Plastic Wings

The Evie Weiss Chronicles #1

by C.T. Callahan

When seven-year-old Evie Weiss discovers a strange, sickly boy in her otherwise familiar forest, she has no idea what it holds for her world. He is a dark angel, one of a race of humanoid beings that feed on humanity and tear Evie’s world down around her. Years later, as humanity mounts a counter-attack against the dark angels, Evie remembers the boy in the forest and finds herself torn between her loyalty to her own people and feelings of compassion for these strange creatures that first captivated her as a child. It is the quest of one girl to unite two worlds so separated by war, but how can she close the gap between two races so determined to hate each other?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Angels, Fiction, LGBT, Post Apocalyptic

312 pages, Unknown Binding

First published November 22, 2016

Reviews

[Olivia Chanel's Stories in Space · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, C.T. Callahan for my copy of Plastic Wings. This book has officially become one of my new favorites and I’m truly grateful I won it.

Plastic Wings is one of my new favorite books, and it even sparked my love for fantasy. I’ve only been reading contemporary books for months now, and it’s so refreshing to be reading fantasy again, and one about angels too. I haven’t done that in ages. There are literally so many amazing things to highlight about Plastic Wings; the strong heroine of color that is the most relatable girl ever, the diverse cast and the epic world C.T. Callahan has created, are just a few.

Evie, the main character, is someone I relate to a lot. She loves her family, but disagrees and hates a lot of the things they do. I honestly respect that part so much. Loving your family and disagreeing with them at the same time is okay, and I think that was just so beautifully done. Evie is strong willed, but she has her flaws too, which is what makes her really stand out as a character and make you fall in love with her. To me, Evie also reads as someone who is on the ace-spectrum. I base this off of two very specific parts of the book (the quotes below have small spoilers, but not a lot. I replaced the names with x and y so that people wanting to see for themselves can do so with minimum spoilers. I think you can read the quotes without the story being spoiled, but I’m warning just in case).

I was never interested in physical intimacy so X instigated the kissing and touching, often catching me by surprise. It took practice and guidance on his part for me to live up to his standards. He’d guide my hands, lead my mouth, and constantly tell me how I could improve.

&

"We’re not screwing,” I said. “Honestly, I don’t even want to.”

Angie rolled her eyes. “I think you’re missing the point of a relationship.”

I didn’t know how to explain to Angie what it felt like to just want to be near someone, to want to hear their laugh like a soundtrack and wake up to their smile every morning. Even with X, I’d never craved physical intimacy, but with Y, just the sound of his voice brought me more pleasure than sex ever could.

Note: I’m not on the ace-spectrum myself, and because of that, cannot speak about the representation as well as someone who identifies as on the ace-spectrum can. If I find further information about this topic, I will edit my review to include it here.

Plastic Wings is a very funny story despite all of the horrors displayed in this world C.T. Callahan has created. A pretty memorable moment taken out of context is this one,

“The shirtless hero was always my favorite trope.”

“Hold still,” I said. “You’re bleeding a lot.”

But if we are being real here, the character that truly brings a lot of sass into this book is Alex. Getting to know him and seeing him and Evie get to know each other was something else and I was at multiple times kicking my legs everywhere because I had, the feels. This should convince you as to why you need to get this book as soon as possible, as in yesterday.

The characters in Plastic Wings have incredible character development, they grow, they evolve and yet they still stay true to who they are. It’s amazing to read, and makes you want to get to know the characters even further. I can’t wait for the sequel because I crave more of these characters, answers to my questions and so much more. Plastic Wings perfectly shows a world where the line between good and evil is blurred and together with some amazing characters, this book is a winner. I recommend it with all of my heart.

P.S. I have so many spoiler filled questions, I just need to let them out so that maybe someone can @ me on Twitter or send me a message on any of my platforms so that we can discuss this amazing book together. Do you think the very first dark angel Evie met is someone we’ll ever meet? How will the whole training/engagement thing work for Evie and Alex? Like I have to know. They said it’s really hard, I wonder what they’re going to make Evie do. Also Angie’s baby, that was so unexpected, do you think we will ever see her again? To be honest, I hope so. When will we ever get to meet the King though? Will Alex killing someone have an effect on him? How? What? AM I THE ONLY ONE FREAKING OUT? Wasn’t Cal’s character development just the best? He needs to be protected at all costs, the asshole has been redeemed. I need the sequel, I’m thirsty for more.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I received an advanced readers copy from the author in exchange for an honest review***

I have to admit that after reading the synopsis I thought that Plastic Wings was just going to be another romantic angel-human love story. I was pleasantly surprised by the YA dystopian theme (which is a personal favorite) and the appeal of the overall story.

