"I know, I'm a total freak."
"No, you're not. Well...you know, kinda. But it's not you."

This was a very different take on faeries. And for some reason, it was just beyond me. The leap to believe this was even remotely possible was just...too much

and since I had a tough time buying into the main plot, I had a tough time with the story as a whole. It was cute and fluffy, but just not my cup of tea. Add trolls, love triangles, odd highschool moments and a friend who wants to date a boy vicariously through another - and it just....lost me.

that doesn't make it a bad read, and I'm sure there are plenty that love it. It just wasn't my kind of thing. ( )

This was a totally different fairy book than I am used to reading. This author has done a total makeover on fairies. I like the whole integrating a fairy into the human world to help guard the entrance to the fairy world idea. The trolls were a nice touch also, but I would have liked to have had them incorporated into the story a bit more. Overall, this is a good book and I plan to read book 2. ( )

REad this on a travel up north. i was skeptical but it turned out to be a good book

2.5 Stars ( )

Recensione sul blog: http://thereadingpal.blogspot.it/2017/10/recensione-139-wings.html


La giovane Laurel è una ragazza particolare: il suo corpo riesce ad ingerire solo frutta e verdura, non mostra i segni tipici dello sviluppo della sua età, e ha passato tutta la sua vita a studiare a casa. Ora che si sono trasferiti, i genitori la fanno andare in una scuola normale, cosa che certamente la destabilizza. Ma non quanto quello che succede improvvisamente al suo corpo e che la porterà a scoprire chi è davvero e qual è la sua missione.
Allora, devo dire che le fate non sono esattamente il mio forte. Penso che questo (assieme al libro che recensirò giovedì) sia il primo che leggo a riguardo, se non si contanto i libri di Shadowhunters in cui le fate comunque appaiono.
Questo libro era di mia sorella, e non mi ricordo perché l'ho messo nella mia TBR sinceramente. Riguardandolo, il fatto che ci sia un commento di Stephanie Meyer non prometteva nulla di buono (odio profondo per Twilight e compagnia bella), ma alla fine non si è rivelato malaccio. Oddio, non una bellissima lettura, ma non lo schifo che pensavo.
Di solito parlando di fate si ci concentra sul loro essere creature ambigue, di solito piuttosto malvagie e manipolatrici. Aprilynne Pike ha deciso invece di rivisitare la cosa, facendole diventare fondalmente buone, per ora, e mettendole a difesa del loro regno. Le ha anche descritte in modo diverso, rendendole molto meno umane e più legate alle piante. È un concetto interessante che però la Pike utilizza in modo strano. Molto, molto strano. Di fatto, l'episodio che scatena tutta la catena di eventi successivi è la cresciuta di un fiore sulla schina di Laurel.
Le fate, in questo libro, sono anche divise in quattro categorie, derivate dalla stagione in cui sono nate, ed hanno caratteristiche particolari limitate solo alle fate nate in una certa stagione. Non mi pare di aver mai letto una cosa del genre in giro, e mi pare piuttosto interessante (ma, come ho detto, non sono molto ferrata sulle fate).
Le altre creature presenti sono invece i Troll. Non so se è per via del fatto che il libro è diretto a persone piuttosto giovani o se la scrittrice proprio non sa descriverli bene, ma a me non sono sembrati la metà terrificanti di quello che dovrebbero essere e di come li pensavano i personaggi. In questo ambito avrebbe potuto fare molto meglio.
Parliamo invece dei personaggi. La protagonista, Laurel, all'inizio non mi è piaciuta molto: sembrava la tipica ragazza perfettina, senza brufoli, senza nessun tipo di problema, una sorta di fotomodella con voti perfetti e una vita fantastica. Impossibile, per una quindicenne. lmeno per quelle normali. Tutto ha comunque un senso andando avanti, per quello che è e per quello che può fare.
I due amori sarebbero David e Tamali. Io non capisco questa cosa degli inutili triangoli amorosi nei YA. Non possono essere poly e farla finita? No? Peccato.
David sarebbe il ragazzino umano, che è sempre gentile e premuroso nei confronti di Laurel, e che l'aiuta in ogni momento. Tamali invece è una sorta di guardia del corpo/stalker che mi è stato sullo stomaco per tutto il libro. No, seriamente, ogni parola che dice (specie un uno specifico episodio, al loro primo incontro), il comportamento di Tamali verso Laurel non mi è piaciuto per nulla. Eppure ho il bruttissimo sospetto che "sceglierà" lui. Uff.
Il libro è piuttosto breve e si legge abbastanza velocemente, senza problemi. Ho trovato lo stile di scrittura un pochino scialbo, ma comunque leggibile.
Forse quello che mi ha lasciato più "meh" di tutto il resto è stato proprio il finale. Ma di quello ero a conoscenza per via delle altre recensioni, quindi fa lo stesso. Non credo che leggerò il secondo volume della serie molto presto, ma ho intenzione di farlo per vedere come va. ( )

