Christna's Review: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

The reason I have not posted a review in so long is not because I have read nothing but rather than I have read so many things I've had no time to you about them. Just the fact that Wings, by Aprilynne Pike, is the book I am now reviewing scares me. I think I've read about 15 books since then, all of which I should review here soon!

When I read Wings, I had an experience unlike anything most will have when reading it. This is because the first half of the book sounded nail-bitingly similar to Behind Every Illusion, the book I wrote last year. Yikes! The main character turns out to be a fairy, her best friend is cool and probably the only nice and level-headed person in the book, and then she starts to sprout something . . . .aah! At that point, I got really nervous and started reading in high gear. What happened in the end? Would I be sued for plagiarism (despite the fact that my book was out before hers)?

Thankfully, halfway through--at the sprouting part, in fact, the book took on an entirely different spin (i.e. trolls, plant people, open mouth life-saving kisses, etc). And there was no environmental cause whatsoever. So, whew.

My review?

THE BAD

I felt that the book was a little simple, the characters fairly one-dimensional, the story-line predictable, and the love triangle confusing and unpassionate. Her best friend, Chelsea, came in at random times during the book, said highly confusion and irrational things and then disappeared again. The love triangle between Laurel (main girl), David (best friend) and Tamani (fairy-dude) felt very forced and awkward. Every time Laurel was kissing David, she was thinking about Tamani and every time she was with Tamani, she thought about David. It was weird. At least enjoy it while you're there!

THE GOOD

I absolutely loved Pike's idea of making fairies actual flowers. Not only do they live in the flowers or whatever, they are actually flowers themselves, so they look like humans but inside their biology is completely plant. Laurel pretty much just drinks sugar (Sprite, peach juice, etc) and during a certain season she sprouts flowers out her back that look like wings (hence the name). Also, as I read the book, I couldn't help but feel that Aprilynne and I are probably highly similar in personality. Her stories and ideas were all things I'd thought of writing before and that was fun and exciting (and highly weird!).

OVERALL

Adding the shallowness of the book with the brilliance of plant fairies, I'd give this book a 3 out of 5 stars. Read it if you are looking for a fun book about fairies that will be turning into a movie with Miley Cyrus next year (yes, you read that correctly). If you don't like Miley, fairies or Sprite, skip it.

Christina