Wings

by Aprilynne Pike

Aprilynne Pike's premier novel Wings boasts praise from Twilight author Stephenie Meyer all over it's relatively simple cover. I can see why Meyer liked this book - partially because it's overall flow is very similar to Twlight, and also because it is a creative and interesting story.

Much like Twilight, Wings starts off slowly. The beginning (and larger half) of the novel is mostly spent in character development. We get to know Laurel, her parents, her new friend(/boyfriend?) David, and the mysterious Tamani. We learn along with Laurel and David that she is a faerie, and despite this fact, the pair continue to cautiously pursue a romantic relationship. And at just about the point when you've decided nothing epic is going to happen in this book, the action picks up. Main characters in peril, daring escape, nearly complete defeat of the bad guys - but enough left uncompleted for an easy sequel.

The characters in this book are great! From sweet, scientific David, to mysterious and compelling Tamani, there are lots of things to like about them. I also really enjoyed the author's take on faeries in this book. Some traits of her faeries were similar to folklore, some were completely different. Laurel is a faerie, but she is not Tinkerbell - Pike's faeries are much more inventive than that.