Hope Is Our Only Wing

by Rutendo Tavengerwei

At a time of national upheaval in Zimbabwe, an unlikely friendship illuminates the power of hope and the possibility to heal--in the face of tragedies beyond any teen's control.

For fifteen-year-old Shamiso, struggling with grief and bewilderment following her father's death, hope is nothing but a leap into darkness.

For Tanyaradzwa, whose life has been turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis, hope is the only reason to keep fighting.

As the two of them form an unlikely friendship, Shamiso begins to confront her terrible fear of loss. In getting close to another person, particularly someone who's ill, isn't she just opening herself up to more pain? And underpinning it all - what did happen to her father, the night of that strange and implausible car crash?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Africa, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Zimbabwe

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2018

About the author

Rutendo Nomsa Tavengerwei grew up in Zimbabwe before moving to South Africa to study Law. One of her greatest influences in writing remains her father, who tutored Rutendo from the age of nine, teaching her how to write and how to play around with language when telling a story. According to Rutendo "writing is more than just story-telling for me. It's a way to protest against injustices, a way to encourage and a way to provoke thought and inspire."

Rutendo currently works and lives in Geneva, Switzerland. Hope Is Our Only Wing is her debut novel.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Zimbabwe, the story focuses specifically on the adolescent friendship between Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa, two schoolgirls that are each dealing with change. For Shamiso, it is the death of her father and for Tanyardzwa; a cancer diagnosis. Quite simply, this is a beautiful YA novel and I found it to be quite easy reading. Of course, the subject matter was not easy and I am quite interested in continuing my journey for more information about the country and it's history.

Goodreads Review published 28/08/19

Publicaton Date 10/09/19

Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the writing, especially how the author describes the sceneries and surroundings. I like getting to know Zimbabwe and the differences in funeral processions. I like Tanyaradzwa because she's nice despite her shortcomings. The main character, Shamiso, 15, takes a bit of time for me to get used to. She has an attitude but she's tough enough to prevent bullies from telling her what to do. The politics takes me near the end of the story to understand what's going on. There are many terms I don't understand and they're not listed in the glossary: ZESA, fat cakes, load-shedding, etc.


This book is told in the third person point of view following Shamiso as she gets ready for her first day at the boarding school in Zimbabwe. She's currently in mourning of her father's recent death. Her father was a journalist who before his death, chased a newsworthy story. The alternative view is Tanyaradzwa, Shamiso's classmate and roommate at boarding school. Tanyaradzwa has a secret but she doesn't let it holds her back. Both girls’ trouble lives could only be healed through hope. There are many views for smaller characters. This book is divided into 5 parts where it starts with what's currently happening and then goes back to weeks before and then weeks later. A glossary is helpful at the end of the story.


Hope is Our Only Wing is an interesting read though there are a few unclear parts. One chapter seems to start with a new view on Tinotenda then it moves on to Shamiso's view. When reading about Shamiso intentionally ignoring Tanyaradzwa, the story is then talks about Tanyaradzwa but still referring to "she" so I thought I was reading about Shamiso being hot until she vomited and Shamiso pushes back her chair to help; only then do I realized who I'm reading about. This book is after all an advanced copy and unclear sentences could be edited before final publishing. The story itself is interesting and I like the unexpected surprises of Tanyaradzwa's secret and Shamiso's father's accident. I do recommend everyone to read the final published book, just not the ARC copy.

Pro: Zimbabwe, boarding school, family, politics, short chapters, friendship, Hope

Con: can't tell who she is, need more definition in glossary for uncommon terms, some unclear sentences

I rate it 4 stars!

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to Soho Press for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars!

This is a debut YA novel set in Africa and following the lives of two young girls. One called Tavengerwei who has been diagnosed with cancer and Shamiso who has moved away from England after the death of her father. Both of them are at the same boarding school, trying to come to terms with their own personal issues as the world around them opens up their secrets. It was short in length, making for a faster read. However, the storyline is thrown back often between past months and the present day, which turned the flow a little choppy. I really wanted to see more of the Thriller aspect surrounding Shamiso's late father. I would love to read more novels set in Africa, however this was missing a little something for me!

