Wings review

Title: Wings (Wings #1)

Author: Aprilynne Pike

Published: May 5th 2009 by HarperTeen

Rating:  

What it's about:

Laurel has always considered herself normal. I mean, sure, she's been home-schooled all her life, and her mum believes purely in herbal medicines so she's never been to a doctor, but she's still normal ... right? Wrong.

Just when Laurel's life seems to be taking a turn for the better (she's going to a normal school and getting some great friends) weird things start to happen. For instance, a boy she doesn't know seems to know all about her past, and a lump on her back one morning spurts huge flower petals that look almost like ... well, wings.

Laurel soon finds out that no matter how hard she tries, and what secrets she keeps to do so, she'll never be normal again.

My thoughts:

Wings is a completely different take on faeries. Unlike the usual creatures with wings who flutter around and wave fairy dust everywhere, they are more like plants in human form. Okay, so they do have wings, and actually they have fairy dust too, but the wings are like flower petals, and the fairy dust is their way of reproduction (I know, strange). The faeries hate any packaged foods and only eat vegetables and fruits, and when they eat a certain colour of food for too long, the roots of their hair and their eyes change to that colour, which is awesome. I loved reading all about these things about the faeries, as well as others.

The main character Laurel's reactions to the changes in her body and to Tamani (the boy who knows all about her past) are very believable. Both male characters (David and Tamani) are very likeable. I like the fact that Laurel can confide in David and he won't judge; he instead tries to help her overcome her insecurities. Tamani is very mysterious, and it's hard not to want to know about his life in the faerie kingdom. However, I didn't like Laurel all that much; she annoyed me. And that didn't change much throughout the book.

But despite Laurel, I found Aprilynne Pike's writing effortless; it flows smoothly from one scene to the next, so I was glued to Wings for two days straight until I finished it.