Plastic Wings is about a young girl who struggles to find a place in Earths new society after it's been destroyed by angels. The main character, Evie, is faced with a series of events that tests her remaining humanity. Alongside her new friend, Alex (who just happens to be an angel), Evie goes on a journey to self discovery. The story has a laid back feel to it and you will love Alex's humor and Evie's realism.

I like how the author took her time developing the characters and their relationships but at times I felt like it was a little drawn out. Also, at some points in the story the word choice was a bit to complex for how simple the sentences were (but that's just me). The last thing that I would complain about is the lack of information behind the apocalypse, but since that wasn't the main focus of the story it wasn't really that big of a deal. Other than that, the book was AMAZING. I fell into the authors world and loved every second of it.

One of the best things about the novel is that it wasn't just some fairy tale bs that we see a lot of nowadays. Callahan's characters are portrayed as real people (and angels) who have realistic flaws. All of the characters experience events that show their true colors. From selfishness to selflessness and so on. I really liked how the story showed the emotional battle between Evie and her brother due to his 'experiments'.

Aside from the few small issues the story was PERFECTION! I definitely recommend it if you love reading diverse, dystopian, fantasy or anything with a sarcastic male lead! Overall, I really enjoyed reading Plastic Wings and I would love to read more of C.T. Callahan's books in the future.

[Brooke Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Good
+Liked Evie & Co., all flawed realistic people
+Evie’s voice & narrative felt authentic with her personality, childhood & After
+Unique Angel/Vamp/Fae type race
+Brings up issues rarely dealt with in YA Apocalypse
+Love the descriptions and made plenty of quote highlights


The Bad & The Other
-Was frustrated Evie didn’t ask more questions earlier because I WANNA KNOW and now I must wait for the next one
- Some pieces stuck out as a bit odd.


Plastic Wings is the first part of Evie’s life and several years after the apocalypse. Her narrative voice feels so authentic. There’s no grand explanations and info dumps. She’s sheltered growing up and protected most of the time by others and her own disassociation with the crumbling world around her.

Evie is not perfect and even if you like her, you’ll probably disagree with at least some of her decisions. I know I did, and hindsight is a painful teacher. However, she does mature and finally chooses a path towards the end that gives her direction, purpose, and answers to be revealed in the next installment.

I love the world building with the tidbits of the before world and afterwards with the Dark Angels. Most people just call them monsters, and I’m surprised there isn’t more superstitions among the survivors or groupies or converts on what they are and why this is happening. Especially given their vampiric tendencies, wings, and fire.

There are moments that stuck out and make me wonder as well. For instance, if universal education eliminated accents then how come Evie runs into several middle-aged adults with them? How long as Universal Education been around, if so? Were there pockets of resistance and people clinging to their heritage? Hmmm…This is where Evie’s authenticity causes problems because she only notes the abnormal to her, not the status quo.

Also, if there’s any white people that are clueless and want a peak into what reading white as default is like for POC, Plastic Wings is a great example of the physical depictions. Every human defaults as POC while Dark Angels make them do a double take being so pale. There’s plenty of descriptions on Dark Angel’s unusual skin, but human skin coloring is only remarked upon if something is wrong, like a wound. And still, no goddamn food descriptions on either side. **Applause**

The plot revolves around Evie growing up after her world as crumbed and it’s mostly people struggling to survive for the majority of the book. There’s family and leadership problems, she starts her first relationship, and mostly plods along with the rest of them.

However, it never felt slow or dull. I was completely wrapped up with Evie and her world. I liked getting to know her and all the players involved. She’s unique in her world given her sympathies and compassion, but that’s hardly unique for this type of paranormal war tale. There’s thousands, hundreds of thousands and maybe even more, of books with white girls being the same odd ball, so I’d think hard about complaining in regards to Evie.