[Ixxati · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you netgalley for giving me ARC for my honest review


Today is my offday and I finished this book in a few hours. It was a short and simple story.

Btw there are a lots of POV and it make me frustrated.

🌟🌟🌟.5

[Sakhile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't explain how deeply this story touched me. I was thrown back into 2008, the food shortages, the loadshedding, the insane price hikes, the teachers' strikes, the endless queues, the hopefulness of youth. And now in 2019 we're back to square one. An amazing YA novel about grief and hope told brilliantly.
Rutendo Tavengerwei has crafted a brilliant YA novel about Shamiso, a Zimbabwean teenager returning from Britain after her father, a political journalist’s suspicious death, to a country she left when she was five. She feels like an alien, not belonging amongst her peers. Her life has suffered a drastic change and she’s not coping very well. She meets Tanyaradwa who’s hiding her own secrets but shuns her friendship olive branch because everyone leaves in the end.

Hope Is Our Only Wing is an amazing and important story especially now that Zimbabwe is going back into the 2008 economic and political crisis. But it’s also a story about hope and friendship. I know a lot of Zimbabweans have lost hope, especially with last year’s elections and the current state of the economy but hope is all we have.

I don’t know how to write this review and separate my Zimbabweaness from the reviewer because Zimbabwe is in me and my heart is always breaking when I think of my country, my home. All I can say is that this book is reverent and it’s for everyone. Don’t look away from it because it’s set in a different place, read it because it’s set in a different place and teaches you about different experiences.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hope is Our Only Wing is a stirring coming of age story that touches on loss, grief and friendship. Written in the third-person, Tavengerwei introduces us to Shamiso, a girl who has lost her father and must find a way through her grief, all while navigating social cliques and privileges of her peers. Tavengerwei adds depth to the story by introducing glimpses into the lives of Shamiso's classmates, which in turn illuminates the shared struggles of growing up, and paints everyday life in a country being reborn.

Tavengerwei approaches politics and the stark reality of life with gentle revelations that connect the characters together, for better or worse. Overall, this is a satisfyingly quick read that shares an important snapshot in history with a message of hope and redemption.

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a MG (or YA) book about a 15 year old girl in Zimbabwe. It's well written; the sweet story is a bit simple but deeper in terms of the context which I wish had been included and addressed more. It's a quick read.

[Lizzie Huxley-Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really beautiful story. Fifteen year old Shamiso is sent to a boarding school in Zimbabwe from her home in London, after the death of her father. It is only through her unlikely friendship with Tanyaradzwa, a girl struggling with cancer, that she is able to map her way out of her grief.

I found this novel to be very important -- I was very ignorant to the issues of Zimbabwe, even though 2008 is within my adult lifetime, and I found Tavengerwei's writing to be informative without ever seeming to preach or teach.

I felt it was so important that it was read by younger people than I, I donated my copy to a local school.

This is an impressive debut and I'm extremely interested to see where Tavengerwei will take us next.

[Abby Seaders · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really hard for me to read.

I kept going because I hoped it would get better, but it didn't. I love the story, I love the culture, I love the history, but the writing style was very hard for me to get into. The main character felt plenty of things, but I didn't feel them with her. The intense emotions felt abrupt and the scenes changed in weird places. I'm really disappointed because I wanted to love this book. Oh well, maybe someone else will.

I really liked the glossary and the integration of some local vocabulary, I felt like that was an awesome touch.

