Illness, breath and identity
Aza has a rare, fatal breathing disorder and a history of hospital treatment; in Magonia she can breathe freely and gains powers.
Book details
Maria Dahvana Headley - Author
This is an imaginative fantasy centred on chronic illness, transformation, belonging and divided loyalties.
Since she was a baby, Aza Ray Boyle has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name. Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found by another. Magonia. Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—but as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war between Magonia and Earth is coming. In Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?
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Sign in for personalised guidanceThis is an imaginative fantasy centred on chronic illness, transformation, belonging and divided loyalties.
Aza has a rare, fatal breathing disorder and a history of hospital treatment; in Magonia she can breathe freely and gains powers.
Aza moves from Earth to Magonia, where war with Earth is approaching and her choices are linked to the fate of humanity and people she loves.
Jason is Aza’s long-standing best friend, their bond may become romantic, and content notes describe both characters as loyal and supported by loving families.
Prepare for frequent medical peril linked to Aza’s breathing disorder, her removal from Earth, fantasy battles involving swords and arrows, brief injury blood, infrequent strong language, and limited romantic contact including a kiss.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: the book’s treatment of its main themes is not yet firm enough; some draft conclusions still depend on unresolved evidence.
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