Dreaming of Flight by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Publication Date: 03rd May 2022
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Coming of Age
4.5 Stars
One Liner: Heartwarming!
*****
Stewie is an adorable and hard-working eleven-year-old living with his older sister, Stacy, and brother, Theo. He sells farm-fresh eggs and prides himself on the quality of freshness of his eggs. During one such selling trip, he meets Marilyn, an elusive, rude old lady. She reminds Stewie of his dead Gam (grandmother), and he forms an instant attachment to her.
Marilyn isn’t looking for friends or family. She has secrets of her own. But how can she resist a young boy with soulful sad eyes and an honest face? Stewie feels everything deeply while Marilyn tries not to feel anything.
Their bond grows over the days, but the secrets are revealed. It can tear them apart or bring them even closer.
What I Like:
• Stewie is a cutie pie. I loved that kid. He is highly sensitive and feels everything a bit too much. But his heart is pure and innocent.
• It’s easy to connect to Stewie’s vulnerability, helplessness, fear, and pain. He may seem like a sort of perfect kid, but he is a work in progress (I’ve been using this term a lot).
• Marilyn does remind me a little of Ove, but she is her own person. The resemblance ends with them being grumpy yet kind.
• The book picks up pace after 45%. It goes even fast after 80%. Some of it seems more like it’s written for middle graders (in fact, I would recommend this book to MG readers) and uses an easy solution. But it doesn’t dilute the emotions.
• Oh, boy, I got teary-eyed and almost cried towards the end. Stewie’s vulnerability was heartbreaking and healing. Strange but true.
• Stewie and Theo have such clarity of thought and approach to their lives. Sometimes they appear older than their age. Yet, I kept thinking of Stewie as a nine-year-old. This is the second book where I picturized a pre-teen as an eight or nine-year-old, so guess my estimation is a little off.
• I relate quite a lot to Stewie’s thought process in certain aspects. Though he is a confused and sad little boy, he has great clarity about other issues. His concepts are specific and detailed (even if he goes a little overboard at times).
• The book has some touching quotes (though I didn’t mark them). It also tends to ramble, but the rambling suits the characters.
What Could Have Been Better:
• The book takes its own time to get going. It’s character-driven and makes sense that the initial focus would be on establishing the characters and the setting. That said, I finished it in 2.5 days (appx. 3 hours).
• There isn’t much detail about how Stewie took care of his hens. We know he loves them, but love doesn’t clean the coop or feed the birds. There are a couple of scenes, but I wanted a little more. (This is mostly because I happened to be researching chicken feed and found it rather funny. Do you know we can feed chicken pasta and scrambled eggs to chicken?)
• The book’s primary focus is on Stewie and Marilyn. That means Stacey and Theo pop in and out of the story. I wished there was more about them. They were just as beautiful, and getting to know them would have been a lovely experience.
To sum up, Dreaming of Flight is a heartwarming and sweet book with an adorable little boy. It’s not perfect but is a great choice if you want to read something that touches the heart. This is my first book by the author, and I intend to read most of her other works.
Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #DreamingofFlight
*****
PS: The blurb needs trimming and rewriting. A fellow reviewer mentioned it, and I agree.
*****
PPS: I debated rating it 4 or 5 stars but went with 5 because the book did make me teary-eyed. I’m partial to books that move me. It doesn’t happen often.
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