In fact, AIRBORNE concludes on just the right note, not with a devastating cliffhanger, but with something that whets the appetite for more. There are also some loose threads that will most likely be explored next month when book 2, GROUNDED, releases (Sept.

There are a few grammatical inconsistencies, but nothing too glaring. It’s nice to see a novel that isn’t full of all the paranormal clichés or same-old mythological concepts. But she’s in even more danger on her own, with harpies out to kill her and claiming the magic coursing through her veins for their own.ĪIRBORNE starts off at a slow pace, but picks up quickly and has a compelling story that’s easy to get lost in. Mason sets out to help her figure out the key to returning the magic to the amulet for reasons of his own, but there’s only one problem: He’s been banished from harpy society and Avery is in danger whenever she’s with him. They now call out to any harpy looking for the dangerous magic, especially the Band of Thieves. It shattered and the contents were absorbed into her body. The mysterious bruise on her hand is something much more sinister: When picking up what she thought was a shell, Avery really came in contact with a magical amulet belonging to Jericho, King of the Harpies. She’s visited by a stranger named Mason and learns that not only is magic real, but so are harpies. Over summer vacation, Avery was bitten by a crab when collecting shells on the beach and now sports a hideous black and blue mark on her hand. The novel centers around Avery, a normal teenager who faces the same concerns as everyone else her age, from the first day of a new school year to the fact that her roommate is dating an unsuitable guy. We never find out quite why harpies exist in this world when all other paranormal creatures are just myths, which leaves a loose string to be tied up in a future book. They do, however, maintain their vicious personalities. When their wings are hidden, they look like humans, having evolved in order to survive over the centuries. In AIRBORNE, harpies can be men or women. They used to be considered beautiful creatures, but in modern times are depicted as ugly.

Traditionally, harpies were winged-women who stole food from Phineas. In Sharper’s world, the only mythological being that actually exists is the harpy. Move over vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches. It’s what makes AIRBORNE by Constance Sharper really stand out. What about one that focuses on a creature rather than a person, one who isn’t inherently good? That’s…something new. A new version of Persephone & Hades? There were at least three this year alone. The children of the gods? Been there, done that. No matter how welcome mythology is in YA, after a while, a lot of themes tend to run together.

Airborne by Constance Sharper