Currently Reading: Wings

"I'll show you," she said, but it sounded more like a question.

"Okay." His voice was tentative too.

She turned her back and fiddled with the knot in the scarf. As she released the enormous petals, she pushed her shirt up in the back so they could slowly rise to their normal position.

David gaped, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. "But how—you can't—they're—what the hell?"

Author: Aprilynne Pike

Synopsis: Adopted teenager Laurel has always wondered why her body is a little different—too perfectly formed, preferring to subsist on a diet of fruit and sugar, a little late on certain parts of adolescence—until the day a giant flower blossoms out of her back. Then she's terrified. With the help of her would-be boyfriend, David, and a familiar stranger in the woods, she finds answers not only to her own differences but to the problem her parents have with the man who wants to buy their home.

Notes: I'd probably pick up a YA fantasy called Wings anyway, but with Stephenie Meyer's recommendation on the front cover, I had to give this one a go. It read easily and quickly, and I was frightened enough by the villain to read straight through till finishing the book at 2 AM.

Some of the mythology was neatly developed and interesting; I liked the scientific details especially. And I wish I could live on Sprite and strawberries, except that I'd miss cheese. Good stuff.

The emotional interest of the tale is mostly in the love triangle, and that is where it fell apart for me. Honestly, I couldn't buy into the concept of a species that mated only for pleasure, having a completely separate means of reproduction (the [superficially] similar concept made sense in Twilight because vampires are transformed humans. Pike's faeries are not.) If such a thing occurs anywhere in nature, I've never heard of it, and it killed both my suspension of disbelief and—in part—my desire to see the main character wind up "with" either of the two boys.

On the other hand, the human boy, David, was well-drawn and lovable, and I wanted happiness for him. It's hard to say where Pike will take the love triangle in the series (this is the first of three, I think.) If I had to place bets I'd go with the faerie boy, I think, but I might be wrong.

As entertainment, it was an enjoyable read; it didn't seem to have a lot of metaphor or symbolism going on, but it's also possible that I missed things, especially since it was late and I was distracted. Will I pick up the sequel? Maybe. All isn't quite well in Avalon yet.