(I did finish the whole thing. )

[Tory · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fast read, but mostly because the prose was choppy and the story was scattered and too loosely constructed. I wanted to like it for the Zimbabwean setting but I didn't feel like the story was fleshed-out enough to do that justice😕

[chinwendu odimgbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be my second time reading this book and the quote from the book “Hope is our only wing out of a stormy gale”,has been one mantra I go to in some situations
Love the book❤️

[Rich in Color is now on StoryGraph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review copy: Publisher

I was really looking forward to this novel as it focused on the growing friendship between Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa and how their friendship changes both of their lives. Sadly, the friendship of the young girls is what I actually found lacking. The two slowly interact but the development of their friendship mainly happens off-screen. There were many instances in the book where the two girls begin to open up to each other and then the chapter would end. Unfortunately, passages where we could have really experienced Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa bonding were often cut short in order to move the story forward. And because of that, when Tanyaradzwa’s cancer becomes serious and she is hospitalized, the conflict Shamiso faces about visiting her friend and dealing with her grief rings hollow because their bond was not fully established.

I did connect with Shamiso as the story is mostly told in her voice (there are vignettes all throughout) and I feel like the author did an excellent job of dealing with grief and how that changes a person and their relationship to family and others. In addition to losing her father, Shamiso is experiencing her world being upturned as she left her home and is now attending a boarding school in Chinhoyi, a suburb of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare. Talk about a major life change. She has to adjust to a completely different way of life and have to make new friends. In addition, Zimbabwe is experiencing political turmoil and she is starting the school when government systems are starting to break down. She is clearly overwhelmed with the adjustment and dealing with her grief as she was close to her father. It’s clear that because of this Shamiso is a shell of her former self. Her budding friendship with Tanyaradzwa does help her as she discovers the identity of Shamiso’s father. I feel like Tanyaradzwa is a wonderful balance for Shamiso as she is dealing with cancer, but still trying to maintain her positivity. It’s clear that that relationship does influence Shamiso and by the end she begins to come out of her shell.

Overall there is a lot that I enjoyed about the book, like the vignettes that gave the different perspectives of people Shamiso interacts with and painted a fuller picture of Zimbabwe in 2008. I enjoyed all the characters as they were fully developed, including the antagonist that we did feel for, which made for an engaging story. I just wish the friendship between Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa was truly center stage and their dynamic was the strongest throughout the entire novel.

Recommendation: Borrow it someday.

[Nondumiso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Available 3 May

A brilliant debut full of Zimbabwe’s golden sunsets. Shamiso is a fifteen year old girl forced by the death of her political journalist father to move back to Zimbabwe from London, this is just after the political transition of Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. The loss on its own is enough to break any little girl’s world, but she must remain strong because her father’s death is under enormous suspicion – what really happened to her father, the night of that strange and implausible car crash?

But time is friend to no man. The cuddling eventually stops and time’s blow unleashes its rage.
For Shamiso, struggling with grief and bewilderment following her father’s death, hope is nothing but a leap into darkness. Add in an unlikely friendship with Tanyaradzwa, whose life has been turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis – hope is the only reason to keep fighting for both of them.

Shamiso begins to confront her terrible fear of loss. In getting close to another person, particularly someone who’s ill, isn’t she just opening herself up to more pain? And underpinning it all. A teen debut novel takes an honest look at hope, and the grit and courage it can take to hang on to it.

This is a story about friendship and confronting everyday fears but still holding on, teenage me would have marvelled at this book.

About the Author
Rutendo Nomsa Tavengerwei lived and studied in Zimbabwe until the age of eighteen, when she moved to South Africa to study law at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has just completed a Masters at the World Trade Institute, and is now working at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Rutendo has always loved to write and received tutorials from her father from the age of nine. HOPE IS OUR ONLY WING is her debut novel.

[SPEEDY READY · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writting and the story managed to strike a cord in my heart but it also managed to bore me quite a bit.

Hope is Our Only Wing follows Shamiso as she is forced to go back to a place that's is so unfamiliar to her that she can't seem to really belong. After her father's sudden and slightly suspicious death her life is completely flipped and she is still dealing with the sense of loss. Back in her home country Zimbabwe life is not like the one she knew. Food was short, the political climate is shifting and there is a lot of corruption and she struggles to understand and find her place. At her new school in Zimbabwe Shamiso meets Tanyardzwa who is fighting cancer and together they navigate their way in a dark time.

