Book Review: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Aprilynne Pike's debut novel, Wings, hits the book store shelves this week. This young adult fantasy features a new twist on the traditional faerie archetype that, to my knowledge, has never before been written about. Pike's unique interpretation of faeries strikes an intriguing balance between magic and realism and is likely to capture the imagination of readers.

The story unfolds when high school sophomore Laurel Sewell wakes up one day to find something resembling wings growing forth from between her shoulder blades. Already struggling with the other aspects of her life that make her feel like an outsider — being adopted after being abandoned on a doorstep at roughly the age of three, moving to a new town, and being a first-time student at the public high school after being home schooled through all of her early education — Laurel must now deal with this alarming new development.

Long, bluish-white forms rose over both shoulders. For a moment Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful - almost too beautiful for words.


With few friends, she manages to find herself torn between the only two people who know her secret. One is a flirtatious yet dependable boy in her science class who is quickly becoming her best friend, with the potential promise of something more serious developing between them. The second is a breath-takingly handsome boy, a faerie like herself, who she knows little about but finds herself drawn to none-the-less.

True to the young adult romance genre format, a budding love triangle develops, and Laurel finds herself emotionally caught in the middle between the boy who is her trustworthy and unquestioningly loyal friend and the boy who is more magically adept than she but still eludes her as a tempting mystery to be solved. When a dangerous enemy appears on the scene, perhaps threatening both the safety of Laurel's family as well as the faerie kingdom itself, both boys do their best to rush to Laurel's rescue.

Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, has called Aprilynne Pike's Wings "a remarkable debut," adding that "the ingenuity of the mythology is matched only by the startling loveliness with which the story unfolds."

Please keep an eye out for my upcoming interview with author Aprilynne Pike.

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Article Author: Lisa Damian

Lisa Damian is a writer and literary critic who loves to travel, dance, read, and scuba dive. She is dedicated to learning in all its many forms. To learn more about what Lisa is up to currently, visit her blog, the Damian Daily.

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Article comments

  • 1 - Wings Book

    Jul 22, 2009 at 11:10 am

    It's a great book, I reccomend it a lot. It's definitely not just for teens! I look forward to reading the upcoming interview.

  • 2 - Reader

    Jul 30, 2009 at 7:45 am

    bought it today, hope it lives up to the hype. will get back to you on result.

  • 3 - lily

    Aug 29, 2009 at 10:29 pm

    its a great book i reccomend all people read the book "Wings"

  • 4 - hepburn

    Oct 29, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    do not recommend. Wooden dialoque and characters are not believeable. Silly book

  • 5 - livie

    Nov 16, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    what a wonderful book! i recommend this book to mythological thinking people?:/

  • 6 - jen

    Nov 17, 2009 at 5:49 pm

    LOVE THE BOOK!!!! RECCOMEND THIS BOOK TO LOTS OF PEOPLE! READ IT!!!! PLS!

  • 7 - monie

    Nov 17, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    it was ah mazing x100 just finished it :)

  • 8 - preppyemo

    Nov 27, 2009 at 8:09 pm

    dont noe if i shld read it, shld i?
    is it gud? I heard bout it bcuz my friend is obsessed with miley cyrus, and shes gonna be in dis ovie, and my friend said its a gud book,. so is it?

  • 9 - taylorrrrrrrr

    Jan 03, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    definatly read it! its really good, i'm pretty sure you'll enjoy the book more than you will the movie. I bought it yesterday and finished it 5 minutes ago.

  • 10 - Nicole McDonald

    Feb 03, 2010 at 1:38 pm

    I got Wings in November 2009 and I've read it 34 times already. I'm not kidding. And every time I read it, I still cry at the end where Laurel tells Tamani she can't stay with him.
    I've ordered the second book, Spells, from Amazon and I get it the second it hits the shelves in April 2010. I can't wait.

    WINGS I LOVE YOU!

  • 11 - jess

    Feb 07, 2010 at 12:47 pm

    cant believe the comments im reading... the book was so lame... she liked both the guys i mean wat the hell... she feels the same storm for both the guys, and the story line was pretty boring aswell, nothing was satisfactorily explained, and the overall concept of the book was boring too...

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