Wings, Spells, Illusions and Destined, by Aprilynne Pike

Hey all! 

I just finished reading all 4 books of the Wings series, by Aprilynne Pike! Since I read them over 3 days, I figured I should just review the series as a whole. 

This is (another) re-read for me - I read these way back in middle school and have always had a soft spot for this story and it's characters. 

Very winter-y, I know ^^ 

"Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful—too beautiful for words. 

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings. 

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever."

This series is about Laurel, Tamani, David, and a new faerie world that is original, to say the least. In this world, fae live hidden from humans in a country called Avalon. Their history surrounds people like King Arthur, Gunievre, Titania, and Mab. There are different ranks in their society and most of what they do revolves around nature. 

Sounds familiar, right?

How about when I tell you that faeries in this world are actually plants.

That's right - Laurel and Tamani, as well as every other fairy, are, biologically, a highly-evolved species of plant. They have sap instead of blood, girls sprout wing-like flowers from their back during the season in which they were sprouted (bornd), they have plant cells, they photosynthesize... they're plants. 

I love the creativity with which Pike created these beings - she used ideas that make us comfortable with the idea of fairies, yet adds her own twist to it. 

Book one and two are mostly expositional novels. They give you a detailed idea of what this Avalon is like, as well as the fairy society. Laurel, the main character, gets to figure out the whole fairy thing with Tam and David's help.

The plot is simple yet flows well from book to book - Laurel has always felt somewhat different from others. She starts a new school where she meets David, someone who becomes friends with her right away. One day in the fall, without expecting it, a blue flower appears on her back. She is a scion - a fairy placed in the human world to protect the Gates. While visiting her old house, she meets Tamani, a Spring fairy who used to be friends with her when they were young, and a friendship blooms from that. Laurel soon learns about fairies, trolls, and the world that she was chosen to protect. She goes back to Avalon over the summer to study Fall fairy things, has several troll encounters, and is often pressured to choose between David and Tamani. 

This series is a sweet, quick read. It actually is a great introduction to YA books - it has some tropes, but not too many. The writing is simple yet leads you to a creative world that is difficult to leave. There is the classic love triangle that will have you on what might be your first 'team' (Team Tamani all the way - he's very clingy and all but he's still one of my favorite guys from books - he's incredibly sweet, pure, harmless and dedicated.)

(Oh my gosh it's getting super difficult to review this without spoiling the books!) 

This series also has a lot of quirks, awkwardness, jealousy, hopes and dreams. Honestly, if you want to reccomend some simple YA, go for this!

Of course, it isn't perfect. The love triangle is marginally annoying - both David and Tamani are a bit too possessive in my opinion, and Laurel is very much the one that everyone looks up to even though most of the time she has no idea what's going on. There are some plotholes and other things that may be interesting that are forgotten. 

But the story as a whole is, at least for me, comforting and magical. I love the ending and the characters and the world Pike created. 

I know this review is short, but its difficult to review all of them as a whole without giving anything away. I'm giving the whole series a 4/5 feathers :) 

Have you read Wings? What did you think about them? Let me know! :D 

Stay bookish!