Magonia (Magonia #1) by Maria Dahvana Headley
Publisher: Harper Collins
Goodreads Summary: Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

Since she was a baby, Aza 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—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: I was entranced from the first chapter in Aza's POV. So sarcastic, witty, and insanely relatable. Magonia had as much action as possible, all squeezed into the 309 pages.

Before reading Magonia, I'd read Queen of Kings, but nothing else by Maria Dahvana Headley. Queen of Kings made me decide to read Magonia, and it was definitely worth it, a very strong YA debut.

Magonia was very original and strayed from standard YA; written in first person, present tense, I've never read anything like it, from the flying ships to the powerful singers.

Aza is an amazing main character. Very cynical, she loves to pretend she knows everything by researching crucial points and references on Wikia. Jason is also very interesting, he will do anything for Aza, and has a calculated and intelligent mind.

The plot of Magonia took many turns and kept me guessing throughout. Dai and Zal were my other two favourite characters, not as major but like all the characters, a crucial part of the story.
Purchase Location: Borrowed From Library
Edition: Paperback
Buy the book: Book Depository
Recommended for: Fans of Original YA and hidden worlds.