Book Review: "Wings" by Aprilynne Pike

Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful- too beautiful for words.

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head.  They looked almost like wings. 

My Review:

Without a doubt, a wonderful book.  A New York Times # 1 Best Seller, Aprilynne Pike has done a fabulous job with the first book in this series of four.  Book 2, titled "Spells" is set to hit the shelf on May 4th, 2009.  Here is a sneak peek of the cover.

Another shocker coming from me, but ya know, I sort of am starting to like these types of books. Besides, with a main character named "David" I HAD to at least check it out.  Ok, So the main girl in the book is a teen named Laurel.  Laurel is adopted and was actually just left on her parent's front steps I believe when she was 3 or 4.  She has been home schooled her whole life and seems like a genuine nice girl, but was one who kept mostly to herself.  She lives on this hug lot of land in which her mom's side has owned it for generations. Her dad's dream is to open up a book store (who's isn't???) so they buy a house in a town about 45 minutes away and decide to put the old house up for sale to make ends meet.  

When Laurel moves to her new town, her parents decide that it is time she goes to public school.  Against their wishes and after losing many battles, Laurel goes.  She meets a super great guy named "David" who takes a liking to her immediately and the 2 become really close friends.  David and Laurel start to hang out very often and yes, it is sort of a chick book in the fact that they obviously end up hooking up, but the author does it in a very tasteful and simple way (thank you Aprilynne, as I definitely am not into the mushy stuff!) that sort of reminds you of that high school friend you had that was kind of more than a friend. 

That was some good background, and as always, I like to set you up, get you excited, but not give too much away....and here's the part where I start to slow it down a bit.  Laurel starts to grow this thing out of her back that she has no idea what it is.  It's obvious by the title of the book, that they are wings.  I am leaving a HUGE part about what Laurel actually is, besides a faerie.  It got me interested and thinking, that's for sure.  Ok, so back to the story.  She doesn't really have anyone to tell about this as she is having tons of emotions.  Obviously, she shares it with David who supports her and helps her through the part of growing these "wings" AND losing them.

Behind her house (the original one with tons of land) she meets a guy named "Tamani" who is another faerie.  He actually has been there as long as Laurel has (theres something else I'm not sharing about why she was left on the front steps years ago).  He has been watching over her as well as several other faeries have too.  It's obvious there is something special about Laurel, but telling you that would ruin the story.  What I can tell you is that on that land somewhere is a gateway to the faerie world.  It's one of 4 in the whole world.

Tamani absolutely is madly in love with Laurel and is not ashamed to show it. (hmmm, could it have anything to do with her life before being left on the door steps? But how could that be if she was only 3ish when she was left there??) This becomes a problem as Laurel is kind of with David. To add to the mix, and this is a big part of the story, there is a guy (actually a troll who looks like a really ugly guy) who is trying to buy the land from Laurel's parents.  When her dad falls deathly ill, her mom agrees to sell it to Mr. Barnes (our troll).  This is not such a good thing as the trolls have been trying to either get into faeire world or destroy the gate, and the faeries will die before they allow that again.

Without getting too much more into it, Laurel has some problems to solve.... David or Tamani.... human or faerie??  Also, there is a troll and his sidekicks fooling her parents into selling him their land, while he attempts to kill Laurel and David.  This is a 4 book series, so there is much more to come.  I just decided that I've told you enough.  This book is awesome.  I believe that I read (it's public info folks) that in the next book "Spells", Laurel actually goes through the gate to the faerie world.  I left out parts about magic and stuff, and oh yeah, I forgot to mention that even though Tamani is a faerie, he is perfectly symmetrical in looks (as Laurel is) which basically means that he looks like a supermodel, just in raggedy clothes, which kind of makes the choice between guys a difficult one.  So, what happens with the land?  What happens with Laurel's sick dad? What happens with the wings she grows (which oddly enough have a beautiful floral smell to them)?  What happens with the trolls and faerie land?  Which guy does she choose?  These are all questions that are answered, and remember that all faerie tales (get it, faerie tales???) don't always end perfectly.  

I am really excited that I found out about this being a series.  I didn't know until today, when I was looking up info on the book, which I always do when I read a book (author, gossip, etc.).  I will definitely be asking for an ARC of "Spells" and I so hope I will be fortunate enough to get one.  As far as the book itself, it was around 300 pages and very easy, light reading.  It flowed very well, and there wasn't really any part of the book that I wanted to rush.  It was a constant pleasure, which is also important when reading a book.  There is a good reason that the book is a NY Times #1 Best Seller, it's great.  If you have not already read this one, I suggest you add it to your TDR pile asap.  Enjoy!

DAVE