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waybeyondblue's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Racism
schnauzermum's review
3.0
Helen Klonaris is a Greek Bahamian and her short story collection explores LGBTQ experiences within this community. Family conflicts and the pressure of church and society loom large. My favourite story was ‘Weeds’: the prose is lyrical and describes the progress of a love affair in the face of family disapproval. Far less successful for me were the stories that involved elements of magical realism. Here I found the symbolism lacked subtlety.
bahareads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If I Had the Wings was a mixed bag for me. Helen Klonaris' writing is very stirring, the metaphors and language she uses can invoke a lot of feeling within a reader. As I went along in the book I found the stories grew on me and in my opinion got better (as well as longer). All of the stories in If I Had the Wings dealt with either someone in the LGBTQIA community, someone questioning, or someone just trying to find themselves within their local community. All of Klonaris' stories take place within The Bahamas, and some of the stories Klonaris used as social commentary for the attitudes and prejudices displayed towards LGBTQIA people in The Bahamas. Not all of the stories I enjoyed, in some the metaphors or imagery used made it hard for me to follow what was supposed to be going on within the story. I think some plot was sacrificed for the moral. Magical realism is injected into some of the stories and I enjoyed those ones the most. Either way, Klonaris shows family conflicts and pressures from family and society in a Bahamian way.
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