I think the writting of the story and certain aspects of it were really good. The charecters did manage to make me interested or care for them a bit. I enjoyed the multi-perspective. I was really invested into learning about the country and the struggle to survive. However this book didn't particularly invoke any emotion in me. I was bored for a majority of the story. Also the back made it seem like that Tanyardzwa and Shamiso were going to be having a lot more interactions then they actually ended up doing.
I think their friendship was quite lacking or atleast the reader didn't really get to see the friendship be fully fleshed out and it sort of just happened between the pages.

I don't think it was bad, honestly I learned a bit about a country I knew nothing about and I think the message was there, but honestly it wasn't very thought provoking or interesting as the premise sort of made it out to be.

[Kerry Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shamiso is sent to boarding school after the death of her father still grief stricken she wants nothing to do with anyone there until she meets Tanyaradzwa. She is dealing with her own issues but she has the hope Shamiso is lacking. Can they get through everything that being in Zimbabwe during a time of great unrest.

Oh this book really plays to my emotions. It's so well written and there are points I wanted to cry along with Shamiso. This could have been such a sad story but the title is absolutely right. There is hope in this and it's beautifully written.

Oh Shamiso she goes through so much in this and I admire her growth as the story progresses but I loved Tanyaradzwa more. Her hope given all she faces is incredible.

[Robyn Thomas-Beswick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, educating and emotional.

[Pallavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

RATING: 3/5 STARS



This was a short read about the lives of two girls, Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa, in the setting of the 2008 economic crisis in Zimbabwe. Shamiso is dealing with the death of her journalist father and adjusting to a new boarding school in Zimbabwe. Tanyaradzwa is battling cancer and trying to remain optimistic about her future. The girls become friends, finding kinship in the struggles they are facing.

The writing in this book is lovely. It's simple but poignant in its descriptions of everyday life in this time and place. The chapters are brief - like snapshots into the minds of Shamiso, Tanyaradzwa, and supporting characters. Despite the sadness that permeates the events of Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa's lives, there are many moments of hope and positivity in their story.

It was sad to read about how corruption and the political climate were disruptive to Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa's lives and their community. I thought the author succeeded at providing political context without overpowering the main narrative.

This book was beautifully written, a gentle but important narrative. However, it was like a river that lacked a strong current. More exploration of the mystery of Shamiso's father's death, more interaction between Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa, and a tighter plot might have kept me more engaged.

This is the first YA book I've read set in Africa, and I look forward to reading more in this genre from authors like Tavengerwei.

A sincere thanks to Soho Press for providing an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Social: @_shelf.awareness on Instagram

[Adesuwa Grace (Somewhat Reserved) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Intermission: There's a glossary that explains a lot of the non English words at the back of the book.

It just makes me sad to say that to read a book you've been really looking forward to and end up not liking it much at all, really. I thought that I might like the book after reading the beginning and I thought the MC would be relatable. As I read the story, I couldn't enjoy it because the characters felt so bland. Especially that Maths teacher, oh my gosh.

It was nice to read about Shamiso or Tanyadzwa becoming friends but sometimes I felt they were almost interchangeable. Maybe it was because I just lost interest in the story.

I was hoping to find out more about Zimbabwe, which I sort of did, in a way. I mainly know about West Africa, particularly Nigeria since I'm of Nigerian ethnicity. I didn't really feel like I got to know more about the cultural differences and stuff. Especially since Shamiso came straight from England and didn't know much about Zimbabwe. I wanted to see more culture shock! Way more conflict.

Was kinda disappointed how Even when her mother found out about Shamiso's smoking, she didn't really do anything about it or suggested a safer alternative for her?.

Hm... as disappointed as I am. I am glad to see a book about Africa by and African person published by a British publishing company. Hopefully there will be many more to come. Maybe I'll check out the future works of this author but this book was definitely not my cup of tea.

