Magonia

Magonia, by Maria Dahvana Headley

Hi all! 
Just finished Magonia, and, I can say, that it is probably one of my favorite books I've read this year. DEFINITELY will be in my top 5 of 2015!!
THIS BOOK IS PURE MAGIC!!!
Magonia is about a girl called Aza, who has always had troubles when it comes to breathing. The doctors cannot help, as no one else seems to be having this problem. Her life completely changes when, one day, she sees a ship in the sky. 

The book itself was insanely unique - if you are looking for something that is YA, but totally different than everything that has been published in the past few years, then this is exactly what you are looking for! I highly agree with its popular comparison with Neil Gaiman - the writing style and the ideas are very similar. However, this book has to be read apart from his books! 

Reading this was magic all the way through. It is super captivating, and is very impressive
The mythology, the fantasy, the imagery, the writing... it is all so beautiful! The characters are amazing! The ideas were so unique! The writing is something that I wish I could read more of!!!

So for my review. 
Let's start with the cover, shall we? 

This is possibly one of the nicest covers i've seen this year. The picture doesn't show it well, but it is slightly shiny. I love the composition of it! The back cover, along with author reviews by Victoria Aveyard and Django Wexler, has a beautiful starry background. Honestly, I probably initially picked this book up because of the cover! 

And now for the story. 

IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING!!! There are so many unexpected turns and plot twists, with huge revelations every other chapter. The writing style was great as well! The author took imagery and shaped it into what she was describing. One of my favorite examples is this (p. 115):

          "I don't know why, but my heart is pounding, and then, arcing across the sky, the Northern Lights appear, rippling out in the dark. 

           Green

           blue and 

                          r

                              o

                                  s

                                    e

                               and

                               R

                         E

                   D

            and

              t

                 a

                     n

                         g

                             e

                                  r

                                     i

                                      n

                                     e

                              and

                           w

                      h

                i

            t

          e

    and

    SILVER. 

The colors drape over our ship, and I look at Dai, glowing under the lights."

I absolutely LOVED reading parts like this! It really enhanced the idea, in this case, of the dancing northern lights! The way the entire book is written is just beautiful - some passages were written out in such a way that I could imagine being in the scene myself, surrounded by sounds and colors. 

The Magonian Mythology presented throughout the book was absolutely amazing! It is hard to say a lot about it without major spoilers, so if you want to avoid spoilers, I would suggest not reading this purple part ^^ But I'll try to keep it just to Magonian mythology :) 

SPOILERS! 

Okay so Magonian mythology is absolutely fascinating! Basically, it entails that there is a whole world in the sky, built up by floating cities and flying ships. Magonians are human-bird hybrids, who can sing things into happening with the help of a canwr, a special bird. There are sky-pirates and tradesmen. Another awesome part of the mythology is that these boats are surrounded by squallwhales, which, to humans, resemble clouds and take care of our weather. 

So yeah it may seem strange and nonsensical for now but it all fits in so perfectly with the book!! 

SPOILERS OVER AND OUT! 

I also really enjoyed the fact that Jason, Aza's friend, narrates a part of the book. In a way, he really reminds me of John Green's male characters, especially in An Abundance of Katherines. Jason is quirky, recites pi for comfort, and is interested in the strangest topics! Aza's character is also super interesting - without giving away too many spoilers, her character really develops a lot throughout the novel! And their relationship is sooooo sweet!! 

Overall, this book is fun, quirky, amazingly beautiful and just magic! I highly highly highly recommend it to anyone!! (For those of you who have already read it, see what I just did there...? ;) )

If you have read it, or are planning to read it, let me know your thoughts in the comments! I love hearing from you guys!! :D 

I gave this book a 1000/5 stars on Goodreads! 

This book completed my 'a book by a female author' challenge! (kept this for later for who-knows-what reason)

OH and before I forget! 

I'm starting the Top Ten Tuesday blogging program thing! I won't post every Tuesday - some lists I just can't complete ^^ But I'll do my best!