http://romancebookie.blogspot.com/2013/02/wings-by-aprilynne-pike-review.html ( )

taken from my blog: YumYA Books

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 doctors. But 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 gets some great friends - weird things start to happen. Like 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 normal 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 food for too long the roots of their hair and their eyes turn 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 likable. 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 and life in the faerie kingdom.
I didn't like Laurel much - she annoyed me. And that didn't change much throughout the book.

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

what did i just read

this book is best enjoyed by one who's never taken a science class in their life. especially not biology. just do not think about logic at all whatsoever

stop trying to science aprilynne you're not doing it right

i really don't know what to say other than i think it's really funny that they're in the usa but tamani has a british-y, irish-y accent and that sometimes the words are just...strange? also laurel is really boring, tamani is an exposition dump, and honestly...poor david

at least david nad tamani's dynamic was kind of interesting even if it only lasted like...a few paragraphs.... god what did i just read?? ( )

Sequel is Spells.Advance copy ( )

Decisamente per adolescenti, l'idea di base e buona se non fosse per la solita protagonista un po' noiosa che non si sa decidere tra due amici.
Storia trita e ritrita ( )

Enchanting. That is the first word that comes to mind to describe this book! Aprilynne Pike weaves a magical story that makes you question what you truly believe in.

What I really enjoyed about this book was that it was able to incorporate the world of the faeries without seeming too juvenile. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a child's story as much as the next person. However it was refreshing to read a true "faerie tale" from the perspective of a young adult protagonist. Laurel is fun to follow through the story, she has a believable personality, and although she was flitting through a imaginative world you never lost track of her in the real world.

Deep at the heart of the book is a love triangle that shines. It reminded me much of the Twilight Series love triangle, only it was written so much better! Although Laurel is torn, she is an adult enough character that she never seems whiny or obnoxious. That was my biggest issue with Bella in the other series.

The only reason I wasn't able to give this book a full five star rating is because the beginning is rather slow. Not so badly that you want to put the book down, but to deter a reader who picked this book up on a whim. Overall I am wholly impressed by Pike's debut novel! I cannot wait to pick up the next one in the series when it comes out! ( )

Laurel is a not-so-normal teenage girl struggling to have a normal teenage life. She’s the new girl at school, after being home-schooled by her somewhat hippie parents. She’s trying to make friends, even though she’s painfully shy. She loves the outdoors. She doesn’t eat any meat, barely any vegetables; she mainly subsists on clear soda and fruit. Strangest of all is that new, painful, huge pimple on the center of her back? That is her flower; with huge petals that look like wings on her back.

When Laurel was three, she was left on her parent’s doorstep in a basket, with no note and no knowledge of where she came from. Now that her parents have moved and are trying to sell their old estate and Laurel’s life is changing to drastically, her past and her present meet in a sudden and distressing way. It turns out Laurel isn’t human at all. She’s a faerie.

Why was she sent away from home to live with her human parents? What is her position in this new world she didn’t know existed? And is there any place for her in the home she has come to love and cherish? And what does Avalon have to do with all of this? Laurel has a lot to figure out, and fast, before both of her cherished worlds are irrevocably changed forever.

You know, I didn’t know what to expect of this book when I first saw it. The leaves/wings on the cover don’t really give you much to go on. I hadn’t heard anything about it. I just saw the book at a yard sale and snatched it up. Once I started reading though, it was difficult to put down and I read it in like – two days – I think. The characters are what really make this book. You can’t help but love Laurel. She’s one of those seemingly fragile girls who you immediately want to protect, but really have a fine, steely interior that can stand up to anything. I had my problems with her of course. She could be a little dense and sometimes missed the obvious. But she is sweet and likeable. David, the boy Laurel meets at school, and who takes an immediate liking to her, is a little too good to be true, but I liked him well enough. Now, Tamani, the male faerie of the story, on the other hand, he’s the hottie of the book and the guy I’m (of course) rooting for. Because you know, like most other faerie tale books of this genre; this is part of a trilogy.

