Mom thoughts with NO SPOILERS!
We finished the Wingfeather Saga. (Sigh.) How to put into words…I just don’t know!
It is such a poignant story of sacrifice, hope and redemption all woven together in such a beautiful masterpiece. It was, and IS, incredible!
Several people asked for a review specifically on this series, so I thought I’d give it a permanent, searchable place here on the blog.
Lots of questions about these. Are the books scary? Is there magic? Are they clean?
Yes, there is danger.
Yes, there are scary parts.
Yes, there is incredible sadness. (We shed tears.)
Yes, there is evil.
Yes, there is magic…and dragons.
There are characters who make mistakes and suffer the consequences.
But there is forgiveness…and redemption.
There is also beauty.
And hope.
And sacrifice.
I kept thinking…this is so relatable! This is such a perfect picture of MYSELF…of the reader.
We are broken people, controlled by the devil until we give our hearts to Christ. And even after that, we sin, and mess up, we’re selfish, and feel like quitting, and we keep going back to the flesh, over and over and over again.
The parallels in this story are JUST AWESOME!
The characters wrestle with such questions as…Why does The Maker allow such evil in this world, such brokenness, and sadness, and wickedness?
They wrestle with the frustration of evil within themselves. They want so badly to make the right choices, but battle endlessly with the sad reality of sinful flesh.
But “The Maker” is always there quietly weaving his way throughout the story carrying out His plans through both the good and the evil darkness of the world.
It is just EPIC!
I will admit, I thought the first book started out weird. You have no idea what you’re getting into, and the author is trying to ease you into the story. And he starts you off with the fangs. Weird slimy monsters with venom…they’re gross! They eat weird things, make weird noises, and they just aren’t my style. I literally was like, “I don’t like this. We’ll listen for a little longer, and see what happens before I make a decision.” Boy, was I in for a surprise.
We listened long enough to where the sweet Igiby family was introduced, and from there, we were hooked. Their story was, “can’t stop listening, won’t stop listening,” good! I know I’m the adult in the room, but even I had a hard time saying it was time to turn it off till next time.
The Igiby family is such a beautiful picture of what a family SHOULD be, even while enduring such misery and hardships. They were all so lovely and most of all—relatable—exactly the sort of home and family I want to have. Sibling relationships are a HUGE part of the book as well as relationships between parents and children. Well, relationships in general take a high priority, but I love the special focus of the care that should be given to family members. Mrs. Igiby sets a beautiful example of motherhood and is such an inspiration.
Parent Guide:
There is magic. The magic is given by The Maker, and can be used for good or evil. And there is a CLEAR DISTINCTION of when it is used for either.
While the language is generally clean throughout the entire series, you will run across words such as ugly, disgusting, dumb, stupid, monster, dog, and tools used as derogatory remarks.
The story is heavy in peril! The age recommendation is 9+. Every child is different, but you should know what your child can handle before handing it over. I always like to listen to or read these kinds of books together, and then once I know the child can handle it, they can return on their own as many times as they’d like. Here’s a quote from @thegoodbookmom about the peril.
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“On his website, Andrew Peterson speaks about this series and explains that in order to have an honest story, he needed to include the bad to represent life accurately. People make wrong choices, sometimes bad things happen, and everything isn’t always good, but that’s not the end and the story doesn’t stop there because Good always wins and outshines the dark. This perfectly explains The Wingfeather Saga. These books do have some hard topics and sad things, but the overall plot of these books is so excellent. It’s full of love, sacrifice, kindness, forgiveness, friendship, and humility. It is a series worth reading for every single family. Although there’s not an explicit allegory, there’s no way a reader could get through this series without seeing and understanding that the author is a Christian and loves God. Everything good is attributed to the Maker, and it’s evident how much he loves his creation. ”
— Mary Chreene
Overall, it gets five out of five stars in my book. If you are a fantasy loving family, this one’s for you. The storyline is extraordinary. The characters are raw and relatable. And most importantly, it’s very clean.
And if that’s not enough, the audiobooks are EPIC! Read by the author himself, Andrew Peterson brings such depth and realness to every character through his sensational voice acting. They are a genuine pleasure to listen to.
And keep your eye out for the animated series that Angel Studio is putting out! The first episode will air on December 2nd! You can find all of the Wingfeather updates on the website dedicated to the series.
Most of the links here are Amazon affiliate links. If used to make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you! So THANK YOU!