Review: Spells by Aprilynne Pike

Series: Wings, book #2

Published: May 4th 2010

Publisher: Harper Teen

Details: Hardcover, 359 pages

My rating: 3/5

My Summary:

Sequel to Wings. Laurel is summoned to study at the fairy academy, thus we learn more about the world of the fairies which I enjoyed. But other than that, it was more of a filler than an actual stand-alone plot. Not much happens, except for Laurels emotional struggles regarding Tamani & David. Enjoyable but not great. Next book is called Illusions.

A few chapters in:

Wings was a fairy tale story about the seemingly ordinary girl Laurel who discovered she was a fairy. It was not amazing by any means but it was cute. Actually, that’s the word right there: Cute.

Cute enough for me to want to pick up the sequel. Too much cuteness for me to want to pick it up right away.

Hence, here we are, roughly eight months later (including two months in the TBR-pile).

I’m now a few chapters in. Laurel has been summoned to attend the Academy of Avalon over the summer in order to catch up on her fairy studies. In Wings we learned that as a fairy child, Laurel was handed over to adoptive human parents in order to be raised by them, since the land where they lived was important fairy land that needed protection from the trolls. How Laurel helped protecting that land as a fairy toddler I have no idea, but I’m sure there was a reason.

The point is, after having lived solely a human life for the last 13 years, Laurel is now in urgent need of a fairy education.

Hence, from chapter one, we follow Laurel as she steps through the magical gate to the fairy land of Avalon discovering a whole new world she didn’t know existed, full of beauty and magic, but also strict social structures and rules. Laurel is a Fall Fairy, which turns out to be a rare species, and very highly appreciated. In fact, Fall Fairies rank second highest after the Winter Fairies, who are the rarest of them all.

Tamani on the other hand (Laurel’s fairy friend) is just a Spring Fairy, which in Avalon means he is common, ordinary and.. as funny as this sounds – a true working class fairy. I’ve just now got to the point where Tamani is showing Laurel around, including a visit to his mother.

And I have to say that so far I’m liking it! The world building of the fairies is intriguing, so much that right now I feel I could stay in Avalon forever! Or at least for 359 pages..

After finishing the book:

So I finished the book, and it was…cute. I seem to be stuck on that word when it comes to this series.

As you can see from my first impression above, I loved the first part of the book. The fairy world-building that Pike has created is fascinating and I loved every minute that Laurel spent in Avalon.

Unfortunately, a couple of chapters later, Laurel had to return to the human world, and as she did my interest started to fade. Not necessarily because I found the human world boring, but more because in the absence of an intriguing world-building I started to notice the non-existent plot. You see, not much happened in this book. Or rather, a few things happened but not enough to justify a book of almost 400 pages.

If I were to sum it up, this was essentially about Laurel and her issues with being a fairy brought up in the human world. She tries to live in both worlds, including stringing along both her boys David and Tamani, but fails miserably on all accounts. The troll threat is lingering in the air throughout the whole book, but not much actually happens until the final pages.

In the end, not much is solved. Laurel does finally make a decision, but I’m not convinced that this is her final one, so expect her indecisiveness to continue in book three.

As a fan of Tamani I was especially irritated at Laurel’s behaviour towards him – I mean talk about giving out mixed signals! Shar (Tamani’s sentry colleague) tells Laurel a few wise words at the end of the book, and I pretty much wanted to hug him after that, because he nailed my view of Laurel’s actions right there.

The Bottom Line:

Finally, I know it sounds like I’m bashing the book now. Truth is, it was still enjoyable and easy to read, probably because of the fairy world and the fact that it is well written. I will continue the series, in the hopes that the next installment Illusions will prove to be more than just another filler.

Review: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Series: Wings, book #1

Published: May 1st 2009

Publisher: HarperTeen

Details: Hardcover, 294 pages

My rating: 3/5

My summary:

Quick enjoyable read about a girl who discovers she’s a fairy. With a love triangle. All though easy read, I felt it was a bit too childish for a 30+ year old. There is a sequel, Spells.

See my full review here:

Synopsis:

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.

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever.

My thoughts:

There are many books out there which are proclaimed to be the next Twilight. Wings by Aprilynne Pike is one of those books, probably since the story includes both romance and paranormal elements. On top of that, it’s been recommended by Stephenie Meyer, and I like her book recommendations. She’s the reason I read Hunger Games! So for me, this was a good premise, being both ‘twilight’-esque and recommended by Meyer.

Wings is the first book in a series of four. It follows Laurel, a 15-year old girl who discovers that she is a fairy. It starts with Laurels first day at school when she befriends a boy, David. Along with him, we learn about Laurel and how she has always been slightly different than everyone else. When she starts growing wings on her back she realizes just how different she is. She also meets Tamani, a boy of her kind who helps her exploring the new world she belongs to, yet didn’t know existed. With Tamani in the picture, a love triangle is formed where Laurel has problems choosing between the two.

This was a very easy read. Actually, it was almost too easy, that is, I felt as if I was reading a pree-teen book rather than YA. I have read quite a few YA books this year and all though they are about teens, and generally aimed solely at teens, I usually have no issues with that. But in Wings, the language felt childish, which bothered me a little.

In saying that, it still kept my interest, all though I thought the boy David was a bit bland. I mean he was nice, interested in Laurel and all about helping her, which is good. I think the problem was that he lacked personality or charisma. He jokes himself about being a science nerd, and I couldn’t help but agree on that.

So when the charismatic Tamani jumped into the picture midway through the book, I rooted for him immediately, and so the second half of the book was much better. Needless to say I’m Team Tamani. The ending leaves you wondering about what decisions Laurel will make, as for her new life as a fairy and the love triangle.

In short, I thought Wings was an enjoyable read – I read it in about 2 days – but it is also easily forgettable. There is a sequel out called Spells, which I probably will read at some stage, but I don’t feel any need to rush out and get it just yet.