All of Us with Wings

By Michelle Ruiz Keil

This young adult fantasy debut about love, found family, and healing is “a fantastical ode to the Golden City’s postpunk era,” told through the eyes of a Mexican-American girl (Entertainment Weekly).

“Complex and beautiful, blending folklore, San Franciscan history, the music scene, vampires, magic . . . hard to put down.” —School Library Journal

Seventeen-year-old Xochi is alone in San Francisco, running from her painful past: the mother who abandoned her, the man who betrayed her. Then one day, she meets Pallas, a precocious twelve-year-old who lives with her rockstar family in one of the city’s storybook Victorians. Xochi accepts a position as Pallas’s live-in governess and quickly finds her place in the girl’s tight-knit household, which operates on a free-love philosophy and easy warmth despite the band’s growing fame.

But on the night of the Vernal Equinox, as a concert afterparty rages in the house below, Xochi and Pallas perform a riot-grrrl ritual in good fun, accidentally summoning a pair of ancient beings bound to avenge the wrongs of Xochi’s past. She would do anything to preserve her new life, but with the creatures determined to exact vengeance on those who’ve hurt her, no one is safe—not the family Xochi’s chosen, nor the one she left behind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781641290357

Reviews for All of Us with Wings

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like reading a modernized and less space Francesca Lia Block -- magical, surreal, all about chosen family and alternative relationships. High drug use and deals with sexual abuse, but is also just a wonderful, flowing and strange place. I found some parts made me uncomfortable, but I also think it is a worthy story and is well written.

[sammusher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"New adult" more than YA, I think -- would not buy for a middle school collection.Read-alikes: Weetzie Bat, Charles DeLint's Newford booksOn the controversy: I see and respect what the author is doing by portraying destructive choices as a response to trauma, but I'd still be cautious about who I'd give this to because it could be seen -- especially without adult perspective -- as romanticizing a sexual relationship with an inappropriate power dynamic.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

teen/adult diverse fantasy fiction (brown-skinned 17 y.o. girl of mixed heritage and rocky past meets new friends in SF before supernatural creatures arrive to "help" her; lots of characters happen to be LGBTQAI ).
refreshing and engaging story--part coming of age, part star-crossed love, part talking-animal fantasy, part atmospheric love letter to SF. Contains drug use (cocaine and heroine, marijuana farming), drinking, and other ill-advised choices teenagers and young adults and rock musicians sometimes make (and sometimes don't survive). Also potential trigger warning: rape, abuse.

[banjo123 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had picked up this book from a friend, in a holiday white-elephant gift exchange. It's pretty good, and it seems unique to me. Xochi is 17, escaping a traumatic past, when she finds herself in San Francisco (in the 1980's, I think) in a large Victorian house inhabited by a large polyamorous "family" whose income is partly inherited and partly through Rock music. Xochi is a "governess" for 12 year old Pallas, daughter of two of the family. She makes several, maybe not-so-great decisions; ends up calling in magical creatures to help protect her, and is able to become more at peace with her past.I liked this book, though I am not sure it is entirely appropriate for the Young Adult audience it is marketed to. Don't read it if you are squeamish about piercings, or potentially inappropriate romantic liaisons.

[krau0098 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I got this book through the Amazon Vine program to review. This book took me awhile to read, but I enjoyed it a ton. The writing style used here requires you to read the story more slowly, but the beauty and uniqueness of it really grabbed me. This book reminded me a lot of some of Elizabeth Hand's early works like "Waking the Moon" and "Blacklight". It has that same darkly sensual and vague dreamy feel to it at points.During the after party of one of Pallas’s father’s concerts, Pallas and Xochi accidentally summon an ancient fae force. This fae duo is inadvertently tasked with seeking revenge for the wrongs done to Xochi during her first seventeen years of life.This book doesn't really focus on magic and fantasy; it's more about Xochi (a seventeen year old girl) trying to navigate her way through both a 70's San Francisco and the house of the music performers she lives with. It was incredibly engaging and hard to put down.I enjoyed so many things about this novel; the descriptions, the slightly broken characters, and the rawness. I also loved Peas, the somewhat magical cat, who is tirelessly looking out for his people despite his advanced age.This book was magical, beautiful, and heartbreaking while still being hopeful. I really loved it! I'll be looking out for more books from Keil in the future. I will warn that there are some very adult themes in here: tons of substance abuse, discussion/depiction of rape, also teen/adult relationships.Overall this was a unique and magical book that really grabbed my attention and stunned me with the beautiful way it was written. This was not a fast read for me but more of a deliberately paced and dreamy read. I would recommend to fans of Elizabeth Hand’s early works.