I loved this book. Really well written and emotional. Ava finds strength to deal with her burns and appearance.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

My heart just about broke in half reading this book

Scars Like Wings follows 16 yr old Ava Lee a year after she was horrifically burned in a house fire, that took the life of her parents, and her best friend.

She lost everything that day, her home, her family and even her identity, because now she doesn’t even look like herself, as although Ava was pulled out of the fire, she sustained 60% of burns across her whole body.

After many, many operations (19) her aunt and uncle who she now lives with, decide that it would be best for her to go back to school, to put some “normal” back into her life.

But Ava doesn’t look normal, she knows this, and so does everyone else that stares at her and call her names.

After nearly giving up on the whole school situation, Ava meets a girl called Piper who is a fellow survivor, and later a boy called Asad, who is a theatre nerd just like her.

But soon Ava discovers that some scars on the inside are not always so easy to see.

I was sobbing reading this book, there were some truly touching moments.

A wonderful story

I wasnt sure I would like this book but it has simply blown me away. So touching and emotional and the characters are so well portrayed. I would love to read further as to where their lives progressed.

A really well written and enjoyable read that looks at the life of a teenage burn survivor.
Raw, heartfelt, moving and totally unique.
Well researched, thought provoking. Characters to you love who grow and learn as the novel progresses.
Cannot recommend this book enough.!

Scars Like Wings—wow, what can I say about this book? It’s just amazing.

I was actually reading two other books when I saw I’d been approved for this title on Netgalley, and the premise of Scars Like Wings meant I abandoned my other reads and dove right in.

This book is incredible. It’s so poignant and powerful, as it tells the story of Ava, a burn survivor, as she comes to terms with the fire that took her parents and cousin and marked her body.

The writing style was just beautiful, so evocative. I particularly loved the snapshots we see of the days after the fire—they were so emotive.

One thing I loved about this book was the disability rep. Piper is a wheelchair user, and she was definitely my favourite character. She’s so well developed and has her own full arc in the story, alongside Ava.

In fact, all the characters are believable and really well-written. There’s petty high school drama and more serious conflict between them that mirrors the internal conflict Ava struggles with as she re-adapts to life and her new body.

One thing I really liked was the romantic sub-plot. (Some spoilers ahead!) The romance between Ava and Asad built up well, I was really believing it—and then, bam! That twist. It totally made sense. I felt Ava’s humiliation and hurt.

But at the same time, I’m glad she didn’t need a romance in order to heal. I’m disabled myself—and though my situation is different to Ava’s and Piper’s—I’m always super disappointed in books where romance is used to heal the character and make them see they still have worth. That was really where I thought Scars Like Wings was going at first, and so I’m very pleased it didn’t. We see Ava make the journey to heal by herself, with support from her friends, rather than making it all about how love has saved her.

All in all, this is a powerful and important read. I loved the commentary about how disabled/disfigured people are not inspirations—as this is something I hear regularly in day-to-day life and I can’t tell you how much this annoys me. So it was great to see this point being put across so well.

This is a great book, and I’ll definitely be looking out for more by Erin Stewart in the future.

Highly recommended YA contemporary. Perfect for fans of Girl in Pieces.

This is a beautifully written story that is about everyone having scars and that some are just easier to see then others.

The main character is Ava who is a burn survivor, 60% oh her body is burned from a house fire and she doesn't know how to live with her scars. I liked Ava although I didn't connect to her. Ava lives with her aunt and uncle who help her find a new normal after the fire.

Then there is Piper who becomes Ava's best friend. Piper is another burn survivor but she survived a car crash. Piper isn't in a good place throughout the book. Another friend to Ava is Asad who sees her and is unattainable of her scars. I liked Asad, her was a nice character. Then we have Kenzie who is awful but I guess she also doesn't know how to deal with what happened. There are other characters that join the story but they weren't that memorable.

I loved the theatre references and although I haven't seen Wicked, I liked the references to it and other plays like Hamilton.

Throughout the book there is a theme of family and friendship which I enjoyed although one of the reasons I didn't give this book 5 stars was because the friendship between Ava and Piper isn't always positive.

