Flyaway review: Anthony Cardno and Alex Brown

One of the most delightful parts of having a book out (Flyaway is published, everyone!) is getting to read really thoughtful, interesting reviews of it! I’m used to getting critique on works in progress, notes for editing, and so on, but reviews are of course a completely different genre of writing about writing — and often make me want to go write more, and explore ideas and angles the reviewer has suggested or found. As a reader, I thoroughly enjoy thoughtful appreciations of books (even — and sometimes especially — books I wouldn’t usually read), but as a writer it’s also really nice to encounter someone getting their teeth into something you’ve made.

Here are two more recent reviews of Flyaway:

Anthony Cardno — Review of Flyaway

“Dreams, especially those we experience when we’re ill, often take turns into completely disconnected and unexpected territory. Flyaway does the same thing several times, action halting for a side story that feels disconnected from everything around it. But Flyaway isn’t a dream, it’s a carefully layered construction. Each of the side-stories is a complete whole – any one of them could be published as a satisfyingly eerie stand-alone short story, an impressive feat in a book that is already economical in length – but everything comes together at the end.“

Alex Brown on Tor.com — “Nothing else in the world beyond but trees”: Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings

“Flyaway is magnificently written and feels like a folktale both old and new. Jennings’ use of language is as uncanny as it is gorgeous. It’s the kind of story where you can smell the macadam baking in the sun and hear the crackle of dry grass.”