Romance does play a part in Plastic Wings. Evie’s first relationship is unassuming. It’s only dating, the grounded every day kind that’s remarkable for being first and not much else. I like how even though she hides, distracts herself and he’s there day to day, it’s about her and doesn’t take the focus off the bigger picture.

FYI: while there are trigger warnings for this book, stalkers and control freaks are not romanticized. And no love triangle to speak of.

Her later second relationship is where it gets interesting and the electroshocks of love come into play. They’re adorable and I love their banter. I only wish she didn’t relish so much the happiness and grilled for some answers because I need them.

This is where her obliviousness and denial finally started to bug me. Her eyes are painfully opened, consequences reign high, and she comes out the other side as mature, determined, and focuses. Still a teen, still with problems and flaws, but damn if she isn't about to fuck shit up once she gets her bearings. I can't wait.

Again, unique for her world but not the genre. So, more thinking and introspection please, reviewers.

That relationship does end up dominating the end of the book but it works for the characters, the plot, and the world building. I really can’t wait to see what happens next. I have faith in Evie, her path, and choices.


If you’re looking for action, Evie isn’t a part of any until the end. This is all about set up so far and the human connection. Same can be said of romance and there’s no steam scenes whatsoever.

But, if you want a POC centered apocalyptic tale with different paranormal beings, Plastic Wings is perfect. The beginning reminds me of Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (and several others TBH) while the ending has A Court of Thorns and Roses feeling without the problematic bullshit.

[Shannon Rohrer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plastic Wings proved to be an enjoyable read, subverting a lot of my expectations of how the characters would act/interact, what their relationships would be like, and the direction the plot would take. That isn't to say I didn't find problems with it, however.

The characters oftentimes felt very realistic, with only the occasional time where I was dumbfounded by their actions/reactions; I felt they were well-rounded, complex, and seldom was a character portrayed as absolutely good or absolutely evil. But as I said, other times I was thrown for a loop with the way they acted or reacted, especially when there was little to no transition to warrant said actions/reactions. One example I can think of relates to Wes: I won't go into spoilers, but I felt his character did a complete 180 when he returned to the story--which I suppose would make sense, given the length of his absence, only it felt forced to me. There were other occasions where character dialogue and interaction felt this way--sometimes positive interactions, other times not--but I won't go into a lengthy account on the matter.

The plot showed great potential, but I did find myself confused at times. As this is intended to be a series, I hope the answers to some of my questions might come in later installments, but to clarify, I didn't understand what had started the war to begin with. Why did the "dark angels" come to Earth in the first place? What were they hoping to achieve--or rather, the faction doing the killing, as it was apparent they didn't all share the same views? Moreover, what is their species actually called? All through the story, Evie refers to them as dark angels, other humans call them demons and monsters, yet these beings themselves never once offered an actual title. In this--and in some of the descriptions of their realm--I felt the worldbuilding to be a bit lacking (though many of the descriptions were vivid and beautiful, especially where the elemental stone was concerned).

Aside from that, though, I did like some of the powers, the variations in the dark angels' appearances (how they had different classes, wing-types, etc.) and I thought the romantic element between Evie and Alex, while a bit quick, was cute.

All in all it was a good read, and I hope to learn more about these beings, their world, and the nature of their war in the future. Thus I give Plastic Wings a solid 4 stars.

[Rachel Thijssen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Caring about people is a double-edged sword."

Plastic Wings is not your basic YA dystopian where the MC falls in love with an angel. I'm not even sure if you can call the beings that are killing humans angels - that's just what the MC Evie calls them; dark angels.
They are like a mix between fae, demons and angels and from the first time they appeared on page, I wanted to know more about them.

This book focuses on the morals and losses in a war against an invading species that have triggered an apocalypse on Earth. Instead of focusing on the bad done by the invaders, we see Evie struggle as the dark angels are killed and tortured without pardon. They may be the enemy, but they are living beings and there must be a reason why they are here.

"My name is Evelyn Weiss," I said. "And I am not interested in your war."

Evie's strong feelings of empathy were very relatable and yet she was not perfect. The decisions she makes put her own people at risk, but you understand where these decisions come from because the author gives a very nuanced image of their characters. It was impossible for me not to feel for them, relate to them. And this is heartbreaking given how many people die fighting off the dark angels who are killing them for reasons yet unknown.

