Flight of a Starling - Review

Lo and Rita are sisters who are trapeze artists. They travel with their circus family from town to town, never staying in one place for long. Although Lo is happy in the circus, she also wonders what life on the outside is like. She meets a boy named Dean and falls in love with him. Because he's a non-traveller, they arrange clandestine meetings. Lo finds out a shocking secret that turns her world upside down. She feels like she's losing her balance. Through all the unsteadiness in her community, Lo finds solid ground and a feeling of home with Dean. As the secrets bottle up inside of her, Lo makes a decision that has heartbreaking consequences. 

Having read Paper Butterflies, I knew what to expect. I was mentally prepared for my heart to be shattered. Lisa Heathfield has a way of pulling you into the world she's created. You become so emotionally invested in the characters and their lives, that you just want to make everything better for them. It's clear from the first page that a tragedy is going to occur. But the ending still hit me like a train out of nowhere. 

This novel made me feel warm, heartbroken, happy, devastated and hopeful all at once. I love the circus setting, the dialect of the characters and the gorgeous descriptions. I adore star-crossed love stories and their ability to show how love always finds a way. That no-boundaries kind of love. It makes my heart swell. I really feel Lo's love for Dean and the sweet moments they share. It was also great to read about Lo and Rita's relationship. 

This book ripped my heart out of my chest and made me deeply sad. It's painful, but it's important to read it. And it's beautiful and life-affirming. It holds a message that everyone can take with them. When everything seems hopeless, it feels as if it won't get better. You feel like you can't go on. But the next day, you wake up with an unclouded mind and see that your life is worth living. "The sun rises every day" and you rise with it. 

There's conflict that's left unresolved and the author could've tied it up more. But I also understand why she wrote it that way. 

Flight of a Starling is a story about hope, freedom, loss, endless possibilities, friendship, family, falling in love and the preciousness of life. 

Here are some of the gorgeous quotes from the novel:

"But when you lose someone, something happens. They leave you a gift. For the first time, you realise how precious life really is. And you learn to live properly, every day. You hear more and notice more. And you love more."

"Lo has secrets hidden in this boy."

"Together we sit as the sea folds itself on to the beach, again and again. It wets the sand, dragging bubbles back with it. And all the time the sun sits on top of it. Grands' sun that rises every day."

"The sun rises higher and I close my eyes and pretend that this is it, this is all there is. There are no shattered families, just me and Dean, in a field of grass, with a sky filled with starlings."