Music lovers will particularly enjoy this coming of age New Adult story. I don't play an instrument, but if I substitute horses for music, I can easily identify with the young lady telling her story of the end of school and the start of college. THOSE BLACK WINGS by Melinda Cordell follows Kay Bachmann from being an outsider in her class with a silent crush on Wyatt, the handsome lad who works in the camping store, through her decision to change her life in college.

New outgoing personality, new friends, new classes, and her own room. What could seem more positive? Kay feels she is escaping the poisons and close confines of her troubled family, while still pursuing the love of music instilled in her by her bluesman grandfather. Carter, the first college guy to show a real interest in her, takes different courses and doesn't play music, too caught up in the torn-apart family that gives him an open credit card limit. But Carter recognises that Kay is a lively and loyal girl, and he takes steps to ensure that she will never leave him.

Mature young adults and new adults can learn a lot from this dark romance, in which we are invited to ogle a difficult situation to gain a better understanding of the matter, and to see how many other people experience it as well. In real life, either a boy or a girl can be controlling or manipulative, but a boy in a damaging relationship seems to find it easier to move on, while less likely to experience physical danger than a girl.

I greatly admire the subtle way that Melinda Cordell has woven the backstory of Kay's family into the girl's present and possible future. We can ask if we are doomed to repeat family cycles through the generations, and whether changing attitudes and the availability of information and communication now enable young people to break free. Kay should be making lots of friends, enjoying college and her music, and experiencing all life has to offer. Instead she finds herself drawn into a web of emotional stickiness and stressfulness, facing huge issues that should not be a part of any normal relationship. Melinda Cordell who lives in Missouri, has previously written children's books and gardening advice. She says she felt compelled to write this cautionary tale after real-life experiences. THOSE BLACK WINGS packs a powerful punch. I would strongly recommend it to girls at this stage of life.