The way Evie deals with loss is also very relatable. I have dealt with losses myself and the different ways Evie reacted were exactly the same as mine - either she cried for a long time and moved on or she did not cry at all due to shock.

Lastly, it was refreshing to finally see the opposite of a special snowflake. Evie empathizes with the dark angels and nobody understands this sympathy, but she has always been different in other ways as well. Instead of making her special, the author showed Evie's struggle to fit in, which was very relatable for me, since I am autistic and never quite fit in myself.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed Angel Fall by Susan Ee and A Court of Thorns and Roses, but be warned that this book is not action packed. It focuses on character development, relationship, questioning morals etc. with the occasional well-written action sequence.

If you like a good character-driven story with a plot that is not fast-paced but not slow either and a war that makes you question your own morals, then I say pick up Plastic Wings and give it a shot :)

[Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t realize this was YA when I started it, which was my mistake as it’s not my preferred genre to read these days. That said, the author does well at capturing the essence of teenagers, which is to say I found myself particularly exasperated with many of the characters, in that uncomfortably realistic way. I’m not so far removed from my own teenage years that I’ve forgotten what it’s like, even if it’s something I’d rather not contemplate too deeply.

Sadly, this book could use a little help with pacing. After the first section with Evie (the protagonist) helping her first dark angel when she was 7, the book sort of meanders thought the first part of the Advent, not really picking up again until nearly half way. Lots of characters are introduced in a relatively short period of time, and I didn’t find myself particularly committed to them.

Stylistically, it’s an interesting read, simultaneously not giving readers much information to work with, with regards to the dark angels and the Advent, but simultaneously giving us other random tidbits, such as which character might die next.

It is in the latter half that Plastic Wings really redeems itself. With a number of characters either deceased or having departed Paradise, the novel becomes much more stream-lined even with the introduction of new characters in the angels’ world. The characters all gain depths and there are more insights into their motivations, which are varied and realistic. They are people that are products of their upbringing and circumstances, acting as people act; sometimes impulsively and against their better nature, even when they mean the best. While the reasons for the Advent never do become clear, it’s something to look forward to in a future book.

All in all, Plastic Wings is a solid book and an enjoyable read, despite the slow sections. Mostly, I feel like small changes and considerations would really improve the overall reading quality of the book. (For example, why would planet-wide Universal Education ever choose Fahrenheit over Celsius?) C.T. Callahan crafted an interesting post-apocalyptic world, with an even more interesting and deep society of the dark angels, playing beautifully with the simultaneous benefits of their world compared to the humans’ contrasted with societal differences.

[Sarah Baity · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the synopsis I was super eager to start reading this dystopian-fantasy-romance so I dove right in and devoured it in one sitting. With a little bit of a twist and turn back and fourth beginning, I was a little hesitant but the book soon captivated me and left me wanting more. The story follows young Evie as she is trying to find her place in a post apocalyptic world taken over by angels. After finding a young, hurt angel when she was a kid she has become sympathetic to what she calls “dark angels” causing her a bit of an issue within her dysfunctional family. The story is jam packed with romance and reminds me a lot of ACOTAR, so I would highly recommend this book if you’re a fan of that series. I’ve been hitting a reading slump as of lately but this world C.T. Callahan has created helped me through it and I can’t wait to dive into the next one!

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

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[zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever I come across a book featuring dark angels, my mind immediately thinks of the negative stereotype I have assigned to this kind of books* ― an ordinary girl meets a tall, dark and handsome stranger who comes from a mysterious background; stranger either has a bad reputation as a rebel or is simply not interested in 99.9% of the world’s female population; surprise, surprise, girl and stranger gets together; romance ensues and the story becomes the secondary focus. But Plastic Wings had already shattered that stereotype with its summary. There is no hopeless romantic, no glorious quest to stop the dark angels, just a girl who is torn between her loyalty to the humans and her compassions towards the dark angels, just a girl who wants to end this war between humans and dark angels peacefully.

