When We Have Wings is set in a world where technologies and medicines have been developed to allow people (who can pay the right price) to have a set of wings attached. The novel focuses on the division between the fliers and people who cannot afford the procedure, or simply choose not to.
The book follows two characters: Peri, a nanny for a prominent flyer family, and Zeke, a private detective hired by the same family to find Peri when she disappears with their son Hugo. Zeke accepts the job completely unaware of what lies and conspiracies he is about to discover, and by the time he realises, it's too late.
I have been struggling with this review for days. There were parts of this novel that had me hooked, but generally, I didn't like it. The person who recommended this book to me basically described it how I did in the first paragraph and I was intrigued. It sounded like something I would love. But, they forgot to mention that it's essentially a mystery. Normally, I don't mind a good 'who done it', but I need to know before hand as it's not really my favourite genre. Now, it's not fair to judge the book based on what I thought it was going to be about, so I set my judgements aside and thought about it for what it was.
The detail that went into the mechanics of flight was amazing. It was thoroughly researched and very compelling. The ethics of genetic modification was always in the background and that interested me, as well as the issue of surrogacy. However, I found the characters very hard to get to know (especially Zeke). I like to pick up a book and feel like I'm catching up with an old friend, but these characters left me exhausted and irritated. I also grew tired of the constant description of the clouds and the weather while Peri was staying with a group who call themselves Audax.
The idea behind the book is wonderful and very original, but it just didn't do anything for me. I know loads of people will disagree, and that's ok.
Has anyone read When We Have Wings? What did you think?
Sam I Am
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