Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Audible Book Review - Wings by Aprilynne Pike

I first heard about Wings when she was on Writing Excuses back in season 3. (was that really five years ago?) sharing her interesting take on fairies. I thought her ideas were intriguing but was unable to locate her books until now. We swapped out a credit and picked up Wings to give it a try. Here is a link to the Audible page for the book. The story is a straight forward teen "discovering herself" feel, complete with love triangle. Many may say that it feels like Twilight and while it does have a similar plot structure, I was very glad it wasn't Twilight. Laurel is not Bella. And yes, I've read the Twilight series and know the differences. While I don't know if I'll read/listen to the rest of the series, Wings was a good listen and a good distraction. It was narrated by Mandy Siegfried who did a good job.

Plot: Laurel is experiencing a lot of changes. Her family has recently moved to a new town, and she's started attending public high school after being home schooled for many years. New friends, new routine, new job working at her father's book store. New everything. She's handling things pretty well, quickly making friends, explaining her vegan preference, and struggling through biology class. She's able to adjust to everything until a giant flower grows out of her back. That is her first introduction into the unseen world and she soon understands that she has a lot to learn.

My personal favorites: Like I said, Laurel is not Bella. I liked that Laurel is proactive and involved. While the story was not the action fest that I've recently found myself reading it was not boring and paced well. It was nice to read a story about a developing teenager that wasn't angst ridden or moody. Not to say the book was emotionless, but it was nice to read about a happy family and functional relationships. I also felt like the characters acted like real teenagers, something that is hard for some authors.

Considerations: There are a couple of references to sex, but no sex is implied, stated, or otherwise. There are a couple of scenes of what I would describe as age appropriate attraction. As a "coming of age" story the characters have to come to grips with their emotions and attractions and this book does not skirt that aspect, but it also addresses it quite well. I must say that I do not agree with the parents that let two teenagers of opposite sex be in a bedroom with a closed door together, but again, the characters do nothing that would be inappropriate in a public place. There is one reference of David's mother's dates "not leaving until the morning," but that is as far as it goes.

Overall, I like wings. The mythous was creative and new. The characters were upbeat. And the story was satisfying. There were some surprises and some things I could see coming but I wasn't bothered by either. It flowed well and I felt that the characters were age appropriate in their actions and thoughts. While there was not a great amount of conflict in the book, it was engaging and intriguing. The total length was just under 7 hours.

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