The Anatomy of Wings

by Karen Foxlee

Trying to make sense of the sudden death of her teenage sister Beth, she looks to the adult world around her for answers.
As she recounts the final months of Beth's life, Jennifer sifts through the lies and the truth, but what she finds are mysteries, miracles and more questions.Was Beth's death an accident? Why couldn't Jennifer ' or anyone else ' save her?
Through Jennifer's eyes,we see one girl's failure to cross the threshold into adulthood and her family slowly falling apart. Her eccentric nanna is banned from visiting and her parents blame Beth's friends and each other.
Karen Foxlee captures perfectly the essence of growing up in a small town and the complexities and absurdities of family life.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Family, Australia

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2007

About the author

Karen Foxlee is an Australian author who lives and writes in Queensland. Her young adult novels The Anatomy of Wings (UQP/Knopf/Atlantic) and The Midnight Dress (Knopf/UQP/Hot Key Books) have been published internationally to much acclaim. The Anatomy of Wings won the Commonwealth Writers Prize Best First Book 2008 (South Asia/Pacific), the Dobbie Award 2008, and a Parent’s Choice Gold Award in the U.S. The Midnight Dress was selected as an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults title in 2014. Foxlee’s first middle grade novel Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy (Knopf / Hot Key Books) was published in January 2014 and to date has received several starred reviews.

Karen Foxlee was born in Mount Isa, Queensland in 1971. She has worked most of her adult life as a registered nurse, has a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a major in creative writing, and lives in Gympie, Australia.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I don't care what the low rating on this page proves, it proves nothing and does the book absolutely no justice. The Anatomy of Wings was downright awesome and beautiful and painful to read. I couldn't even try to explain what this book was about without sounding boring but this is not a boring book. I repeat, NOT A BORING BOOK. It's just so different in the sense that the topics they touch on is revealed so raw and real to the readers. The book's most outstanding qualities is the beautiful, almost 4-dimensional characters. The characters build up the more you read and the more you get sucked into this....this madness.

One of my favorites.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setting: Queensland, Australia; 1980's.
The story is set in an outback mining town in Queensland and is largely narrated by Jennifer Day, a young girl who, it transpires later is about 10 years old. Her family has been traumatised by the death of her elder sister Beth - an event which, among many other things, has caused Jennifer to lose her singing voice.
As the book progresses, Jennifer looks back on both the events leading up to Beth's death and the effects on the family and the wider community in its aftermath....
This was quite a good read but I was never convinced by the narrator, and certainly not when I discovered she was supposed to be only 10 years old - some of her comments, views and ideas just didn't ring true for someone of that age.
I was also puzzled by the lack of chapter numbers, even though there were breaks that could well have been deemed chapter breaks - this made reading it a lot more difficult when thinking of 'just reading to the end of the chapter' as I was reading an e-book version and there was no chapter list.
Having said that, the characterisation was good and there was definitely a strong Aussie feel of the out back town of Memorial. A good 3-star read for me - 7/10.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book an interesting read. We get to watch a young teen (Beth) spiral out of control - into drugs, sex, and depression -- through the eyes of her younger sister, Jenny. Jenny and her friend begin to investigate the events surrounding Beth's death. I loved the parts of the book that focused on Beth's behavior and her family's reaction to those behaviors and her death. It felt honest, and was very compelling to read.

However, a few things the author did made it hard for me to completely like this book. The time period was never really established until later in the book. While there are hints throughout the book, I was never completely sure if this was the early '80s, or if the characters just really liked the '80s era.
Interspersed in the novel are chapters that outline the lives of their neighbors. While the reason for this becomes clear at the end, it was still very confusing and (I feel) unnecessary.

I also did not understand the angel aspect of the story. While Beth claims to have seen and, I assume, talks to angels, it's never really expanded upon. She also seems to have "magical powers" from these angels that helps her transform people into something better, but at the same time this "miracle" causes Beth to spiral out of control. It's never really explained to my satisfaction, what that aspect of the book was all about.

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

The authors writing style is just so lovely which made this book an easy and enjoyable read, despite it being awfully sad. The story rolled along at an unhurried pace giving the reader time to linger over its poetic chapters. Ten year old Jenny, the narrator of this story loses her singing voice - struggling with her sister’s death - her friend Angela is on a mission to help her find it by sifting through a box of keepsakes containing Beth’s personal effects. The story switches back and forth, before and after, Beth’s death which I had no trouble following but some readers may find confusing as each event is not identified, but truly if the reader takes the time absorbing each word there won't be a problem.