Wings is a great, light, summer read, perfect for beach, pool, or backyard in the sun reading.
( )

Want to know if the whole series is worth reading? Read my overall review of the whole series at seriesousbookreviews.com! Spoiler Free!

This is one of those books that has a great concept but the execution just didn't do it for me.

I loved the faerie world! It was a great blend of caste systems and magic and always had my full attention.

The problem was the high drama and the characters.

I get why there was the high school drama--they are in high school after all--I just found that it shed a petty light on the characters which caused me to be annoyed by them. It made them seem immature (of course they are! they are high school students!) and angsty. So I never connected to Laurel as a character because I found her to be irritating. It also doesn't help that she has a love triangle and it's emphasized to the max.

Check out more spoiler-free book and series reviews on my blog SERIESousBookReviews.com as well as read book series recaps!

Full Review: http://wp.me/p3txrs-bv
( )

In a new twist on faeries, the Wings series describes faeries that are, in fact, plants. Love triangles are always a bit sad, because they are always between two good characters. Both David and Tamani are really great guys- guys you'd want Laurel to be with, so one will always be on the outside and sad. There's also the complications of Laurel suddenly being thrust into a more human life at the same time as she's forcibly reminded she's a faery. I liked the way this story resolved and the way it continued in the next three books. ( )

Wings di Aprilynne Pike è stato uno dei primi libri, in Italia, ad aprire la nuova Era delle "Fate". Dopo il VampBoom e gli Angeli&Demoni, ora sono arrivate la Fate nelle nostre librerie e, per quanto possibile, è di per sé un argomento abbastanza nuovo da coinvolgere e incuriosire il lettore a priori. O quantomeno un lettore proveniente dalle gotiche tinte della vamp mania vecchio stile, lasciamo da parte il roseo fenomeno Twilight per un po'.

Wings è un romanzo per giovani adulti - Young Adult - fresco, senza troppe pretese ma abbastanza originale da coinvolgere il lettore pagina dopo pagina senza però sfruttare la tensione emotiva derivante da una scelta difficile, dall'attesa di un evento o qualunque altro espediente in genere sfruttato in questi casi. In questo caso l'autrice è stata in grado di catturare l'attenzione del pubblico femminile con uno stile calmo, dolce e molto evocativo; sembra quasi di star leggendo una favola.

L'inizio può apparire quasi scontato con questa bellissima, biondissima e magrissima ragazza. Lei, eterea e perfetta, non ha bisogno neppure di lavarsi i capelli, è semplicemente perfetta nel suo mangiare solo frutta e verdura. Tante piccole manie che la rendono speciale? Strana? Anormale? Finta? Una MerySue? Non lo sappiamo però non è "odio a prima riga" come spesso accade, la tolleriamo e sentiamo che c'è dell'altro.

L'amico, David, l'ama. E' palese perfino per noi che l'abbiamo appena conosciuti ma oltre a questo non andiamo, ci aspettiamo semplicemente il solito triangolo amoroso con tutte le tragedie greche che ne conseguono. Il triangolo ci sarà, in un certo senso, ma nessuna tragedia in vista. Strano, vero, ma anche in questo caso l'autrice predilige sensazioni positive, calme e posate a quelle travolgenti della gelosia e della rabbia che in genere vengono esaltate in questi casi.

Come avevamo intuito Laurel è molto più di quel che sembra: le spuntano un paio d'ali che ali non sembrano e che non la fanno volare. La ragazza non capisce, si spaventa e chiede aiuto al suo amico David. Alla fine non sembrano esserci dubbi, è una fata. Non è alta 50 cm e non svolazza qua e la con un tutù rosa ma è innegabilmente una fata ed è proprio questa sua natura, manifestatasi concretamente solamente dopo il suo compleanno, che riesce a spiegare tante stranezze del suo passato.

I personaggi, tutti senza eccezioni, sono ben costruiti e resi al meglio grazie, forse, da una traduzione per una volta all'altezza della situazione. Laurel è ben resa con quella sua aria delicata e flessibile, come un fiore; Tatami fiero e un po' guardingo e David dolce, simpatico ma coraggioso forte del suo sapere.

