On Hidden Wings by Adare Elyse is a middle grade (MG) fantasy novel about a young winged centaur named Becka who’s trying to get her family back together. I don’t usually read MG books, but I have a soft spot for centaurs and when I learned the main character of this story was one, I had to know what it was about.
All in all, I felt On Hidden Wings was a very cute story. Being a winged centaur, Becka is shunned by her own people and by humans. She and her mother have to hide who they really are because the human kingdom where they live sees her kind as the enemy. They’re suppressed and, if captured, deported. Becka takes things into her own hands to save her mother and locate her father. In doing so, she finds and unexpected friend.
My favorite thing about this story was the budding friendship between Becka and her new found friend. There were times when I felt the story moved a little slow, but there were more times where I was tempted to read just one more chapter.
As you read through a story, the back of the book gets thinner and thinner. Depending on what’s happening in a book, you can determine what kind of ending you’ll get based on the pages you have left. I was realizing that On Hidden Wings had my least favorite kind of ending: a quick one.
When a story wraps up in just a couple chapters, I’m left wanting for more. On Hidden Wings is a great MG novel, but as cute as it was, it reminded me why I don’t read in the middle-grade genre. There’s not as much complexity in it as there is in older genres. Everything wraps up to the ease of the main character.
But, there’s a lesson there. Life, as we’ve heard, is all about the journey and not the destination, and On Hidden Wings focuses on Becka’s journey to achieving her goal. She definitely accomplishes a lot along the way that she should be proud of.
I would recommend On Hidden Wings by Adare Elyse to middle-grade readers. It’s a great story about being true to who you really are.
Thank you, Ms. Elyse, for your story.
nikki diekemper 