A very moving novel which I recommend.

Karen Foxlee’s first novel The Anatomy of Wings has won many awards and it’s not hard to see why. I will be on the lookout for more of this authors works.

Book ‘f’ of the a-z author challenge 2018

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really sure why I finished this. I was completely lost the first 50 pages. The author was trying so hard to be poetic and abstract that I was completely confused. The sentences were often structured in a confusing way as well.
I figured it had to get better, but then as the story unfolded it was depressing and sent mixed messages. Why was she getting lighter when inside she was getting darker and lost? Was the ending supposed to be uplifting?
Why, when it seemed the story was being told by the younger sister's perspective would I suddenly find the narrative jumping to detailed descriptions of what someone else was doing when she wasn't even there? Why do I care about the neighbor's sub-stories? They don't take part in the plot at all.
I don't know. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to start by saying that The Anatomy of Wings is very well written. The story is good and the characters are distinct, the writing flows well, and the structure is right. I really don't have any complaints about the novel. It's just that I didn't care about it. It may have been my own reading mood at the time, it may have been the story itself, but I just didn’t have any connection with the characters or their story. Again, well-written—Foxlee has a great style—I simply didn't care about it.

Sidenote: Foxlee has a great style. Her editor doesn't. I want to fight whoever was in charge of commas. I can't even say that they limited comma use to only when absolutely necessary, because comma usage didn't even meet that standard.

[Penne Moschetti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ever read a book that took too long to go anywhere? Just lost interest and didn't finish.

[Anindita Satpathi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seems to be about premature sexual awakening rendered in the most mellifluous and vague of terms, because otherwise its entire premise falls flat on its face. Beth, Danielle and Jenny are sisters (in that order) living with happy parents. One fine day, when they are out for a picnic, Beth faints and since that day she glows and her beauty increases by the day. Heck, by the hour. Jenny, the narrator, who follows her sister around everywhere, perceives Beth's increasingly 'wild' behaviour as a blossoming of sorts. Beth starts talking to herself and looks off into the distance and seems to know secrets that burn through her bright blue eyes. She starts hanging out with the 'bad' girls, who can't keep up with her badness (except Miranda). She is self-assured and cool and someone you'd want to be best friends with. Beth sleeps with men to 'fix' them and is largely indifferent to intercourse except when it's with boyfriend Marco, who, by the way, treats her like dirt. Their first sexual encounter screams rape and their later encounters reek of guy-bored-with-nagging-girlfriend. I wonder if she knows how to nag because she's just thirteen and only strokes his face and asks him if he has a sadness within, to which he responses with stereotypical manly brusqueness. The sadness bit makes you barf, yes. If they had feelings for each other, I wonder why it was all about the sex and why he lied about keeping his half of the heart-shaped locket? I am suffocating in the cliches here!!
Now getting down to her transformation, which happened much before she met Marco, the change comes over her the day she fainted and also started menstruating. In fact, she probably fainted because her menses started. This is not mentioned through the rest of the book, but I (much like the dogged yet completely redundant Angela) would like to believe holds the key to the story. The angel bit (that keeps reappearing) is a red herring, so pay no attention to that. Now, if the story is about heightened sexual awareness and hot-girl-blossoming-into-even-hotter woman, (remember she's 13 years old) why does she treat her sexual awareness and physical beauty like a cross she has to bear? I am guessing it was not about Beth communing with angels as her Nanna suspected, but about turning into an angel herself who saves men by sleeping with them (yikes!) I wonder why she never wanted to save women. I never got around to feeling sad for her because I was too annoyed by her being precocious.
I like Danielle (yes, the other sister; she's mentioned just a few times) because all she ever does is glower at Beth. She sees the cool sister without her halo and as a troublemaker and likes to just be left to herself and to revel in melancholy. Shucks, the book should have been about her; she's the one who had to wear a horrible, clunky back brace and has no boy issues. If this is a book specifically for Young Adults, the validation of Beth's behaviour as otherworldly and angelic is disturbing, because you never get to hear her motives from her own mouth. She concedes to sex without mutual consent on several occasions and looks heroic while doing so. Honestly, do we need such portrayal of a female lead who is supposedly a strong character? For all Beth's self-assuredness, I just wish Foxlee had explained the role of Beth's agency in her supposed sexual awakening, because she just seems to be drifting along with the wave as it hits her. The trend of gliding over Beth's thoughts is consistent through the book. Just accept that she's mysterious and beautiful, dammit!! If this transformation is simply in Jenny's eyes, the all-seeing narrator, she should have done a better job of explaining Beth's suicide. Didn't see that coming, did you? Hit you right between the eyes? But a flower as fragile as her has to die, or the world chokes her. *Sob*

The language is kind of nice though, which is how I managed to get through it in one day. Going down in the list of 'love to hate it'.

[Annalisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some things Foxlee does very well. Some of her writing is very beautiful, almost ethereal. She set up her mining town very well. I could feel and smell and see it. And her characters were very well defined too. I loved the mom's warnings, especially about cemeteries full of kids who died from running with scissors. I related most to her, the heartache and frustration of a wayward child and what you'd do if you saw your child down spiraling. I thought the neighbors were interesting. And I loved Danielle's Milwaukee neck brace and perm fund and Jennifer's inquisitive nature.

But I don't think Jennifer was the right narrator for this story. She was too young to understand what Beth was going through. Sometimes that made for a nice contrast with what we the reader deducted from her account and what she understood. But sometimes she had to know way more than she would logically have known and it made me disbelieve her narration. And sometimes she doesn't know enough so in the end most of reader's questions are unanswered. We never know if Beth's seizure at the lake had anything to do with her being down and that pushed her toward her relationships with Miranda and Marco or if those relationships destroyed that. I never knew whether to trust the glowing and the grandmother's account and how that affected Beth. We never know what happened in the fight Jennifer was so anxious to get answers about or that last night either. And we never know if Beth fell or jumped off the tower. I was okay with some unanswered questions. Jennifer is never going to fully understand what happened to her sister, and that is the often the case with death, but I also didn't get a sense that this was about coming to terms with not knowing, more like how her death affected everyone in the town. In the end, I felt incomplete with the story.

I thought Beth was an interesting character, but I didn't know how to feel about her. The contrast of her being this angelic creature and yet a "naughty" girl, almost more angelic the more naughty she got, was strange. And I didn't get a real sense of her turmoil because Jennifer didn't understand it. She acted more like a 17-year-old and I had to remind myself that she was 13/14, but that could have been because to a 10-year-old she seemed so adult. When we discussed this in my book club, one of the girls brought up the correlation between Beth and the myth of Icarus. Icarus flew too close to the sun despite his father's warning and the wax melted on his wings plunging him into the sea. I'm not sure what sex has to do with saving people, but Beth set out to save Marco that way, and probably a lot more people, but in the end all of what she messed with was too much for her young age and it destroyed her. A great metaphor, and some beautiful writing, I'm just not sure the story was all that satisfying.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last line of the Goodreads summary says it all. I was initially hesitant to read this, just because it is meant to deal with a lot of big issues through the eyes of a 10-year-old. I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. Jenny Day's voice is poignant and tells a story that everyone else is afraid to.


The story is told through flashbacks. Jenny is trying to figure out why she can no longer sing since her sister passed away. She believes that the two events are connected and is trying to uncover the real reasons behind Beth's tragic death. Here's my main problem - we see all the things that Beth does, and how she's trying to help everyone, but we never really see HOW she helps people or WHY she has the compulsion to do so. I find it so hard to relate to a character who's motivation I can't grasp. Surprisingly, Jenny was the most relatable at ten, although I often forgot she was only ten. I don't think her voice was always that of a child. She was dealing with a lot of things that ten year olds don't have to deal with.


The prose, however was so beautiful! It really did keep me going, even when I wanted to stop because of the sadness. I think the way that the family reacted was spot-on. The author really portrayed the family in a realistic way.


Overall, I thought it was an excellently written book, with a very interesting and intelligent ten-year-old for a main character.


My rating: 4 out of 5

[Maree Kimberley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I bought it at the Brisbane Writers Festival on a whim, and didn't know anything about the book or its author when I picked it up. It grabbed me from the first line and didn't let go.

It's a very Australian story in terms of setting but its themes of grief and loss are universal. At times I found it unbearably sad, as Jennie and her family struggle to deal with the weight of the absence left after the death of Beth, Jennie's older sister. But Jennie also has a warmth and light to her that stops the novel drowning in despair, despite the grief that is suffused all the way through the narrative.