Overall this is a great coming of age story that I really enjoyed.

I loved this, the writing is so good full of relatable, warm characters. I loved Ava, her grit and determination even after all she’s been through, so much hope and love. An emotional read, but full of great representation and inspiration, recommended reading. One to watch and one of the best I’ve read this year. Inspiring

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I enjoyed this book - I expected it to be a cross between ‘Wonder’ and ‘A fault in our stars’, and I was pretty much right - the writing style is very much the same - warm, characterful and full of wholesome all Americans characters. Despite being very predictable, it’s a great read, and I would recommend to teenagers and above.

It’s not often I thank people for reducing me to tears. In this case, it’s thoroughly deserved. So, thank you to Erin Stewart via NetGalley for making me sniffle in public in a way I wasn’t expecting to.
I went into this story expecting it to be a very earnest read about how we treat survivors, expecting to find it all too much. What I got was a brutally honest exploration coming-of-age story that just happened to have a burns survivor as its main character.
Ava has not had it easy. Caught in a house fire a year before the book opens, she has had countless surgeries and has endured numerous grafts to help her recovery. She can just about bear to look in the mirror, but misses the fact that all anyone sees when they look at her is her scars. Having lost her parents and cousin in the fire, Ava now lives with her aunt and uncle. All of them are struggling to adjust to their new reality.
There’s a line quite late on in the book that is used on the cover. It reminds us that everyone has scars, some are just easier to see and that really sums up the message of this book for me. As teenagers the characters in this book are finding out who they are, feeling their way in life and trying to work out how to move on from their own individual shortcomings. Just some of them have more obvious barriers to this process.
I’m not a particular fan of musicals but the part these play in Ava’s development make perfect sense. It’s only a small thing, but having the courage to get up on stage and reclaim something she loved so much shows how much she’s moved on during the story.
The friendships in the book are crucial to its success. Ava and Ashad develop a bond that hints at more, but he sees her for who she is. Her friendship with fellow burns survivor Piper isn’t always positive, but its honesty was really encouraging. On occasion I was concerned it was rather mentally and emotionally unhealthy, but I don’t know how much of this was down to the situation these characters were in. There were plenty of ups and downs in their friendship, but they are good together.

This is the story of how a young girl who survives a house fire that kills her parents and cousin moves on with her life after the fire. I got so involved in the story that I read it in a night.

The story line was easy to follow and the emotions felt real and raw. a very good piece of YA writing that I would recommend to friends. It also opened my eyes as to how we treat people with visual disfigurements and has made me more aware of what approaches are preferred.

Thanks to net galley for the copy in exchange for review

Trying to find books with a plot I haven't read before in a saturated market is sometimes like looking for an oasis in a desert. So when I read the synopsis for this book, I jumped at the chance to read. I knew it shouldn't be an easy read because of the subject matter. And at times it is as jarring as you'd expect. In others though it skims across the depths of feelings - maybe because the author doesn't want to scare off the intended YA crowd. Either way, it was a refreshingly different read, with familiar themes threaded through it, ie friendship and love.

I very much enjoyed (and cried at) this beautifully touching story of Ava, a girl who suffered horrendous burn injuries in a fire a year previously that claimed the lives of her parents and her cousin. Left behind as the sole survivor, she's trying to find her new normal in her new life with her aunt and uncle as parental figures, as all three of them try to navigate their terrible loss and forge a new path in life.
Thematically, this book reminded me a lot of Faceless, by Alyssa Sheinmel, which I also loved (I swear I'm not sadistic). This differed in that it starts quite a while after the fire, and Ava's physical recovery is at quite an advanced stage. We come into her story as she begins to reintegrate into society, which takes the form of her starting at a new school. Her facial disfigurement makes her an instant target for attention, which is her worst nightmare, as she wants nothing but to blend in.
There are two very major characters in this book - Ava and Piper. Both scarred, damaged girls recovering from accidents that left them with burns, their friendship is really beautifully written as they help each other along the road to recovery, but with all the usual angst of teenage girls thrown in for good measure. A cast of backing characters in the form of school friends (and enemies) and Ava's aunt and uncle add a little depth to the tale of these two girls, but it's definitely the friendship between Piper and Ava that takes centre stage.
And yes, that pun is meant literally, as Ava is also trying to rediscover who she is as she tries to find out what parts of her life Before the Fire - like her love of musical theatre and identity as a drama geek - will transfer into her new life of Ava After the Fire.

