When I picked up Black Wings Beating for the first time, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect beyond a quick once-over of the synopsis and that the author, Alex London, had come highly recommended to me. However, before this book, I hadn’t had the pleasure of reading any of London’s other titles. By the time I had turned the final page, I resolved to immediately remedy that glaring oversight.

There is something about how London crafts his stories that is utterly captivating from the first word to the last. Crafting a world is only one part of an incredibly difficult task. Getting a reader to live in that world, for as long as it takes them to devour the story, is even more so. And I lived this story, at every chance I got. Over coffee in the morning, during my lunch, and again right before I went to sleep. Tearing myself away became increasingly impossible as London’s tale unfolded and — as the first in the Skybound series — I am already anticipating the next instalment.

Black Wings Beating, at its most basic, follows the lives of Brysen and Kylee, a pair of twins living in the world of Uztar, both with the gift of falconry — something that is both revered and coveted by the Uztari people. Brysen strives to be a great falconer, but his sister, Kylee, wants to be free of the blood sport that comes with her ancient gifts. However, whatever they desire, war is on the horizon for both of them, and they eventually set out together to journey into the mountains to trap the Ghost Eagle.

And, as incredible of a foundation as London created building this world, its heart, its core, is in Brysen and Kylee. Yes, their adventure was captivating, with a series of twists and turns that were, at some points, a little rote and predictable, but the relationship between the siblings was the book’s greatest strength.

Often, when you encounter twins in any kind of media, they are inextricable, and it can be difficult to see where one ends and the other begins. With Brysen and Kaylee, however, they clash more often than they find common ground. That push-and-pull relationship, their jealousy and resentment of one another, is palpable — caused largely by how they view their gifts, but also in some dark secrets that they are keeping from one another.

As secrets do, however, they eventually come out, and while it doesn’t necessarily mend their relationship entirely, it does go some way to moving in that direction — which was an entirely reasonable, and real, situation.

Both Brysen and Kaylee are inherently flawed characters. On Kaylee’s part, I found her to be fascinating in respect to her choices, though I did not always agree with them. Brysen, on the other hand, was someone with whom I could not connect. His relationship with the boy that he loves was — likely intentionally — not a healthy one, and was at times emotionally abusive and manipulative.

There were also several traits of Brysen’s — such as his tendency to be quite envious, ungrateful, and reckless, as well as his near unbelievable naivety — that were difficult to reconcile. Brysen did, over the course of the book, grow and improve, but it was still tough going when it came to being invested in his hero’s journey. Very little about both central characters was likeable, in fact, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

When it comes down to it, Black Wings Beating is a brutal story, in all the best ways, and challenges the reader in respect to the moral dilemmas it sets out — most especially with the choices that both Brysen and Kaylee make, for varying reasons that, to them, make sense. It is slow going through most of the book, but that ultimately worked for me, particularly in laying the groundwork for future instalments in this same world. There is, of course, the potential for London to build upon that foundation, explore the relatively untapped potential for more action with the falconers, and build up the pace somewhat.

If you are looking for a YA fantasy novel that shakes up the status quo, and seeks to do something a little different, with a flawed but interesting female character, a queer lead, some seriously interesting world-building, and an avian-themed magic system, Black Wings Beating is absolutely for you.

Black Wings Beating by Alex London is available now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your local independent bookstore. Also, don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads “to read” list!