Search - Wings

I couldn't finish it. It was very predictable and not unique enough. Try reading Holly Black or Melissa Marr if you like it though, as the storyline was very similar to both of those authors, though it fell short on plot and character development for me.

What a disappointment. WINGS garners attention as being similar to Twilight, but let's just say that the over-hyped vampire series is still a lot more interesting than anything this book has to offer.

Where do I even begin? The characters lack personality or appeal. Laurel has not a stitch of mental or physical strength on her. The love triangle between Laurel, David, and Tamani is extremely contrived: I sensed no attraction at all between any of the three, no real reason why the boys would like Laurel the bland "heroine," and no appeal in the caricatures of the boys, David the goody-two-shoes good friend, and Tamani the "dangerously attractive and mysterious" fairy. If you're trying to copy off the popularity of the Twilight love triangle, at least develop the males well enough that readers are encouraged to take sides.

The concept of fairies being similar to plants was fairly interesting; my favorite parts of the book are when David geeks out and begins doing all sorts of scientific experiments on Laurel to prove to her that she is a plant. Unfortunately, the story lacked everything else: engaging dialogue, plot, movement. The word that sprang to mind most when I read this book was "contrived;" it felt like we readers were told how we were supposed to feel about the characters and their predicaments instead of actually letting us feel anything. Anything that readers needed to know about the plot was explained in endless pages of stationary dialogue, which I wouldn't even mind if not for the fact that the dialogue feels forced and the characters are not explaining anything of worth or interest to me anyway.

Alas, it seems like I and other reviewers can blither and blather all we want; the audience (and publishers) clearly know what they want, and that's some more horrible Twilight spin-offs. Seriously, though, if you're looking for some more fantasy love triangles and fairy wars etc., don't check here. In fact, don't read this book at all if you can. It won't be long before you'll be wondering about how you can get a refund on your time.

I love books about fairies in the modern day world; so I was eager to read this book. I really enjoyed it; I thought the premise of the book was very interesting and the idea of fairies being plants was fascinating. This is supposed to be the first of four books about Laurel; at least that is what I read according to the author at this time.

This book is full of mystery and danger. Initially Laurel is just in shock when a blossom blooms out of her back. But after going over the evidence with her geeky biology friend they figure out that maybe she really is a plant instead of an animal; she can only eat fruits and veggies, she doesn't bleed, and she always need to have her skin exposed to air. When things start going bad for her family after a mysterious man tries to buy some land from Laurel's mom; land that has been in her family for generations, Laurel finds out that she is more than just a plant and that her mother's land is more than just land.

This book was a very creative take on fairies. I enjoyed the interesting prospective of fairies being plants. I also enjoyed how biology was applied to prove out the theories of Laurel's true nature. It was interesting that there is hinting at more types of mythical races being included in this series (trolls, etc.). The story itself was a fairly complete story; you aren't left in a huge amount of suspense at the end of the book. It was a well-written novel and was easy to read. I enjoyed the book immensley.

The only thing that I think detracted from the book was that some of the characterization was a bit weak. I think sometimes Laurel came across as whiny, helpless, and indecisive; there were times when this got annoying. David sometimes came across as needy and obessed which was also bothersome. Even though I found some of the characters to be a bit sterotypical and slightly annoying; it didn't detract from the story that much and the creativity of the story really outshown any of the faults.

Overall I find myself really looking forward to the next book in the series. This series should be interesting and shows a lot of promise.

Loved this book. I'm a big fairy fan so this one is going in my library.

This is being written by a avid book-reading teen:

Wings was Okay. It was not the best. I'm not happy about people relating it to Twilight. Wings had good characters and a good plot. The only problem was the ending. The second problem was pointless. It should have been made into a separate book or gotten rid of all together. Otherwise, it was good.

Wings, the debut novel by Aprilynne Pike, grabbed my attention because of its front-cover review by Stephenie Meyer, author of Twilight. While I enjoyed the book overall, it was a veeeeerrrrry slow starter. By page 50, I had thought of giving up on it -- twice. By page 100, I was becoming slowly enticed by the developing story. Luckily, by page 150, I was fully engrossed in the unique faerie mythology Pike has created in this novel.

The story follows 15-year-old Laurel, a beautiful, willowy vegan who has been homeschooled her entire life. She's just been transplanted into public school for the first time, and moved into a new town away from the land her family has owned for generations. Although Laurel quickly makes friends -- including hunky science nerd David -- its obvious that she's very different from the rest of her peers. She hates being cooped up inside, rarely eats and never gets sick. Just how different she truly is, however, isn't obvious until the morning that she awakens with a huge, wing-like flower sprouting out of her back.

The story that emerges is definitely cut from the same cloth as Twilight, only written perhaps for a younger audience. The book is the first of a four book series that will explore further the land of Avalon and Laurel's role as an autumn faerie living in the human world. It's a solid premise and a different take on fairies. Best of all, the book set the stage for a nice love triangle between normal guy David and Laurel's other love interest, Tamani, who is everything David isn't -- including, human. I'm sure this plot point will be revisited in future sequels.

Overall, I liked the book... I just didn't LOVE it. It was engaging, but very predictable. The villian might as well have been wearing a sign that said, "Hi, I'm the bad guy." The parents are very two-dimensional. And it took me quite awhile to care about Laurel and her predicament. I will probably pick up the next book by Pike to see what lies in store for her characters (especially Tamani, the most likeable and colorful of the bunch) but it's not a release I feel the need to add to my calendar. [close]