[Richelle Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received a review copy from Amazon Vine and voluntarily provided an honest review. This does not affect the opinion of the book or the content of the review.*

This was my first reading this author and it wasn’t a bad read but I felt like something was missing while I read. The chapters are really short so I don’t know if that affected my ability to connect to the characters. In my opinion, all the characters had the same personality throughout the book. I did enjoy the different point of views but I needed the characters to stand out and be brought to life. I also didn’t really feel the friendship and bond between Shasimo and Tanyaradzwa while reading. The ending of the book was good but I felt it was rushed and would have liked to have read more fallout from the prior events. Overall it wasn’t a bad read but it didn’t blow me away either. I am not against reading another book by this author.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something of a difficult book to place - writing level seems aimed for middle grade readers while the main character's age, her smoking, and the required contextual/conceptual background seem more YA. (Even for older readers, the details of Zimbabwean history isn't generally taught to US students and the book seems to expect a built in understanding of the topic.) A bit of a sweet story, if clumsy with forming character arcs and moving between POVs.

[Regina Chari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This YA novel was a good debut attempt for the author. I loved the way she described Zimbabwe which I think will be interesting for anyone, whether you live In Zimbabwe or have never been. There is a page in the back where she defines all of the Shona words which is helpful.
The characters could use some deeper development and the story was a less engaging than what I was expecting. I am glad that I read it and will likely try another book by the same author.

[Stephanie Cannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been a great book if the story had been developed! There were so many holes and the characters lacked depth. So disappointing!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shamisa barely remembers her life in Zimbabwe before her parents moved to Slough, a move made to enable her father to continue his work as a journalist, one who is prepared to be critical of the regime in his country of birth. Therefore, when the family is forced to return to Africa she desperately misses the only friends she has ever known. When they don’t keep in touch she can’t understand their lack of contact, especially as she thinks that they must realise what she is suffering following her father’s sudden death in a car crash. After his death she would like to return to the only home she has ever known but, without the necessary immigration papers, she and her mother are unable to travel back to Britain. Instead she is sent to boarding school and, feeling hurt about her friends’ apparent rejection, is convinced that friendships can’t be trusted so she is determined to remain aloof from her fellow pupils. However, Tanyaradzwa, a girl in her class whose life has also been turned upside down by a diagnosis of cancer, but who continues to hold onto the hope of a better future, persists in holding out the hand of friendship. Her persistence eventually starts to break through the defences Shamisa has erected, particularly once Tanyaradzwa reminds her that it was through his journalism that her father had offered people hope, reminding them that “hope is our only wing out of a stormy gale….”
This is a lesson which, for a long time, Shamisa finds hard to accept, believing that hope is a dangerous thing, something which leads only to further hurt and disappointment. However, without it, is it ever possible to come to terms with the past and to find ways of moving forward? For very different reasons, both girls must confront their fears, come to terms with the fact that in relationships people often make mistakes and accept the risks inherent in getting close to, and trusting, others. They must also recognise that it is only through the combination of understanding and a capacity for forgiveness that people are able to trust and to move on with their lives.
This story is set in Zimbabwe in 2008, a time of systemic corruption and of increasing political and social unrest. Rampant inflation has led to even middle-class Zimbabweans facing a daily struggle to afford food, to gain access to housing and healthcare and to cope with an erratic electricity supply. In times of such despair, holding onto hope isn’t easy, it requires determination and courage and in this debut novel the author manages to convey a very moving if, at times distressing, picture of daily life in the country which was once known as the “bread basket of Africa”. Central to this life is an acute awareness that anyone who opposes the dictatorial regime is in mortal danger. However, the author’s reflections on the political and social unrest never overwhelm the heart of this story which is, essentially, about the developing friendship between two young girls who are struggling to come to terms with loss, to trust in hope and to believe in a future which holds the promise of a better quality of life. Both Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa must confront their deepest fears if they are to cope with the challenges which confront them and I thought that the author captured their individual struggles in a convincing and very sensitive way. The developing friendship between them felt credible and at times very moving as each of them grappled with losses, both real and feared.
Although this book is aimed at a Young Adult readership and is written in a rather simple style, the story deals with some weighty themes, including grief, loss, life-threatening illness, corruption, poverty, food shortages, political assassinations, in a thought-provoking way and so is certainly one which can be appreciated by older readers. The author evoked a powerful sense of the countless deprivations people were facing in their daily lives as well as the searing heat they also had to contend with. This may be a rather short novel but it is a powerful one, one which is full of humanity and gentle wisdom – a paean to friendship and the need to retain a sense of hope, even during the darkest experiences of life. It is an impressive debut.

