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A review by elpisgalaxy
Spells by Aprilynne Pike
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Much like the last book, I have mixed feelings about this one. A lot went on it and the book took place over the span of six months or so. This is my second time reading this book and it's probably been about 8 years since I've read it and my opinion on things have changed. I enjoyed the parts of the book that took place in Avalon as it was interesting to learn about that realm and the culture there. However, parts of it definitely haven't aged well for myself. The caste system among different types of faeries felt very forced at times and honestly made me uncomfortable with how spring faeries were treated in relation to other faeries. Off the top of my head I can think of a few different ways to improve upon the idea while still having faeries being specialized in different skills but I'm guessing it was done this way to play up the forbidden romance aspect that was popular for books of its time.
I'm also not a being fan of Tamani or David. I actually find David to be a far more likeable character this time around but at the same time beyond just helping Laurel with Faerie stuff in book 1 it didn't really feel like they had much in common other than he was the first guy who really talked to her. Tamani is honestly even worse. Sure they had a long history before she was transplanted into the human world but he doesn't really seem to take Laurel's feelings into consideration a lot of the time. I am proud of Laurel for finally setting some boundaries at the end of the book but I suppose we can see if they actually stay that way.
Honestly though, Laurel is clearly into both of these guys and this love triangle stuff just feels very forced when there is obviously another choice there. As much as this book bothered me at times, it was a genuine page turner and there was a lot of thought put into description of places.
I'm also not a being fan of Tamani or David. I actually find David to be a far more likeable character this time around but at the same time beyond just helping Laurel with Faerie stuff in book 1 it didn't really feel like they had much in common other than he was the first guy who really talked to her. Tamani is honestly even worse. Sure they had a long history before she was transplanted into the human world but he doesn't really seem to take Laurel's feelings into consideration a lot of the time. I am proud of Laurel for finally setting some boundaries at the end of the book but I suppose we can see if they actually stay that way.
Honestly though, Laurel is clearly into both of these guys and this love triangle stuff just feels very forced when there is obviously another choice there. As much as this book bothered me at times, it was a genuine page turner and there was a lot of thought put into description of places.