Destined

Title: Destined

Author: Aprilynne Pike

Publisher: Harper Teen

Series: Wings, Bk 4

ISBN: 9780061668128

Pages: 301 + Author's Note + The Last Word

Obtained: Library copy

Comments:

As soon as I woke in the morning after staying up half the night reading the 3rd book in the Wings series, Illusions, I picked the story up with Destined.  This last book in the series is quickly paced.  It has to be.  The entire thing is set with 1-2 days.  And the majority of that time is spent in Avalon (the place of the faeries).

Revelations are made, battles are fought, and for a moment I thought maybe this wasn't the last book in the series after all (it is - something I'm happy about since further books would have ruined the story).  And you know how when you're watching a movie and stay for the credits you can maybe catch something extra at the end?  That's kinda how this worked.  "Author's Note" = credits and "The Last Word" = extra scene at the end.

I'm satisfied with how the series ended and wold be happy to read more by Aprilynne Pike.  It seems she has a new series coming out about a fallen goddess, the first of which is titled Earthbound.

Illusions

Title: Illusions aka Wild

Author: Aprilynne Pike

Publisher: Harper Teen

Series: Wings, Bk 3

ISBN: 9780061668098

Pages: 375

Obtained: Library copy

Comments:

It's been some time since I read the first two books in this series, Wings (read January 2010) and Spells (read February 2011).  While I was fuzzy on much of the background, I did remember enjoying them.  I already had both Illusions and Destined checked out (and due that Monday) from the library when I saw another blogger mention reading the series on their It's Monday! post.  I was suddenly inspired to get moving on them (as opposed to returning them and trying again later). 

It's Laurel and her friends' Senior year of high school.  Laurel is dating David, and hasn't seen Tamani in months when he shows up at her school as an exchange student.  Something is going on... the sentries can't find the trolls despite plenty of evidence regarding their presence.  There has to be some enemy behind this, but they aren't sure who.  And beyond that, one of the other exchange students is apparently an unknown faerie.

The story is rife with emotional entanglements and jealousy and relationship drama... most of which I could have done without.  Of course, since there is this triangle thing going on (though really, it's like overlapping triangles or something), I did feel some preference.  I think, in the beginning of the series I took much more to David, but since my memory of that has dimmed all I had to go by was this book.  And in this book?  I felt like Tamani was the better choice for Laurel.  It probably helped that the story was told from his perspective every once and awhile.

Anyway, the book ended on a major cliffhanger.  I would have started the next book Destined then and there, but it was already 3:30 am and I needed sleep.

Printer's Row LitFest 2012

This past Saturday brought the opportunity to go to the Printer's Row LitFest.  I found out about it through a newsletter by Julie Hyzy.  Of course, I had to go.  It's free, manageable as far as travel goes, and I had enough notice to schedule the day off.

I found out the day before that Julie was going to be part of a panel on a discussion titled "Sex & Violence: The do and don'ts of the Modern Cozy" along with Laura Bradford, Sharon Fiffer, Mary Vermillion, and moderator and author Clare O'Donohue.  Just the topic was exciting.  I didn't pay any mind to who the other authors were until I got there and heard them speak.  By the end I managed to get my copy of Grace Among Thieves autographed and bought and had autographed Hearse and Buggy (though I had a library copy via purchase suggestion sitting at home) by Laura Bradford aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey of the Southern Sewing Mystery series.

After the panel discussion I explored the remainder of the festival.  I was a lot more like a giant book sale than I expected.  Unfortunate because I could not afford to buy any more books (I already bought the one named above and the Hyzy book the night before) ... I'm supposed to be cutting back.  Nevertheless I enjoyed myself.  I caught a few minutes of the "Young Adult Fiction: Dark Days" with Veronica Roth, Aprilynne Pike, Elizabeth Norris, and Bethany Griffin moderated by Claire Zulkey.  If I'd planned better I would have caught the whole thing.  As it was it was already started, standing room only, and horribly hot by the time I peeked in at the back of the tent.