Bello nella sua semplicità, delicatezza e dolcezza. Una lettura che ti prende e ti porta con tranquillità verso un finale che attendi ma non agogni, un romanzo che rilassa e ti culla in un ambientazione familiare che ti permette di assaporare la trama senza dover tenere a mente nomi impossibili, città sperdute, montagne e cattivi invisibili.

Forse un po' tropo fanciullesco ma se non altro lontano dal solito bello impossibile che finisce per innamorarsi della solita umana imbranata. Unico neo negativo? Troppo tempo fra un libro e l'altro della serie, si perde la magia anche se, come già detto, la semplicità di nomi e città permette di rievocare immediatamente alla mente a grandi linee il romanzo prima di poter leggere il successivo.
( )

This is an awesome read!! I read it in a couple of hours, and I hope there is a sequel. ( )

Wings by Aprilynne Pike is not your typical fantasy novel, to say the least. While the usual "fairy" characters are present, that's where similarities end between Wings and other novels of this genre. Protagonist Laurel is adjusting to her new life at public school in Crescent City, California, when she discovers her true identity isn't as it seems. She's actually a fairy, and if that's not enough, her wings are actually a plant blossom forming on her back. It defies anything she's heard from mythology, and together, she and her new friend David search to find the answers behind her ancestry. The book offers an interesting new take on fairy tales that's quite refreshing and enjoyable to read. While the characters are pretty plain, the plot line is enough to keep the interest of the reader. So, if you're into fantasy novels, this should be an interesting new read. ( )

This was a quick little read, bringing in elements of fantasy such as fairies and trolls. ( )

Laurel seems so cute and beautiful but the chapters about the flower growing from her back freaked me out!!! I love the whole new concept of Fay and flowers and the whole book!!! Great book! It's Dreamy and warm. Though I like David a lot, I hope he would be with Chelsea, because I want Laurel to be with Tamani!! He just loved her for so long, just like Chelsea loved David. ( )

Laurel seems so cute and beautiful but the chapters about the flower growing from her back freaked me out!!! I love the whole new concept of Fay and flowers and the whole book!!! Great book! It's Dreamy and warm. Though I like David a lot, I hope he would be with Chelsea, because I want Laurel to be with Tamani!! He just loved her for so long, just like Chelsea loved David. ( )

YA-As a teen you always think you're different, but what of you really are ? This amazing tale takes us into the world of 15 YR girl, that has just moved to a new town. She has been homeschool up till High School and finds she has more differences than just that. She only eats fruits and a few vegetables, and she's more at home outdoors. She meets an adorable kind boy David who looks past all the weirdness to her heart. Her life her friends everything seems to be working, family and weirdness. Tamani is another interesting character, a love interest, I hope to see more of in future books. Everything is going well till something horrible drifts into town opening her to another world.
This did have a Twilight type feel to it, but it stood on it's own merits. I enjoyed it thoroughly and would suggest it to my teens and some adult friends. ( )

It was OK...Tamani was really the only character I liked. ( )

It was OK...Tamani was really the only character I liked. ( )

Laurel's parents finally send her to public school. Up until now she has been home schooled and hasn't spent a lot of time with other kids her own age. She meets a boy in biology and they develop a relationship. Laurel finally realizes that her strange diet and her love of sunlight and a few other odds and ends culminating in the "wings" from the title that she is different. David from biology helps her figure herself out and they realize that there are others like her and Laurel is important to them. There is a love triangle, stemming from her different self.

So I loved the world the author created. I loved the variation on what a fairy is and I found the unfolding mythology really interesting. David is great character. Laurel is weird....and at times I found her really unlikable b/c I just felt like she was so standoffish. Otherwise it is a very clean paranormal romance. ( )

Laurel's parents finally send her to public school. Up until now she has been home schooled and hasn't spent a lot of time with other kids her own age. She meets a boy in biology and they develop a relationship. Laurel finally realizes that her strange diet and her love of sunlight and a few other odds and ends culminating in the "wings" from the title that she is different. David from biology helps her figure herself out and they realize that there are others like her and Laurel is important to them. There is a love triangle, stemming from her different self.

So I loved the world the author created. I loved the variation on what a fairy is and I found the unfolding mythology really interesting. David is great character. Laurel is weird....and at times I found her really unlikable b/c I just felt like she was so standoffish. Otherwise it is a very clean paranormal romance. ( )