If there is one minor criticism I have about this book it's that the point of view confused me a few times, particularly when Jennie was describing things in the first person that she could not possibly have witnessed. But I accepted this quirk in perspective and just went with it.

I was completely drawn into the world of the novel. The book shimmers with the heat and dust of the desert, and the deft rendering of the location adds to the sense of suffocation within the novel. All the characters and their relationships are beautifully drawn. The prose is gorgeous, tight with grief but never veering into sentimentality. I definitely want to read more from this author.

Highly recommended.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jennifer Day’s big sister Beth has died, and her family isn’t coping. Aged only ten, Jenny tries to make sense of what has happened, trying to unravel Beth’s secrets while also dealing with her parents’ and sister Danielle’s distress. She has to confront Beth’s bad-girl reputation in a tough outback mining town, survive at school and manage her own grief as the fragile remnants of her family tear each other apart. The trauma of all this has robbed her of her powerful singing voice and although she can’t articulate this clearly, she knows that solving the mystery of her sister’s bizarre behaviour is the key to recovering her voice - and perhaps her equilibrium – in time for the school eisteddfod. With her bemused friend Angela who keeps a Book of Clues, she muddles around seeking answers…

This could have been a dreary, sentimental story, but Jennifer’s voice is strong, funny and perceptive. Her naïve voice is authentic even when she confronts brutal events that make this a book for mature readers.

To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2011/12/11/th...

[Sheralyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not in the least impressed. The story is confusing and jumps in too many tangents; the purpose of which I just do not have the desire to try to understand. The language is terrible, unacceptable, and I was really not impressed with the author's idea of a 13 year old sleeping with a man in order to "free" or "fix" him as the character constantly feels compelled to do with insects and ruining the main characters life while she is at it. Not worth finishing or starting. I am sorry I gave it the time I did.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hated this book. I couldn't even finish it because it was so boring. It doesn't even tell you how Beth died! It tells you how Jenny and Angela use a book of cases to figure out the mystery but half the time to doesn't mention it at all! Don't waste your money on this book, it not worth a cent.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

The great thing about this book is that it held my attention so well that I finished it in one sitting, and there were magic realist elements in it. However, I feel as though I was set up for more miracles, mysteries, and magic than were actually delivered. To clarify, the magic realism that was incorporated into this story was done so in a forced and somewhat awkward way. I am aware that magic realists love to raise questions rather than provide definitive answers, playing with the tension between the factual and the magical explanations for phenomena, but all the talk in this story about fact and opinion seemed to lead nowhere. While it’s okay to leave some questions without answers, I found myself confused and scratching my head at times about what actually happened here. But still, I think readers can learn a great deal about relationships by reading The Anatomy if Wings, for this is most of all a story about grief and what it can do to a family. It is a coming of age story, and it is also a mystery about trying to make sense of the tragedy of loss. It is about having dreams but living in a small town among people whose parochial worldviews will not allow young people, especially girls, to sprout the wings they need in order to soar. Instead, they are shamed and labeled because of one mistake or instance of poor judgment. What a sad but also a redemptive story!

[Jenna Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in high school, checked out from the library and it has been stuck on my brain trying to remember what it was for YEARS. I remembered key points but not all, and finally was able to track it down with Chat GPT.
A heavy but good read

[Matylda Saresta · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://mniejniz0minirecenzje.blogspot...

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really beautiful book. I enjoyed the story and the writing immensely.

[Teen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Told from the point of view of a younger sister, this is the story of a girl, Beth, that mysteriously goes wild, to the point of no return. Her family slowly falls apart and piece by piece we are given the story that leads to her death.

Set in a small Austrailian mining town in the late 70's early 80's, the story feels very disconnected 2009 US. The story felt surreal throughout, although the situations that Beth found herself in could all be relevant to teens here today--opportunities to experiment with alcohol, sex and relationships. There is a deep sadness in this book, in the family and in Beth herself, but it never really moved me. There are also a couple of chapters that did not seem to fit at all. They outline other people in their cul-de-sac's lives and just serve as a distraction from the main story.

I wouldn't really book talk this, unless someone had a very specific situation they were looking for. The ending isn't particularly enlightening or encouraging, although the family does start to recover themselves from their grief. I would recommend this for highschoolers although the POV is a preteen and the main character is only 14.

