I Ran So You Could Fly by Vocal Creator, Misty Rae

As an avid reader I'm generally skeptical when a content creator publishes a novel. Everyone says they want to write a book but few ever do and those who do manage to usually do so with less than impressive results.

I've been reading voraciously for over 50 years. From Stephen King to Anne Rice and everything in between. I've followed @Misty-Rae for probably 3 years. Her talent is undeniable. Her accomplishments on this platform speak for themselves. But a heart tugging poem or essay is a far cry from an entire novel. Holding a reader's attention for 1000 words and keeping them invested over 60,000 - 80,000 words are different things.

I was willing to give her a chance. I was the first to get my hands on an advance copy of her debut novel, I Ran So You Could Fly (The Paris O'Ree Story).

The book is a fictionalized account of the life of her great, great, great, great, great grandfather. The blurb on Amazon puts it this way

Paris was born and raised a slave on a South Carolina rice plantation. As a young boy, he used to look up at the birds, flying freely above him. He longed to be free like the birds, but in 18th century, pre-Revolutionary times, it seemed impossible. However, when the British came seeking slaves willing to desert their masters to fight their cause, a 15-year-old Paris saw his chance, and took it.

Based on a real-life Black Loyalist, Paris O'Ree, I Ran So You Could Fly (The Paris O'Ree Story) is a heartwarming, coming-of-age fictional account of a young man's search for and finding of freedom, not only for himself but for the generations that came after him.

In the face of adversity, prejudice, hunger, pain, punishments and heartache, he persevered in his pursuit of freedom and found it. He ran so he could fly like the birds he once admired. He ran to free himself and to provide a legacy of liberty to his descendants. Never would they know the chains of bondage. He ran so they could fly.

It intersperses historical events and facts and people with fiction.

The book is surprisingly easy to read. That was my first reaction. The writing is accessible. It feels a lot like a story is being told to you. She doesn't follow grammatical rules strictly, it's written more like how people talk.

It is not a read for the extremely sensitive reader. She doesn't shy away from the brutalities of slavery in America's Colonial period. Some scenes describe, in vivid detail, savage beatings of slaves.

I don't think that the descriptions are gratuitous though. They give the necessary context to the time and to the main character's desire to run away.

There are a lot of ups and downs in the story. It is a sort of emotional roller coaster. The reader will weep, rejoice and sometimes laugh out loud.

I think that's the thing that surprised me the most. I laughed in parts. I almost felt guilty because there is nothing funny about slavery or someone running away from slavery. There's nothing amusing about how black people were treated. I felt like I shouldn't laugh. Yet I did more than once. I can only assume that was intentional.

The story is educational in the sense that I didn't know much about the time period or the fact that black people were fighting in the American Revolution. She captures the time well.

One of the biggest strengths of the book is how she develops the characters. They're surprisingly real (think early Stephen King). A reader will find themselves or someone they know in everyone they meet along the way. I was pleasantly surprised by this. I've rooted for her in her online essays or her mother or other people. She was able to take that same simple, homespun realism and apply it to Paris O'Ree and everyone he encounters.

The ending is both happy and sad. I will not give it away but you will be left feeling joy and crying at the same time.

I highly recommend I Ran So You Could Fly (The Paris O'Ree Story) for anyone who likes vivid characters, an emotional read and a solid story you can sink your teeth into. I would caution though again if violence bothers you you might want to pass and also set some time aside if you pick this book up, you can put it down and pick it back up but you will not want to. The chapters are cleverly crafted, by design I suspect to finish something and give a hint of something that keeps you hooked.

If this is the first book I can't wait to see the next one. I give it two thumbs up and highly recommend. It's everything you've come to expect of Misty Rae - raw emotion, brutal truth and brilliant story telling just way longer.