Information you should know:

On the Wings of La Noche is a book aimed at Middle Schoolers, it is classified as Young Adult Fantasy, and Paranormal Romance. It is also the winner of the Pura Belpre Author Awards in 2026.

On the Wings of La Noche follows the main protagonist Noche, a young psychopomp taking the form of a Lechuza from Mexican Folklore. In this books she struggles with guiding the soul of her recently deceased girlfriend to what comes beyond, her own internal struggle of being a psychopomp, and navigating what her loss means for her future.

Why did I read this?

I choose this book frankly because I thought the cover looked interesting. I know we are often told not to judge a book by its cover but I think it’s equally true that covers can grab and hold our interest. The cover depicts a young girl who’s hair is fading into the stars above while her eye is obscured by the lechuza she becomes. I’ve loved owls since I was a kid and the opportunity to read something more about a folktale I grew up hearing about was too tempting to pass up. Additionally I have recently been trying to challenge myself by reading more books that contain romance in one form or another. I had realized that I treated romantic books like they had cooties and dismissing such a large and popular genre was something I didn’t like. I hoped that this book would provide a good dive into melding storytelling with romance, and it delivered.

Review;

The scope of my review for this book will cover 3 things. First I would like to cover the prose and rhythm of the writing. Second it is important to me to discuss the feelings this book evokes. And finally I will discuss the themes of romance that are present in this book.

Rhythm in 4/4

On the Wings of La Noche features many short and punchy sentences. Often when I read I expect a variety of sentence structures to create a sense of flow between the action and exposition. Torres instead focuses on shorter sentences with less fluff around exposition and description. Initially I did not like this thinking it to be an odd stylistic choice that was almost talking down to the reader on some basis of underestimating their attention span. However as the book went on I found this to be a feature not a detraction. The shorter sentences and matter of fact statements truly put us into Noche’s shoes. Prose like “I am swallowed anew by pain.” (246) are short and simple. I would expect a more colorful metaphor in other books with other characters to better describe the grief that Noche feels but here it feels on brand. The simplicity allows the reader to better imagine what Noche is feeling but cross referencing to emotions they have felt in their own life. The book does not linger overlong on fanciful descriptions instead allowing the reader simply to connect to the prose.

On the Wings of La Noche doesn’t always stick to this formula and it is most clear in it’s dialogue between characters. Each character has their own distinct voice. It is easy to tell who is talking even when the book doesn’t use dialogue tags. Whether it’s Noche’s Father sounding kind and understanding, or Noche’s friend Julien pet names for everyone like pops. Each character’s voice is clear and different. This is also exemplified in the use of text messages and bubbles the books uses. It is hard to get this aspect of modern life right in books and just showing it as a picture, emoji’s included, breaths life and understanding into the characters.

Yeah okay I cried:

The greatest aspect of this book to me is the emotion that it captures. It is impossible to read this book without having strong, visceral, responses to the content. I personally have not had to deal with the death of a partner or the grief it comes with, nor have I had to deal with dating someone who had a heart condition or could die at any time. But the experience of your life imploding in some small or big way I think is nigh universal. The experience of betrayal at finding out a friend is harboring secret feelings for your partner or having to choose between your future and something that is in your present and is unavoidable, are also common.

What I love about this book is it allows the reader to process those feelings through someone else’s eyes and feel seen by the emotion that they are going through. Noche is a smart capable young girl faced with far too much at such a young age. She becomes self destructive and despondent. Almost merging completely with her lechuza form and losing her humanity. Her coping mechanism of taking something from each body she carries to the after life is morbid and unhealthy. But throughout the book it is hammered in over and over that even when she feels at her most alone and most lost she still has people who care about her. This is great example for everyone that it’s okay to hurt and it’s okay to move on. We don’t see a picture perfect protagonist. We see someone like us dealing with life shattering problems accept herself and move on. I find this beautiful and I think that you would too.

Romance oh Romance

While On the Wings of La Noche contains many fantastical elements the core of the books is centered around love. The premise is Noche going through the loss of her previous partner of 3 years. The book does an excellent job of describing the small things you notice or begin to know about a partner that aren’t present in mere friendship. Noche frequently talks about her memories of Dante her ex-girlfriend and the impacts she created on the people in her life. Through it we can see how much Dante is a part of Noche’s life. She isn’t simply a reward or an aside from the meat of the story, instead the romance is the story. Noche choosing to not let Dante’s soul go is understandable but presents a problem as Dante begins to disappear. The climax of the book is when Noche chooses to fly into the great beyond with Dante letting her go and embracing her future.

This problem is complicated by the promises that Noche has made to her ex-lover and the new feelings she begins to have for her lab partner Jax. Jax is a young man who is suffering from a heart condition that flares up several times in the book. He too knows about the impermanence of life, both through his own condition and the issues he has with his brother who is involved in organized crime. Jax is a great foil for Noche. While Noche is unable to let go, choosing to live in the past (quite understandably) Jax embraces the present as he knows how little time he could have. He is very understanding of Noche’s grief and focuses on just being there as support for Noche throughout her journey.

The romance in this book is based around understanding and acceptance of another. There is a great line towards the end of the book when Noche chooses to let go of Dante. Dante says, “I know how that feels, having two hearts inside my own.” (332). This line did a perfect job of describing how I personally feel about love. I was frankly blown away by the example this book set.

Final Score: 10/10

I greatly enjoyed this book and plan to seek out more by the author. I would recommend this to just about anyone above the age of 13.

Reference: Torres, V. L. (2025). On the wings of la Noche. Alfred A. Knopf.