X in Flight is the first installment of the XYZ Trilogy by Karen Rivers.

“X in Flight” centers on the lives of three intriguing teens. Xenos (“X” for short) will never be a normal kid. And it isn’t his looks or the way he carries himself. It isn’t because he hasn’t quite figured out how to deal with his crazy girlfriend or out-there mother. It’s because X doesn’t want to be normal. He wants to stand out.

So, quite by accident, X gets his wish. Now, he can fly. But is he an angel of a superhero? What’s the purpose of his new power? There are no obvious answers, but X should know by now that very few things come easy. Even a brand new set of wings…

I really don’t know how to describe this book, I’ve actually been sitting on this review for several days. The book is geared towards young adults, and I think that Karen Rivers nailed that apprehensive, self-conscious teen in all of us. However, I don’t think the characters needed to use the f-word

I think what bothered me most was the narrative mode. We followed three characters, and each time we returned to one, the point of view changed dramatically. This was a little off-putting, yet I was really compelled by the story, to find out what happens… or happened (due to the POV I’m not really sure…).

The main character, X, is written in first-person narrative, but as a letter to the girl he has a crush on. It’s like he’s writing in a diary, addressed to the girl, Ruby, but he’ll never show her. Ruby’s chapters are written in second-person narrative (“you find yourself looking over the school”). These chapters feel the weirdest, probably because second-person narrative is uncommon in Western literature. The third character we follow is Cat, X’s current girlfriend, and the narrative is third-person. This one is the most common narrative, and sounds the most relaxed and normal for the book.

I’m already reading the next book in the trilogy, Y in the Shadows, because I want to know what the point is. Sure X can fly, but why? What was the point of it? Was it just a character-development type book?