My thanks to Readers First and Bonnier Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Susan D'Entremont · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have an Advanced Readers Copy that is due to be published in September 2019, but I see that other editions have already been published, so I am not sure what is different. Perhaps this is the first US edition?

This is a YA book, so it is problematic in that doesn't set the stage of 2008 Zimbabwe. I was an adult back then and was aware of what was going on in Zimbabwe, but the history was still hazy enough for me that I was confused for the first part of the book. For a US reader who wasn't even alive during that time, it might be difficult to figure out what is going on, especially in the first half of the book.

I thought the writing was lovely with the two main characters behaving and sounding like real teenagers. Too often in books set during times of political upheaval, the protagonists are portrayed as great shining lights. But these kids had their spats, were rude, and were thinking much of the everyday, even while things like political killings and extreme inflation were happening in the background.

The book is likely to spur readers to learn more about this era in Zimbabwe's history, which is a good thing. But readers can also just enjoy the grudging but growing friendship between two girls who are outcasts and have gone through some difficult times in their personal lives.

[Vera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Soho Teen for the ARC of this book. There were many things I liked about it, but unfortunately I didn't love it as much as I was hoping to. The two main things I loved were the characters and the writing style. While the chapters are very short, I thought that worked well to tell the story. I also loved that there were chapters from the perspectives of various characters, even more minor characters. I thought the overall premise was beautiful, and the writing was also beautiful.

However, I just wish there was more. I don't know a great deal about the history of Zimbabwe, and I imagine that many teens reading this book know less than I do. I wish there was more in the book to help the reader understand what was going on in the country at the time of the story. I also wish there was just more to the story - more short chapters from the perspectives of some of the minor characters, who we got a little glimpse into, but it really wasn't enough. I also feel like I still don't totally understand what Shamiso's father died for, even after reading the book. I think more historical context would help with this, so that I would understand the various sides of the political conflict that Shamiso's father was involved with.

Overall, it was a beautiful book that I think tells an important story, but it just feels unfinished.

[South Brunswick High School Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shamiso has returned to her father’s beloved Zimbabwe, a country she only knows from his stories, after his sudden death, but in 2008 just as Zimbabwe entered a period of extreme inflation. (According to Google’s Gemini, based on statistics from Wikipedia “89.7 sextillion percent in November 2008. This was equivalent to a daily inflation rate of 98% and meant that prices doubled every 24.7 hours.”) In her new school, Shamiso dreams of her home in England and begins to cope with her father’s loss despite her many questions of his mysterious accident. As a reporter, Shamiso’s father worked diligently to uncover his nation’s corruption, but this might have contributed to his death and Shamiso may have evidence to answer the many questions she has. Meanwhile, Tanyaradzwa struggles with a dangerous Cancer, but also tries to be Shamiso’s friend. Can the pair survive in the new political landscape that seems to complicate everything, even their friendship? As the author’s note mentions, Tavengerwei tries to tell the story of Zimbabwe’s hardship through a story of friendship. In the process she paints an important picture of the political and economic complications Zimbabwe has faced and, as the title suggests, the role that hope plays in how its people coped with their new circumstances.

[Marena Galluccio · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOPE IS OUR ONLY WING by Rutendo Tavengerwei is a lovely story that contains a determined balance of grief and hope. This post does not contain spoilers, but I will have a spoiler review published on my blog, #MediaGalReads, on Thursday, Sept. 12.

I graciously obtained this ARC from Soho Teen who kindly sent it to me for an honest review. Here is the shortened review.

Why I was interested: The book is a modern historical fiction story set during the 2008 Zimbabwe elections and the surrounding political turmoil. There are not many opportunities to read modern historical fiction -- especially one not focused on the United States nor Europe -- so I was immediately excited.

