Review – All of Us With Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Magical Realism/Historical Fiction
Length: 360 pages
Publisher: Soho Teen
Release Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-1641290340
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Seventeen-year-old Xochi is alone in San Francisco, running from her painful past: the mother who abandoned her, the man who betrayed her. Then one day, she meets Pallas, a precocious twelve-year-old who lives with her rockstar family in one of the city’s storybook Victorians. Xochi accepts a position as Pallas’s live-in governess and quickly finds her place in the girl’s tight-knit household, which operates on a free-love philosophy and easy warmth despite the band’s growing fame.

But on the night of the Vernal Equinox, as a concert afterparty rages in the house below, Xochi and Pallas perform a riot-grrrl ritual in good fun, accidentally summoning a pair of ancient beings bound to avenge the wrongs of Xochi’s past. She would do anything to preserve her new life, but with the creatures determined to exact vengeance on those who’ve hurt her, no one is safe—not the family Xochi’s chosen, nor the one she left behind.”

I got this book through the Amazon Vine program to review. This book took me awhile to read, but I enjoyed it a ton. The writing style used here requires you to read the story more slowly, but the beauty and uniqueness of it really grabbed me. This book reminded me a lot of some of Elizabeth Hand’s early works like “Waking the Moon” and “Blacklight”. It has that same darkly sensual and vague dreamy feel to it at points.

During the after party of one of Pallas’s father’s concerts, Pallas and Xochi accidentally summon an ancient fae force. This fae duo is inadvertently tasked with seeking revenge for the wrongs done to Xochi during her first seventeen years of life.

This book doesn’t really focus on magic and fantasy; it’s more about Xochi (a seventeen year old girl) trying to navigate her way through both a 70’s San Francisco and the house of the music performers she lives with. It was incredibly engaging and hard to put down.

I enjoyed so many things about this novel; the descriptions, the slightly broken characters, and the rawness. I also loved Peas, the somewhat magical cat, who is tirelessly looking out for his people despite his advanced age.

This book was magical, beautiful, and heartbreaking while still being hopeful. I really loved it! I’ll be looking out for more books from Keil in the future. I will warn that there are some very adult themes in here: tons of substance abuse, discussion/depiction of rape, also teen/adult relationships.

Overall this was a unique and magical book that really grabbed my attention and stunned me with the beautiful way it was written. This was not a fast read for me but more of a deliberately paced and dreamy read. I would recommend to fans of Elizabeth Hand’s early works.