*not entirely true, I know, but when the most popular books featuring angels (of any kind) are stuff like Hush, Hush and Fallen, it kinda sticks

4 stars

Evie doesn’t really fight on the front lines much. Whenever some of the guys leave the safe house they call ‘Paradise’ to capture some dark angels, she would rather stay behind. Partially because her older brother, Ian, wants to keep her out of danger, but also because she doesn’t agree with what they do with the captured dark angels, which is to find out their weaknesses by experimenting on them. Due to this, we don’t really get to see the full extent of the destruction the dark angels have caused to the world, other than the occasional character death. There was barely any apocalyptic feel, it just felt like the humans were blowing this ‘dark angel invasion’ out of proportion.

I wanted to stay alive, to be happy, but Ian wanted to win, and somehow,
in his world, there was no point in living if we couldn’t.

There is a wide range of characters, each with their own unique personality. Though they may not be likeable, we may not agree with their decision 90% of the time, but they certainly are realistic. They each have their flaws, even the dark angels, whom one may have thought to be beings of perfection. Plus with most of the characters being children or teenagers, seeing them all grow up so fast and not having a chance at a normal life really tugged at my heartstrings. However, this large age demographic sometimes led me to think that every single adult in the world was dead in the book. Honestly, who lets a nineteen-year-old become the leader of the survivors??

The relationships between characters played a huge role in shaping the characters and their decisions, especially the relationship between siblings, of which there is an abundance of in this book.

I could forgive his faults, pretend he didn’t snore or boss me around all the time because,
at the end of the day, we were always there for each other.

The world, though nothing breathtaking, is built in a way that is easy for readers to absorb. There is no info dump, but rather small trickles of information spread throughout the book. Even now, there is still much about the world that is waiting to be discovered.

Note: This book has teenage pregnancy but I felt that it was added in purposefully. Also has suicide and torture.

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[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried. I really did, but I stopped at 55%.

The story follows Evie Weiss from the time she is seven and meets her first “dark angel” until she is 16--at least when I stopped reading she was 16--after the angels attack (I think) modern civilization, it falls apart, and she and some others are holed up in an old casino building. Then she meets one of the angels, Alex, who is smitten with her (of course) and starts getting to know him and the angels them much better. She even goes to Alex’s 18th birthday party in dark-angel-land, although personally I think it’s going to turn out to be fairy-land.

The story had potential. I like post-apocalyptic type stories, and this one seemed liked it would be a fantastical version of one of those. Evie was an interesting character, and so were Ian, her brother, and Wes. Kudos to the author for making Alex about the same age as Evie (the whole “hundreds of years old supernatural creature falls for a teenage girl” is overdone and implausible) but ultimately I couldn’t get past the amatuer quality of the writing.

First, the book is written in the first person--there’s nothing wrong with that alone--and it contains an overuse of I/my. It is entirely possible, and desirable, to write in the first person without that overkill; it just comes with practice. In this case, I found it at times distracting.

Second, the writing is often stilted, using big words and oddly formal language/constructions where simple direct prose would be much more effective. It’s hard to pick a few out-of-context examples, but some include: her mother “commended [her]desire to save innocent lives”, “[her brother] inquired about my father’s whereabouts”, “despite the few garments [they] had access to”, “[she] took in the appearances of people around me”, “his body heated to a high fever”, and my favorite, “pulling me down until my face collided uninhibited with the sidewalk”. There are more; those are just some of the ones I flagged. Evie also refers to her family as “my siblings” more than once, which sound distant.

Third, you’ve probably all heard that bit of writer’s advice to “show, don’t tell”, right? Well this book is full of telling, particularly with respect to conversations which are often summarized instead of showing us the conversation. And yet it also lacks description at times. For example, there is mention of Ian getting “research equipment” and doing “experiments”, but no specifics. It makes me think the writer has not thought out what is happening, has not really visualized her own story well enough to be able to communicate it to the reader.

Overall, it was quite frustrating. Good potential, but this needed some really strong editing before it was put on the market.

[ETA: I have since found out that this book is self-published. That explains a lot.]

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started reading Plastic Wings it reminded me of Angelfall by Susan Ee and ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas. I really liked the angel aspect of the book and the dystopian part as well. While the author didn’t spend a ton of time explaining the work building, I liked how she took the time to develop the characters instead.

