Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Title: WingsAuthor: Aprilynne Pike
304 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen; 1 edition (May 5, 2009)
Genre: YA fantasy
Rating: 3 out of 5

About the book:
Aprilynne Pike’s #1 best-selling debut, Wings, is the first of four books about a seemingly ordinary girl named Laurel who discovers she is a faerie sent among humans to guard the gateway to Avalon. When Laurel is thrust into the midst of a centuries-old battle between faeries and trolls, she’s torn between a human and a faerie love, as well as her loyalties to each world. In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever.

My Review:

I literally squealed when I saw this book in the bookstore. Wings had been on my wish list for sometime and I never actually expected it to be available here.

Wings is one of the hundreds of YA fantasy books that seem to be in demand lately. Laurel is a teenager who moves to Crescent City in Northern with her family. She has been home schooled till the age of 15, so everything is new to her.

Laurel settles in the school and the place with the help of her new friend David. One day Laurel wakes up with a bump on her back which increases every day and finally turns into a blossom. Yes, my dear friends, she actually has a blossom growing out of her back. Naturally she is perplexed, confused and scared. When her parents plan a visit to their previous cottage which lies in a forest, she discovers something really unique and amazing about herself.

I found the beginning and the overall concept very similar to Behind Every Illusion by Christina Harner (which was so much better than Wings in some ways) and I was afraid that the entire book would be very similar. But thankfully, even though the concept is somewhat similar, the treatment isn’t.

I found the book to be good but not great. I wouldn’t urge everyone to read it as soon as possible. I would put this in what we call the “borrow” category. Wings was very engrossing and a quick read but there was something missing. The action at the end was amazing but then as I said it wasn’t satisfying. I didn’t like the end. I wouldn’t call it a cliffhanger but it definitely leaves the main threads of the plot incomplete. I understand the need to keep an open ending for a sequel but I at least prefer to have the current situation resolved.

I also wouldn’t call it a cross over book. If you love YA, you’ll probably enjoy this but if you don’t stay away from it. I would definitely be reading the next book but I wouldn’t be willing to spend a lot of money on it.

Having said this, there are many bloggers who probably enjoyed this book more than I did.