There were elements of this book that I might have liked to see a little more of - of Ava's connections with her past life, which she seems to have sloughed off like so much skin, and actually I would've liked to see more of Piper too, because while we discover some things about her, she's certainly not given the same priority as Ava. I guess that's understandable as it's really Ava's story, but I did feel a little bit like Piper deserved a tiny bit more attention. Still though. This is a beautifully written, lyrical, heartfelt story of a teenage girl finding out who she is, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will definitely look for more from Erin Stewart.

Scars Like Wings is the compelling story of Ava, the survivor who tragically lost both her best friend cousin and her parents in a house fire. Ava has been left with burn scars on 60% of her body. After 19 operations she feels inferior, alone and, the character's own words, "hideous". Scars Like Wings picks up the story a year after the house fire with Ava preparing to return to school life for the first time.

The story is well written and well research (Stewart notes the names of burn survivors she spoke to when crafting the novel. Whilst this is a great and easy to read story, where it is best is in its ability to provoke and challenge the reader. I found it convicting when thinking about how I treat other people who may look visibly different to me - was I the sort of person that looks past things like scars when I was at school or would I have treated Ava in the same way many of her peers do in the novel? More importantly, how do I treat people now? So often we make people feel as though they are less, rather than valuing them for who they really are. The story is moving and, although Ava would hate for me to use this word, inspiring too.

At its core, this story is about friendship and life together. It reverberates with a vital sentiment that all must hear: we need each other. I love how the story unfolds and how Ava and the people around her discover and rediscover the true and authentic meaning of that reality. It's aimed mainly at teenagers and definitely fits into the Young Adult category, but I definitely enjoyed it. This is a brilliant book and I am pleased to recommend it.

I absolutely loved this book. The characters were incredibly well written and I really empathised with the story. Definitely recommended.

When Ava returns to school after months of recovering from a house fire-which claimed her parents and her cousin Sara, she embarks on a journey of finding her 'new normal'. Weaving through the tough social network that is her new school, she meets new friends in Asad, and Piper through her support group.

Written from Ava's point of view, her story is heartbreaking and you can easily connect and imagine what she went and still is going through. Initially signing up for 10 school days to try, she starts to enjoy her 'new normal' with her friends by her side. Rediscovering her joy for musicals and her passion for singing.

Strong and brave Ava takes you with her on her path of self-rediscovery, of grieving for her parents and her cousin, of dealing with the aftermath of a house fire, of finding new routines living with her aunt and uncle (Sara's parents), and of starring in the school's upcoming musical. With Piper by her side she deals with cruel peers, high school drama and mental health issues that go deeper than expected. Their shared experience makes Ava stronger and more resilient to it all, wishing it could be the same for Piper.

A wonderful read that hooked me in from the beginning, well researched by writer Erin Stewart.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

You guys. This book was great. It's beautifully written and gives me Wonder-esque vibes at certain points but for YA. The book follows Ava who, after a year at home, returns to school following her house burning down. Ava has not only lost both her parents but also her beloved cousin. Living in the shadow of her cousin, with her aunt and uncle, Ava's life is nothing but normal. Her new normal involves hospital visits, stinky lotion, and compression garments. Through a support group and her new friends at school, however, Ava may be able to come to terms with her new normal...

Front cover: I love the front cover. It's simple and does its job (and again, Wonder-esque). The hot pink wig on the white background is jarring but effective.

Tone: I love the style of writing. It's pretty but simple - it's not too flowery but there are seeds of elegant sentences sprinkled throughout.

Characters: Piper is such an amazing character. She's got such depth to her that I almost wish we saw things through her POV. Asad is a cute character who defies expectations and stereotypes. Ava is relatable but frustrating at times. Kenzie is one of those villains you hate but want to know more about and I don't think we got enough of her, to be honest, but I'm fine with that.