The plot moved along at a good pace, I wasn’t bored very much while reading Plastic Wings. The only thing I would complain about is how there wasn’t that much action in the book. Plastic Wings is mainly centered around the characters, so the focuses more on them rather than the plot.

For the most part the characters were OK, I felt like some could have used more development such as, Angie, but for the most part the characters were well developed. I really liked Evie, while she made mistakes often, she tried to make up for them. At times she acted very naive, but I think over the course of the novel she really matured. I also liked Cal’s character development, he was really rude towards Evie when he first met her but he eventually became nicer. Alex was also really sweet as well, I though he was really adorable.

Like I said before Plastic Wings is mainly character driven, so there is a lack of world building. I would have liked it if the author had explained where the angels came from and why they were there. I also felt like the author could have also explained the world before the angels came. The lack of world building wasn’t really an issue for me since it wasn’t a central element to the plot.

There is definitely romance in this book, but there aren’t any annoying tropes like a love triangle or the MC ending up with the first guy she sees. I actually liked the romance aspect because the author didn’t put any insta-love between the characters. Evie’s relationships started off as friendships and they grew into romantic relationships, which is awesome since most authors usually just put characters together without the friendship part of their relationships.

Overall I really liked Plastic Wings, while it had it’s issues I think the author wrote a good debut novel. I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a book with diversity or you’re looking for a YA book without the annoying tropes.

[Sinead Anja (Huntress of Diverse Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out my book blog for more book reviews and other bookish posts!

I chose to read Plastic Wings because I thought the blurb was interesting. It’s the first book of a series.

Evie finds a boy in the forest: a dark angel. Years later, when she’s a teenager, she comes across these angels again. This time though, they have started to attack humans. She is torn between feeling compassion for the dark angels, and being loyal to the humans.

This book is #ownvoices for black and asexual representation

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This book is both character-driven and plot-driven.

Evie is a very well-written character. She’s not perfect, neither is she imperfect. She’s relatable and she doesn’t want to give up on either side. Her asexuality and being black are mentioned on-page, but they are not the focus of the story.

The minor characters are all really well-developed – which I always enjoy. They live their lives, make mistakes and achieve goals, even when Evie is not in the picture. They also end up influencing some of the events. I hope that the sequel will include more of Angie, Evie’s sister, because she has a very different perspective to the world and I am interested in finding out more about it.

The angels are amazing antagonists. They are not your run-of-the-mill fallen angels, neither are they knights in shining armor. Their motives for attacking humanity are explored – however, I hope that more will be explained in the second book. The descriptions of the angels are not only original, the execution is also perfect. I very much enjoyed how we kept finding out more about the angels.

It’s written in first-person from Evie’s perspective, which makes it a rather bumpy and slow read. Evie herself is unsure about what is happening at the beginning of the story and we learn about the angels at the same pace as she does. I love novels where you feel like you are the main character, so this was right up my alley!

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I enjoyed Plastic Wings, and recommend it to people looking for an interesting take on angels. I’ll certainly be reading the next book.

Trigger warnings (taken from the book): abuse, assault, suicide, torture, death.

[Lorna (lornaslibrary) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plastic Wings had a bit of a shaky start. It felt a little rushed and detached; I’d have liked to know a little more about how Evie felt about finding an angel and caring for him. Since this act determines her stance all the way throughout the rest of the novel, it seems a little odd that she wouldn’t revisit the memory more often.

Despite this, the rest of the novel is much stronger. I particularly enjoyed the characterisation. Each character felt unique and real. At one point we get a description of the different types of Wes’ laughs and which one is Evie’s favourite. It’s these moments that show just how much thought and effort went into creating these characters.

It has a very interesting style of writing, written not only in past tense but as if the story is being told in retrospect by Evie. There are moments where she makes some kind of comment (e.g. "This is one of the last truly sweet memories I have with my family") which indicates she knows what happens after that moment. I’d be really interested to see how this plays out towards the end of the series.

The book defies a lot of cliches; it has two girls become friends instead of fighting over a boy, Evie is allowed to have more than one romantic relationship during the course of the book and this isn’t portrayed in a negative way, it even depicts a toxic relationship that is actually shown as being toxic.

