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Aza Ray is drowning in thin air. Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live.
So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.
Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.
Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?
Magonia is one of those strange little books that you find yourself enjoying in spite of it being a little bit out there in terms of plot and setting.
However, in a market saturated with books trying to be the next Hunger Games/Harry Potter/Twilight, this is a really refreshing read. As I was reading it, it reminded me of - nothing, which is amazing as a lot of books borrow heavily from their predecessors.
I kind of wished that there was no romance and that more attention had been given to the world building. Just because it is YA does not mean it needs to be saturated with romance.
I really wish authors would understand this.
Had this element been underplayed, Magonia would have felt more like a fairy tale. I would have been more invested in the world and the story.
But that does not mean that this is a bad book. If you are looking for a quick read that is written well, this is your best bet.
It's 320 pages long and the story flows. This is a good choice for a day at the beach or on a holiday, so perhaps this is one to add to your summer reading lists.
Read more of Monique's reviews on her blog.