Plot: This is a quiet YA. It's not driven by mystery or some major event but the characters and I think it's amazing at keeping you hooked through its snappy dialogue, believable characters, and realistic scenarios.

The fire burns in the novel, it burns for Ava, it burns for those who are shunned due to difference. It burns for change. The harsh reality of school for those who stand out, and for some, stand out for what some believe are the wrong reasons. Well, cue Ava and Piper. These young women will make you revel in the power of unity, the power of friendship. A triumph against adversity is an understatement. Scars like Wings will soar you through a tale of survival, hope and future promise. This is a must read, must have, must share book. It will inspire one an all.

Ava survives a fire which claimed her parents and her cousin, Sara. After going through dramatic changes physically in hospital through endless skin grafts she is finally released home. Or rather to her new home where Sara used to live. Now with her aunt and uncle, th y get her to start high school and we see how the kids react to her



At her support group she meets Piper, a loud mouth car crash survivor who's in a wheelchair seemingly only temporarily she also likes music like Ava and likes a band called Atticus only in real life the words are by Atticus the poet you can find on Instagram who I'm a huge fan off and was great to see mentioned in the book.



As Ava gets encouraged by Asad and Piper to reclaim her place on the stage in drama not just hide away and be a stage hand as her voice is better than queen B Kenzies she learns about Kenzie and Piper and how they used to be friends and just how their relationship changed.



Ava also has to deal with her aunt and uncle wracking up debt in her name for her surgery needs and how she copes with the memories from the fire after she remembers how she escaped and has to also deal with the mental scars from their separate accidents as Piper needs her.



Ava and Piper deal with a lot that's relatable from being social outcasts in school, dealing with stares, whispered chatter about them, healing, depression, counselling, unrequited crushes and more the girls bond is a united, complicated unity that highlights how healing and recovery are better with a support network around you. It was a great tale about dealing with the aftermath of death and escaping that despite gaining life changing injuries.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

I absolutely loved this realistic and heartfelt look into the life of a teenage burn survivor, this is a raw, moving story that deals extremely well with hard, often taboo subjects.

[This review is on Goodreads.]

WHOOPS, I messed up by reading this one so early. I could have sworn it was coming out this summer. I was like, "Yeah, I'm gonna prioritise the ARCs that are coming out soon! I'm gonna get reviews up in a timely manner! This is a great plan!" Anyway this comes out in October, so I screwed up there.

I feel like I should wait until later to write a proper review, although I will inevitably have forgotten all the pertinent info by that point. In the meantime I'll say that I really enjoyed the style of this. The 'voice' is great, especially in the early chapters (or at least, that's when I noticed it most, because it was new); those opening scenes really dragged me in, and I liked how organically the backstory was revealed, even though the story begins a substantial period of time after the fire that changed the protagonist's life so dramatically.

I also enjoyed the musical theatre nerdery; though I'm not particularly familiar with many of the shows referenced (I've never seen Wicked, sorry), a school experience with more focus on musical rehearsals and backstage shenanigans than parties and prom is one I can relate to. I spent too many hours of my young life in rehearsal for one show or another -- usually in the band, but not always -- and I also love it when books have a school extra-curricular or hobby as the main in-school focus, because like... so many YA characters don't seem to have hobbies and it's wild.

This book also doesn't shy away from the nasty details of dealing with the aftermath of a fire: aftercare for scars is dealt with pretty extensively, and it was clear the author had done her research and talked to survivors (as was also evident in the acknowledgments). As far as I'm aware, she doesn't have personal experience of dealing with disability or being disfigured; it seemed to me that it was a sensitive and well-researched approach, but as someone who also doesn't have personal experience of disfigurement, I'm happy to be corrected if those who do feel differently about it. I saw another review mention that it was based on a friend of hers? Which would make sense; it certainly felt like she knew what she was talking about. I'm still interested to know what those who have been directly affected by fire and disfigurement have to say.

Finally, I liked that friendship is a significant theme of the story, especially the ways in which friends are key not just to surviving, but to thriving. So overall, I enjoyed it quite a lot.