My experience of stories about a character falling in love during some kind of war involves the bigger plot taking a back seat to the romance, but that doesn’t happen here. The romance is a gradual thing, not an all-consuming thing. Evie is still very aware of what’s happening around her. Although I would have liked more information on the war itself, I did like that it wasn’t completely ignored as soon as Evie finds something else to focus her attention on.

Some plot points were a little predictable and there are gaps where I think more information was needed, but overall I really enjoyed this book. The characters felt real, they were likeable despite being flawed. I’m really excited to see what happens in the next book!

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

**I received an advanced reader copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.**

Trigger Warnings (for the book, not the review): abuse, assault, suicide, torture, and death

One of the first things I noticed with Plastic Wings is that it's one of the few books, if not only book that features a list of trigger warnings on the publication page. I give props to Callahan for that.

Callahan managed to combine some of my favorite things, a supernatural love story with diverse characters. They even managed to summarize the book without making the entire summary about a love story. Annoyingly enough, YA female leads with love interests are always the focus in summaries, Callahan avoids that.

Plastic Wings is focused on a young girl's adventure as she discovers the world of angels and their fight that seeps out onto Earth. The main protagonist, Evie is more relatable than many YA protagonists. Although, not the main focus the love story behind Evie and Alex is adorable. You'll love Alex's surprising sense of humor mixed with Evie's realism. As with any YA novel, Evie's adventure includes obstacles involving family, friends, and loss and her journey to self discovery.

My only complaint, there's more exposition than I usually prefer but I don't typically like exposition. It is necessary to understand the plot though.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves the supernatural world, a healthy love story, and an adventure.

On a side note, I absolutely loved the cover art and the soft matte texture of the paperwork. Sorry, but you know very well that a cover can make or break a book. Plus who doesn't love a soft book?

[Zachary Chopchinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review***

I didn't know anything about the book when I was given it to read. I purposefully didn't read the synopsis until I had finished the book. I really just wanted to see where the story took me without any prior knowledge of where I thought it would go.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the plot. It takes a very well known genre (YA dystopian) and throws you a curveball. The cause for the end of the world is Angels. Generally we think of angels as a completely good and genuine force sent by God himself to save humanity. But people forget that the Devil is an angel himself, and thus angels are fault-able. The angels in Callahan's tale are in some ways humanistic which is beautiful in and of itself.

I also must admit and I didn't always like the main character Evie. She made some very selfish decisions throughout the story, but that's what gave the book more realism. In fact, most of the characters weren't always likable, but that gives the story the appeal of being so much more realistic. I'm tired of reading books where everyone is always so perfect and always make the right decision, never thinking of themselves. That's just not real. In this aspect, Callahan was able to draw me into the story in a way that few books do.

My only criticism is that I would have preferred a bit more description of scenery and how people felt. I greatly look forward to Callahan's next book and I highly recommend Plastic Wings to anyone who enjoys YA dystopia, fantasy and snarky characters!

[RJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oops finally doing this, sorry! I got the book for a review.

Ok, so it's rated 2 stars bc I'm following the text. It was ok. It's a p solid book, just not my thing, and that's ok! If this book sounds like your thing, go for it. It's a solid execution of it. If this isn't the sort of thing you're into, it's maybe not the best place to start your exploration, but it's a solid book.

It's just that. It's not one I'd keep hold of (if it were a physical copy) but I didn't waste my time reading it at all. I got enjoyment from it, and continued on. Nothing wrong with that.

I wish some of the questions of the world had been explained, what the dark angels were and were doing? But I see this is a series so maybe it gets explained there.

I was in for this book for the ace rep, which is good, but not prominent (which may be a plus or minus for you. I appreciate it, but I wouldn't say read this book solely for the rep)

idk i hope this doesn't seem to terribly negative, I just thought of it as "fine". It's a solid book but not one I loved and adored, and I think that was a matter of personal interests. But if you're considering the book, go for it. *You* will probably like it.

[Leah]

Started: May 31, 2017
Stopped: June 26, 2017

Planning to come back to this later. It's interesting but not completely holding my attention at the moment.

[Riska Sleepless]

DNF @ 11%

this really just isn't for me and so far it's way more telling than showing and a lot of in-your-face worldbuilding which makes reading it not very enjoyable...