average at best. Not the worst story, but certainly not the best. If you want a quick adventure story, then go for it. If you want complexity, nuance, and not to hate birds whenever you see them, I’d fly clear (sorry couldn’t help it, I’m sure London would be proud even if I’m internally screaming). 

Score: 4/10