BOOK REVIEW – Rebel Wing (Rebel Wing #1) by Tracy Banghart

Rebel Wing (Rebel Wing #1)
by Tracy Banghart
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The Dominion of Atalanta is at war. But for eighteen-year-old Aris, the fighting is nothing more than a distant nightmare, something she watches on news vids from the safety of her idyllic seaside town. Then her boyfriend, Calix, is drafted into the Military, and the nightmare becomes a dangerous reality.

Left behind, Aris has nothing to fill her days. Even flying her wingjet--the thing she loves most, aside from Calix--feels meaningless without him by her side. So when she's recruited to be a pilot for an elite search-and-rescue unit, she leaps at the chance, hoping she'll be stationed near Calix. But there's a catch: She must disguise herself as a man named Aristos. There are no women in the Atalantan Military, and there never will be.

Aris gives up everything to find Calix: her home. Her family. Even her identity. But as the war rages on, Aris discovers she's fighting for much more than her relationship. With each injured person she rescues and each violent battle she survives, Aris is becoming a true soldier--and the best flyer in the Atalantan Military. She's determined to save her Dominion . . . or die trying.

Review:

Rebel Wing was spellbinding, intricately crafted, and I became completely addicted.  A rich picture of countries at war was painted, and I found myself being pulled in by the moments of hope, betrayal, torture, alliances, and friendships.  While the twists that played out where surprising or hopefully expected, they had me jumping up and down!  And don’t even get me started on the dangerous butterflies that danced around in my stomach.  I can’t wait to see how the rest of this series proceeds!

But she’d never given up, never backed away from a challenge.
Aris straightened her shoulders.
And I won’t this time either.

As the story unfolded, we got to hear the tale in three voices.  While Aris Haan is the main person we follow, the other two are integral for learning the politics and the events surrounding the war.  Usually I’m not a huge fan of multiple perspectives, unless it’s a couple and we hear their alternating voices, but I actually loved the way this story was told.  Being able to see from the town’s people, military, and government views made for such a well-rounded story.  I found myself becoming as invested in the politics and back story as I was in Aris’ life.  The two other people who you’ll follow and won me over are Ward Nekos Pryalus, who is Atalanta’s current leader where Aris resides, and Ward Galena Vadim who is the current leader of the neighboring country Ruslana.

But she wasn’t a hero. She was a romantic. A foolish one, probably, giving up everything for the boy she loved.
But you’re a flyer too, a voice whispered deep inside.

Aris quickly became a favorite heroine of mine.  She takes challenges head on, was tenacious and brave while having a huge heart and I loved that she grows up as the story proceeds.  When we first meet Aris, she laughs off being recruited to fly for war, since women aren’t allowed in the military.  She’s one of the best pilots in her town, yet she truly doesn’t see that as an option until her boyfriend is sent to war.  The boyfriend whom she was supposed to be Promised to.  So she enters the military, disguised as man, in hopes of being able to be closer to her boyfriend.  To be honest, I struggled with Aris giving up everything to be near her boyfriend, Calix Pavlos.  There was so little time of them together that I never felt a connection to their relationship or Aris’ plight.  But have faith, because as the story progressed, things started to click into place.  And the path that was taken was perfection.  I wish I could say more…..

“I don’t care what anyone says. I want to believe things will work out. I’ll be with Calix. You’ll find your brother—”
“We’ll win this war.” Dysis voice was quiet, her face serious.

Another thing that was perfect in my eyes, was the strong female friendship.  Aris meets Dysis down the road, and it was so refreshing to see two women support one another!  They trusted one another, helped each other, and when push came to shove they could count on the other to have their back.  But one aspect I did struggle with was the names.  We got introduced to a lot of characters with unique names in the beginning of Rebel Wing, and it took me to 30% to have a good grasp on the secondary characters.  I am horrible with names at times, so this definitely could be my issue alone.  Also, while the very beginning was a tad slow, it quickly picked up its pace and held for the rest of the book, yay.

Now I am off to start Storm Fall!  I can’t wait to see how all of the pieces fall into place!

*ARC kindly provided by Author via a Facebook Giveaway in exchange for an honest review*

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers) & Book Depository (click on book #)
Rebel Wing #1 Review: Jen	Storm Fall #2 Review: Jen	Torn Sky #3 Review: Jen

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