How You Grow Wings by Rimma Onoseta

Content Tags: Abuse, Trauma, Physical Abuse, Child Abuse

The synopsis for this book felt a bit misleading to me. How I read it, I expected there to be a much bigger build up or progression in time than there ended up being. But aside from worrying there wouldn't be enough time to build up as much, this really wasn't a big deal.

Most definitely I would include trigger warnings for anyone who might consider reading this book for child abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and the resulting trauma. That was the main theme of the book among other struggles.

The book was presented shifting back and forth between the perspective of two sisters, but the storyline for each sister wasn't being told in the same timeframe. This added a lot more suspense and uncertainty to me as different parts were revealed at different times. I really appreciated that approach.

Without spoiling anything, this story was heartbreaking, very personally relatable in many ways, and real. By real I mean, the author didn't try to slap some shiny varnish on the experiences or make some happily ever after ending to make all the trauma seem "worth it" in the end. The story was about two sisters trying to survive long enough to make there way out of a toxic home and there's no magical conclusion to that in reality. And the way Rimma Onoseta ended the book felt like the perfect way to reflect that.

To wrap things up:

What do you think happens to the characters after the book's official ending?
I don't want to answer too specifically at the risk of spoiling where the story concluded. But I hope both sisters find love, support, and comfort in their lives that they deserved and didn't get from their parents.

What are your thoughts on the book's structure? Did it serve the story well?

The structure of split perspectives is very familiar to me, but the change up of each perspective being on a different timeline was new to me. I found this very interesting and do think it served the story very well.