[Wendy MacKnight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars feels like they're not enough for this book. Written mostly from the perspective of young Jenny Day, the book tells the story of the last year of her older sister Beth's life, as she struggles to unravel the mystery of what led to her sister's death and the loss of her own singing voice. Never have I read a more heartbreaking or true representation of young women navigating a world that wants a piece of them, how their blossoming is something to be plucked, not celebrated. Foxlee's imagery and use of language is lyrical and brilliant and a joy to read. The mystery and storytelling compelling; you keep turning the pages, desperate to learn what happens next. Karen Foxlee is brilliant and this is a book that deserves to be read again and again.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as the story goes, this was maybe a 2 or 3, but I loved her writing. One of those authors that words things in a way, where you look at everday details differently. This caught my eye because the blurb on the back was by Marcus Zusak, and her style reminds me of his. I need to find some more Australian writers!

[Penni Russon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the writing in this: the setting and the voice were so beautifully realised. I was intrigued by the relationships and the characters. I didn't quite feel like it all came together at the end, too many threads left hanging, but it was such an exquisite reading experience I didn't really mind. Really enchanting talented author, looking forward to reading more.

[Piper Mcgonigle · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I need to cry in the middle of the night I grab this book. I first read it when I was Jenny’s age. At that time it seemed like such a mysterious story, one that I enjoyed because of the beautiful imagery and prose, but didn’t fully understand. It was a magical, sad book about a girl who glowed. Now, having lived through my own teen girlhood, I very much understand the story, and Beth, and the way the world sees her.
Foxlee’s writing is like poetry, and certain lines have stuck with me for years.

“I said what if instead of underarm hair at puberty girls got two little wings budding on their backs and all their friends and sisters and mothers and aunts and grandmothers praised the day they appeared.
And steadily year by year instead of girls getting more hair under their arms and down below and instead of larger breasts their wings would grow.
They would start off downy and colorless but end up the velvet green of a peacock's tail or budgerigar blue or the crimson of a king parrot. Every girl would be different. And in the afternoon, after school, they would practice flying in their backyards.”

Now I’m going to be a bit snippy because I want to defend this book and convince you to read it!
I am surprised by the negative reactions to the magical realism. To me, Beth’s glowing was like something you understand the edges of, like a dream. I guess technically it didn’t have an explicitly spelled out explanation, but it contained the feeling of the story. Beth’s mysterious powers/curse fit perfectly in a story about the “power” and curse of being a young woman. We get the accounts of Beth’s miracles filtered through Jenny’s perspective, (a little sister who loved and idolized her). None of the characters can fully understand why Beth did what she did. Making sense of suicide is impossible for those left behind. The supernatural elements of the story illustrate that sense of confusion and desperation. Beth’s uncontrolled and increasing glowing conveys her mental state as well.

If you can’t follow a timeline that moves back and forth in clear alternating chapters, this book isn’t for you.
Describing assault and slut shaming and how awful they are is NOT the same as endorsing those things. It is in fact the opposite.
And the book does tell you how Beth dies, so I am not sure why you would complain about that unless you didn’t actually read it.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easily finished in a day, but a bit of a confusion and a lot of crying. A lot of crying. So much crying that it’s like the huge storm which comes at the end of the book turning a desert into a river.
I think one of the issues is that you know what’s going to happen to Beth right from the start, so there is no suspense at all. I felt I was reading this just to get to the end. The timeline is somewhat jumbly which means you have to read things a couple of times to work out whether we are NOW or THEN. There are some weird asides on the other dwellers of the street where Beth and her family live, and how their lives are realigned when she dies - the lonely woman acknowledges this, the couple whose baby died in tragic circumstances are reconciled, one brother finds his will to be free as the other dies... but this I felt to be unnecessary.
Beth’s search for luminosity after her fainting spell at the lake (seeing an angel as her Nanna puts it) takes her to dark places and abusive men. Her friendship with Miranda, herself subject to abuse, allows her the ability to express herself but this expression results in a spiralling to disaster and ultimately her suicide.
So this is a terribly sad book, claustrophobic, and apart from the neighbours finding release and Jenny finding her singing voice again, lacking a resolution. Towards the end there is a hint that Jenny might go the same way and lose her quirky random fact ability to the vaguaries of hormones and pubertal angst.
It feels like Karen Foxlee wrote the circumstances surrounding the death of Beth first, and then because this was too dark, had to weave some redemptive positivity into the narrative. And thus the telling hops around like a somewhat drunk kangaroo. Perhaps a better editor would have tightened the structure? Who knows.

