Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart

⭐️⭐️⭐️

**THIS IS BASED ON AN ARC COPY**

Synopsis

A year after the fire that destroyed her world, her aunt and uncle have decided she should go back to high school. Be "normal" again. Whatever that is. Ava knows better. There is no normal for someone like her. And forget making friends--no one wants to be seen with the Burned Girl, now or ever. 

But when Ava meets a fellow survivor named Piper, she begins to feel like maybe she doesn't have to face the nightmare alone. Sarcastic and blunt, Piper isn't afraid to push Ava out of her comfort zone. Piper introduces Ava to Asad, a boy who loves theater just as much as she does, and slowly, Ava tries to create a life again. Yet Piper is fighting her own battle, and soon Ava must decide if she's going to fade back into her scars . . . or let the people by her side help her fly.

Why Only 3 Stars?

Honestly, bookworms, I don’t have a substantial reason for why I didn’t enjoy this book that much. All I can say is, it was very easy to put this book down and not pick it back up for a couple days. The climax and sub plots were all over the place. I felt like all the characters were just going around in circles. 

The fire that started this whole thing wasn't accurately described. I felt like I could’ve connected to Ava a little better if the author described the accident to us through Ava’s eyes. I felt like this book was a lot of randomness jumbled together. 

Towards the end, we read about this neighbor next to Ava’s old house, who just pops out of nowhere … she was such a vital part of Ava’s survival but somehow she isn’t brought up until the end of the book. And even then she only has like half a page appearance… 

The cruel text messages to Piper weren’t clearly explained either. I know Piper was the one behind them .. but why? It seemed a little dramatic and far fetched for the author to just slap it all on Piper. I don’t know you guys, the whole book just seemed out of sequence and disorganized. 

Some of the dialogue was cheesy. Like every single person Ava encountered was a Dr. Phil and had something inspiring and profound to say to Ava. That aspect of the book got old.

It didn’t get a worse rating because the concept of the book was different. A teen burn survivor trying to find her new normal. Some of the book was inspiring and I enjoyed the theater references and friendship between Asad, Piper and Ava.