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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Enchanting. That is the first word that comes to mind to describe this book! Aprilynne Pike weaves a magical story that makes you question what you truly believe in.
What I really enjoyed about this book was that it was able to incorporate the world of the faeries without seeming too juvenile. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a child's story as much as the next person. However it was refreshing to read a true "faerie tale" from the perspective of a young adult protagonist. Laurel is fun to follow through the story, she has a believable personality, and although she was flitting through a imaginative world you never lost track of her in the real world.
Deep at the heart of the book is a love triangle that shines. It reminded me much of the Twilight Series love triangle, only it was written so much better! Although Laurel is torn, she is an adult enough character that she never seems whiny or obnoxious. That was my biggest issue with Bella in the other series.
The only reason I wasn't able to give this book a full five star rating is because the beginning is rather slow. Not so badly that you want to put the book down, but to deter a reader who picked this book up on a whim. Overall I am wholly impressed by Pike's debut novel! I cannot wait to pick up the next one in the series when it comes out!
What I really enjoyed about this book was that it was able to incorporate the world of the faeries without seeming too juvenile. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a child's story as much as the next person. However it was refreshing to read a true "faerie tale" from the perspective of a young adult protagonist. Laurel is fun to follow through the story, she has a believable personality, and although she was flitting through a imaginative world you never lost track of her in the real world.
Deep at the heart of the book is a love triangle that shines. It reminded me much of the Twilight Series love triangle, only it was written so much better! Although Laurel is torn, she is an adult enough character that she never seems whiny or obnoxious. That was my biggest issue with Bella in the other series.
The only reason I wasn't able to give this book a full five star rating is because the beginning is rather slow. Not so badly that you want to put the book down, but to deter a reader who picked this book up on a whim. Overall I am wholly impressed by Pike's debut novel! I cannot wait to pick up the next one in the series when it comes out!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of my favorites! A very teenager-y book, but very cute and whimsical. I like the sequels, as well, but this story stands alone well enough, too.
Wow. I'm going to watch Pike- she'll be a force in the fantasy world in my opinion.
4.5 stars, but I'll round up :)
Reminds me of The Fairie Path by Frewin Jones....
4.5 stars, but I'll round up :)
Reminds me of The Fairie Path by Frewin Jones....
The writing wasn't amazing... but the story kept me going. It was original and I liked the characters. I'll read more.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I originally received this book as a read along but due to unforeseen circumstances, that read along just wasn't working for me. So I did what anyone avid book lover in search of a reading buddy would do. I took to my Twitter. The lovely Christina of Reading Thru The Night, volunteered to read the book with me. (She's lovely and hilarious and I adore her.) Several twitter messages and emails later we realized that we had similar reactions to the book. Which doesn't surprise me in the slightest, because we have the same blog layout, which was completely unplanned. Christina is also posting her review on her site. You should check it out. Like I already said, she's awesome. Now to the book!!
I really liked the concept of the book, I thought it was new and different. This whole idea that faeries and other mythical creatures do exist was great. (Although, if you ask my Gram, who is very Irish, she'll tell you they exist on no uncertain terms). I liked the idea of rather than straight up wings, faeries have flowers in wing-like shapes. There's even a great line in the book about how humans get the details wrong whenever they tell stories about mythical, fantasy creatures. Another huge like for me was how the love triangle was approached. Two guys going after the same girl has been done about a million times, but in Wings, David the human love interest is the cliche science geek (which I find beyond adorable, my weakness is smart, noble men). Tamani is a faerie and he's a sentry, which is kind of on the lower end of classes of the faerie world. I mean, yeah he's buff (if he's guarding something, he better be!) but I loved that the love triangle focused more on the fact that these two men really cared about her and her well being, rather than trying to prove that they are the better man. When you see it played out in that fashion over and over it becomes obnoxious, not romantic. I don't even know who's side I'm on, I can really see both. And that never happens to me.
What I didn't like about the book is most of the characters, especially the parents. Laurel's parents. Oh, man. From what I understand, they are best described as "hold-over hippies". But the mother can't even bring herself to say the word "period". But there's a scene where the mother tells Laurel to be safe when it comes to sex because no one wants to be pregnant at a young age. Such a big disconnect there. And her parents adjust to everything super fast. Not to give spoilers, but it's like "WHAT??" David's mother is never really there. He and Laurel hang out in his room all alone a majority of the time because his mother is out on dates. I'm not a prude, or that old, but that doesn't seem like good parenting. Laurel to me seemed kind of whiny. I'm not sure why. It was kind of off putting. This is a minor thing, but in the novel it is remarked that Laurel eats weird because she eats mostly fresh fruits and vegetables. I'm a vegetarian. That's not weird!! I was almost offended. AND it's probably not a good idea to say that a healthy diet is weird in a book that young people are reading. Not that I feel that everyone should be a vegetarian, (Matt would slaughter a cow in the backyard if I let him) but let's promote healthy behavior people. Or at least not consider it weird. Stepping off the soapbox now.