[Asiołek · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Kruchość skrzydeł" to świetna powieść poruszająca przede wszystkim temat wczesnego dorastania, chęci życia na własnych warunkach ale również przedstawiająca obraz psychologiczny rodziny, w której członkowie żyją obok siebie ale nie ze sobą. Główną narratorką powieści jest dziesięcioletnia Jennifer - niezwykle mądra i dojrzała jak na swój wiek dziewczynka. Dzięki niej poznajemy kilka miesięcy z życia jej zmarłej siostry - nastoletniej Beth. Oczami Jennifer obserwujemy trudne i dość wczesne wkraczanie w dorosłość przez jej siostrę. Książka porusza bardzo trudne i dające do myślenia tematy, przez co jest skierowana zarówno do młodszych jak i tych starszych czytelników. Wywołuje w czytelniku różne emocje, od zaskoczenia, uśmiechu aż do smutku, momentami sprawia, że do oczu napływają łzy. Minusem książki mogą być jednak długie, bardzo szczegółowe, momentami nudzące i niepotrzebne opisy. Nie każdemu może przypaść też go gustu styl (momentami poetycki, bogaty w porównania, metafory) użyty przez autorkę.
Podsumowując, pozycja jest godna uwagi. Książka daje dużo do myślenia i jest jedną z takich pozycji, do których się wraca. :) Serdecznie polecam!

[Jill Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jennifer used to sing but now she's lost her voice. It all happens when her wild older sister grows away from the family. Then Beth died. Angela, her best friend is trying to find out when Jennifer lost her singing voice so she can get it back in time for the school Eisteddfod. She writes down clues in a notebook. The two friends ask the people who were Beth's friends. Some know more than they are willing to tell.

Grief affects everyone in the house. Their mother screams and shrieks. She stays in bed, not getting up to clean or cook. She stays isolated. Jennifer looks after her sister Danielle, who wears a back brace to straighten her crooked spine. The whole street is in shock. Their caring father can't take the sorrow. He leaves. It's impossible not to weep with them all.

Joy in rediscovering the reason for deep hurts, and how each person, works through their sorrows. The neighbours as married couples, single childless women, and brothers who rely on each other. They all find ways to move on. I loved the surprising ending.

I adore Karen Foxlee's books. This is her first. It seems too sad to begin with but it reels you in.

[Mandy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good and hard to put down! The atmosphere and feeling of the place strongly came off the pages,I could feel the dry heat and the smallness if the town depressed me. The whole place felt so boring and hopeless. No wonder some of the youth go off the rails. Even though the story is told from Jenny’s point of view you do get to see behind the scenes with Beth and how things are for her.It was easy to forget how young Beth was and then it gives you a shock. I think there was an element of the supernatural which I liked,how special Beth was,her blossoming,how people reacted to her and the references of the albatross that visited Nanna and also the bird at the end. It was a sad hopeless story where all the characters were unhappy through most of it but they drew you in and made you care about them.

[Kellie Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has reminded me that parenting teens is hard, no matter what the decade. The story is narrated through the eyes of a ten year old, however, at times I felt Jennifer was wise beyond her years, undoubtedly due to the tragic nature of events that unfold throughout the story. It was a quick, easy read but has left me feeling somewhat bereft & a little unhinged by the end. I’m still trying to decide whether I enjoyed the book or not; certainly I found it fascinating but I am left with unanswered questions/thoughts that I wish were clarified. It’s a thought provoking read about families in small towns, death & the way that grief affects us all in different ways.

[Márcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A contemporary story with hints of magical realism, The Anatomy of Wings is a powerful story about a girl dealing with the death of her teenage sister and everything she and her family do to come to terms with the tragedy.


Wedge-Tailed Eagle

“I would be a wedge-tailed eagle. I would only live for the joy of flight. I would soar at great heights, on top of the wind. I would be above everything, over the little towns clinging to the highway. I would be a part of everything.”

[Artemis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked reading this book even if it was sad at times. It flashes back from the past events and the present, showing her teenage sister, Beth, slowly turn out less perfectly than expected. Even through it is mostly narrated by a 10-year-old, Jennifer Day, it is mostly understandable though somewhat poetic and vague at times. It really lives you thinking of the butterfly effect and if there was one thing they could have done to make Beth live in this book or if it was just going to happen regardless.