Judge a book by it’s cover: I love the cover I was given which focuses on a feather with a young girl’s face on it -- possibly either Shamiso’s or Tanyaradzwa’s.

What to expect: At first notice, this book is much shorter than your typical 350 page book. It runs at about 200 pages, about novella length, and is a quick yet emotional read. Tavengerwei does a great job pulling from Shamiso’s and Tanyaradzwa’s POVs along with a scattering of others. Both girls learn about friendship and accomplishing grief together but you also learn about what Zimbabwe was like in 2008. The only thing I wish was added to the end of the story would be a historical note as I really love reading them and understanding how the story fits in general history, especially the history of a country and time which might not be studied or generally understood.

Why you should pick this book up: If you are looking for a quick and enjoyable standalone that is about a place and time you may not have much knowledge about, then this is definitely a read for you. Tavengerwei creates a well-rounded showcase of the 2008 Zimbabwe election through the eyes of Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa.

Want more?: This book will be published by Soho Teen on Tuesday, Sept. 10 and my spoiler review will be published on Thursday, Sept. 12 on my blog, #MediaGalReads. Also, check out Tavengerwei’s other story set in Harare, THE COLOURS THAT BLIND.

Thanks for stopping by!

MG, #MediaGalReads
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[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a slim volume but don't let it be deceiving, there's actually a lot packed into it. Set in modern day Zimbabwe, Shamiso has moved back after her father's death. He was a journalist and there's some oddness in his death and what he was planning on revealing that become the backbone of the mystery of the story and how it connects to others in the area.

Shamiso meets Tanyaradzwa who wants to be her friend though Shamiso fights it for most of the book. Tanyaradzwa herself has a cross to bear-- her cancer is back and the tenuous hospital and doctor situation in their war-torn area isn't the best at making sure her surgery can help and heal her.

Then there's a prissy girl at school and how it all leads to uncovering the truth about what Shamiso's father was going to expose and how Shamiso's mother tries to find the courage to fight back while also struggling to survive after the death of her husband in an area that they had moved away from (they were living in England).

It's rich in its starkness. The chapters are deceivingly short and the interval chapters in italics reveal a lot without giving it all away. Relationships and emotions are layered in a contemporary African story that everyone should read.

[Kath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hope is our only Wing is set in Zimbabwe and takes place over a few weeks from January 2008.

Shamiso is a 15 year old who has recently moved from the UK to her parent's home country of Zimbabwe following her father's sudden death. Tanyaradzwa is a girl she meets at her new school who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

This is a fairly simple novel and is aimed and teenagers/ young adults. It touches on topics such as corruption, poverty, rolling blackouts and food shortages, music, hospitals, teachers strikes. It manages to interweave a number of issues affecting Zimbabweans into the narrative in a way that feels natural.

The author says at the start of the book that she wanted to portray the feeling of hope felt by the people of her home country despite any hardships they were experiencing. I think the novel did this very well and felt very positive overall.

I'd give it 3.5 stars but rounded it up to 4 stars on here as, although I didn't love the book, I do feel it was well written and I would recommend it to younger readers. I think I am a good few years older than the target audience and didn't overly connect with the characters.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hope is our Only WIng is the heartbreaking story of Shamiso and Tanyaradzwa. After Shamiso moves from the UK to Zimbabwe she makes an unlikely friendship with the quiet lonely girl Tanyaradzwa. There lives are constantly changing as the political unrest and grief and mysteries try to tear them apart.

My favourite part of the book where Tanyaradzwa’s part, reading how despite her constant struggles she was determined to act normal and go to school. The fact the girls in the story are only teenagers and yet are facing all the troubles was absolutely heartbreaking to read. The story (probably because it’s YA) did feel a bit simplistic but that also made the story so much more real as it is all about teenagers. I very much almost cried at the end of this book, I won't give away the ending but I it’s definitely worth the read.

This book is very definitely a YA book, the writing is has a very simplistic style and I read it within an hour. Despite that I would definitely recommend this book to anyone for a simple but heartbreaking read, that will really make your think.