Final thoughts? Even though I did have mixed feelings about the book, I was intrigued enough that I feel like I do need to find out how the series pans out. Part of that probably is because I hate not finishing books. So, I do believe that there was enough good in the book for me to at least get through the second installment. Wings is a cute story that I think will appeal to a lot of people, but if you're like Christina and myself, there will be things that irk you as well.
I really liked the concept of the book, I thought it was new and different. This whole idea that faeries and other mythical creatures do exist was great. (Although, if you ask my Gram, who is very Irish, she'll tell you they exist on no uncertain terms). I liked the idea of rather than straight up wings, faeries have flowers in wing-like shapes. There's even a great line in the book about how humans get the details wrong whenever they tell stories about mythical, fantasy creatures. Another huge like for me was how the love triangle was approached. Two guys going after the same girl has been done about a million times, but in Wings, David the human love interest is the cliche science geek (which I find beyond adorable, my weakness is smart, noble men). Tamani is a faerie and he's a sentry, which is kind of on the lower end of classes of the faerie world. I mean, yeah he's buff (if he's guarding something, he better be!) but I loved that the love triangle focused more on the fact that these two men really cared about her and her well being, rather than trying to prove that they are the better man. When you see it played out in that fashion over and over it becomes obnoxious, not romantic. I don't even know who's side I'm on, I can really see both. And that never happens to me.
What I didn't like about the book is most of the characters, especially the parents. Laurel's parents. Oh, man. From what I understand, they are best described as "hold-over hippies". But the mother can't even bring herself to say the word "period". But there's a scene where the mother tells Laurel to be safe when it comes to sex because no one wants to be pregnant at a young age. Such a big disconnect there. And her parents adjust to everything super fast. Not to give spoilers, but it's like "WHAT??" David's mother is never really there. He and Laurel hang out in his room all alone a majority of the time because his mother is out on dates. I'm not a prude, or that old, but that doesn't seem like good parenting. Laurel to me seemed kind of whiny. I'm not sure why. It was kind of off putting. This is a minor thing, but in the novel it is remarked that Laurel eats weird because she eats mostly fresh fruits and vegetables. I'm a vegetarian. That's not weird!! I was almost offended. AND it's probably not a good idea to say that a healthy diet is weird in a book that young people are reading. Not that I feel that everyone should be a vegetarian, (Matt would slaughter a cow in the backyard if I let him) but let's promote healthy behavior people. Or at least not consider it weird. Stepping off the soapbox now.
Final thoughts? Even though I did have mixed feelings about the book, I was intrigued enough that I feel like I do need to find out how the series pans out. Part of that probably is because I hate not finishing books. So, I do believe that there was enough good in the book for me to at least get through the second installment. Wings is a cute story that I think will appeal to a lot of people, but if you're like Christina and myself, there will be things that irk you as well.
Dnf at 7%/22 pages.
I probably would have eaten this book up had I read it when I was 13 but sadly I am not 13 anymore and the characters/writing style just wasn’t clicking. I wasn’t immersed at all and I felt like the dialogue was very flat and awkward/stilted at times. I am more accustomed to upper YA/adult writing so I found the lack of vivid descriptions p lackluster. There was just not much in the first few chapters that was engaging to me and I’m not feeling the need to continue and wait for it to get good.
Its probably not a bad story, but its just not for me. Maybe I should have just skimmed it until the flower grew from her back and then tried to get invested but idk. I’m just not all that into the character interactions.
I probably would have eaten this book up had I read it when I was 13 but sadly I am not 13 anymore and the characters/writing style just wasn’t clicking. I wasn’t immersed at all and I felt like the dialogue was very flat and awkward/stilted at times. I am more accustomed to upper YA/adult writing so I found the lack of vivid descriptions p lackluster. There was just not much in the first few chapters that was engaging to me and I’m not feeling the need to continue and wait for it to get good.
Its probably not a bad story, but its just not for me. Maybe I should have just skimmed it until the flower grew from her back and then tried to get invested but idk. I’m just not all that into the character interactions.