Upon Broken Wings

This book definitely has one of the most intricate writing styles I have ever read.. I was confused from time to time by the different points of view and switching back and forth, not in time, but in perspective. This is a book that requires some focus and concentration; it is not a casual read. The story is powerful, if heart-breaking at the outset, and touches on themes of death, sadness, bullying, pain, and despair. However, it is ultimately a story of hope and perseverance. It was not an easy read, but I was touched by the poignancy of the main characters’ lives, and I found the book inspirational by the end.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This was definitely a tear-jerker. This story was a good and original read. It was about second chances, love, bullying, death, and suicide. Throw in some angels and you get some inspirational aspects. It was definitely an enjoyable read, I’m not a huge fan of tear jerkers but this story touches on alot of things that are happening today and the author did a fabulous job.

Sometimes I read a book that touches me on so many different levels that I find it difficult to explain. This story is heart-wrenching, sad, dark and also filled with love, hope and inspiration. An intense young adult book with a writing style that was difficult to follow but added to the the beauty of the storyline. A powerful story that will definitely stay with me awhile- a worthwhile read!

Goodness! If there was ever a book I wish to give more than 5 stars to, it would be this one.

This book is heartbreaking yet filled with so much love between these characters that you can’t help but feel these powerful emotions the characters display.
While reading this book, I couldn’t help but hear what my mother used to tell me about suicide growing up. She used to tell me it was a selfish act in a way because we take ourselves out of the equation and fail to realize the pain we will leave those that love us behind.

For Kiernan this is his case. After everything he suffers on Halloween night at the hands of his classmates, including a possible betrayal by Andrew, he tries take his life. But he’s left more in a comatose state and is left in between to watch how his actions have caused his loved ones pain and sorrow.

Andrew is a young autistic teenager who sadly has lost everyone he’s loved from the minute he was born (his father) to the lost of his soulmate Michael. He’s basically shut himself down to love and friendship. When he feels he can no longer take the lose and loneliness he too ends his life. However, instead of meeting with loved ones like he thought he might, Andrew is stuck in Purgatory and must go through tasks to help convince Kiernan return to his life.

The writing style of this book is one that is different from any I’ve read before. The main story is Casey (Kiernan’s younger brother) recounting the details with the help of angels. But because it’s told as a story from Casey there are also parts in first person from his own perspective as well as other side characters like a doctor, Billy, and the father.

Although this book’s beginning is hauntingly depressing, taken as a whole it is inventively brilliant, and ends with an uplifting message. I felt as if I were reading a cross between literary fiction and commercial fiction, stuck between an art form and a book for entertainment, much as the characters Andrew and Kiernan are trapped between damnation and salvation.

Kiernan’s younger brother, fourteen-year-old Casey, spins a tale of utter sorrow and redemption by looking back in time with the help of omniscient angels. Andrew, a fourteen-year-old boy with autism, loses everyone he ever loved and is left alone in a cruel world with only Kiernan who secretly cares about him. Yet Kiernan’s love for Andrew comes much too late and with a high price. Bound in separate simultaneous suicides, Andrew must recall and come to terms with his past while in purgatory and Kiernan must find his way back to life while struggling away from a demon in the borderlands, for he is not quite dead nor alive. Being bound, Andrew must find the one thing that eluded him in life and use it to save Kiernan’s life: hope.

First, this book is mainly for those who aren’t sensitive to depressing or serious topics. The first third of this book is utterly full of darkness, despair, and social topics such as autism, homosexuality, death, suicide, alcoholism, bullying, and hate crimes. But this was necessary to show how hard it would later be for Andrew and Kiernan to find hope. It is very authentic when it comes to these topics, well-research or experienced. And although this book is starkly realistic, you have to be open to fantasy or religion to enjoy this book. The world building is phenomenal and packed with symbolism–landscapes of purgatory as beautifully serene, borderlands as terrifyingly dry. Also, this book is not for the untrained reader. Personally, I didn’t find it difficult to figure out the timeline, who was whom, or the shifts into other characters’ heads, but I can see how some readers might get lost. The narrator often uses foreshadowing to help readers figure out what is going on while it cushions the blow since readers can surmise what events could follow.

Although some might have to read carefully, this unique narrative style is actually what I liked most about this book: a boy from the fringes of the action telling a story but given direct information from celestial beings. Casey’s first-person account gives readers a personal experience and yet we get that all omniscient god-like detail of others’ thoughts. The style of the prose itself was incredible as well, pushing the boundaries towards literary fiction—almost modern in its straightforward tone and yet post-modern in its disjointed, shifting narration. And yet, there are these times of heightened emotion, with poetic descriptions and profound realizations that shake you to your core, mind blown.

If you like a cross between fantasy and reality and don’t quake in the face of sadness, then this book is a must read. It is a mind-blowing book you’ll likely never forget.

Wow. Can I just say “Wow” and leave it at that?

This was wonderful. Sad, yes. Absolutely. Heartbreaking, even. There’s pain and anger, loss and fear, suffering and assault and missed opportunities. Death, both accidental and through suicide. It’s not an easy read.

But, God, it was also so beautiful. Full of friendship, love and, above all, hope.

To be honest, the beginning was a bit confusing. I didn’t know what was happening and there were a lot of characters introduced, but once the book got going and I got into the swing of things, I couldn’t put it down. The characters jump off the page, their pain is so real, and the descriptions are poetically written.

I highly, highly, recommend this book. It’s one of the most unique reads I’ve ever read and will stay with me for a long time.