At 2 I saw Rachel Ray speak.  Don't ask why.  I don't cook.  And I don't watch any of the televisions shows she appears on.  But she's a big name and I thought various members of my family might appreciate hearing about the experience (seeing as they are completely baffled by my interest in the authors of books otherwise).  It was actually interesting and entertaining, albeit brief.  It would have been cool to get her autograph too, but you had to purchase The Book of Burger at $27 first.  I don't cook, remember?  And I don't have money.  I had to repeat that to myself more times than I can count.

After hearing Rachel talk I went on a 15 minute architecture "tour" of Printer's Row... interesting (really, I was repeating what I'd learned to everybody) but we didn't actually move much of anywhere because of the congestion.

Once I'd done all the exploring I was going to do at the LitFest I retreated to the Chicago Public Library: Harold Washington Library Center.  The Rachel Ray discussion had been my first time there, and I wanted to explore.  Besides, I had time to kill while I waited for my brother and his friends to get in town for the Blues Festival that evening.

Oh my.  That place is huge; I was so impressed.  I ended up at my own table in a nook on the 4th floor, looking out at another building and down on the busy street.  I also read of course.  The Big Kitty if you were wondering what.  I'd include a pic of me reading there (I took one of myself because I am weird, obviously), but it would require more editing than I believe I'm capable of to put my avatar over my real face.

ANYWAY, that was the book related portion of my day.  Hopefully, I'll manage to go again next year.

Spells

Title: Spells

Author: Aprilynne Pike

Publisher: HarperTeen

Copyright Date: 2010

Print Date: May 2010

ISBN: 9780061668067

Pages: 359

Series: 2nd in the series about Laurel

Book Description (from dust cover):

Although Lauel has come to accept her true identity as a faerie, she refuses to turn he back on her human life — and especially her boyfriend, David — to return to the faerie world.

But when she is summoned to Avalon, Laurel's feelings for the charismatic faerie sentry Tamani are undeniable. She is forced to make a choice — a choice that could break her heart.

Comments:

So I read and reviewed Wings in January of 2010. I really enjoyed it, especially the non-creepy faeries. With just over a year between, I had forgotten many of the details about Wings by the time I read Spells. Fortunately, that didn't cause any less enjoyment in my reading of Spells. I remembered some details, I lived without remembering others. And I suspect the lack of memory helped with my acceptance of the love triangle thing. Because I'm pretty sure David played a larger part in Wings, but I didn't have any problem liking Tamani (his rival for Laurel's affections) in this one.

I still appreciated the lack of creepy faeries; I liked the further glimpse into Aprilynne Pike's version of a Faerie World (and their class system). Overall, this book was a pleasure to read. I look forward to the 3rd in series, Illusions, due out in May of this year. And maybe I won't have such a gap between its publication and my reading it.

Wings

Title: Wings

Author: Aprilynne Pike

Publisher: HarperTeen

Copyright Date: 2009

Print Date: May 2009

ISBN: 9780061668036

Pages: 290

Series: 1st of the series about Laurel.

Book Description (from dust jacket):

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.

The Author Speaks:



Comments:

I requested this from the local library, along with several other YA books, after reading some reviews on a blog. I had 7 books in and ready to be picked up when I wrote my review of Maggie Stiefvater's Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception. Jan von Harz commented that she recommended Wings as a faerie book she thought I'd enjoy. With that recommendation, I decided to put Wings at the top of my to-be-read library books pile.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. I found all the characters to be likeable (except the bad guys of course), especially Laurel and David. I was pleased to find that the faeries in this book are not creepy and even more pleased that the storyline behind the faeries is original. In fact, the only thing I was somewhat disappointed about is that, once again, there are two romantic interests. However, considering how uncommon paranormal YA books without this romantic conflict are (from my observations/reading experience), I'll overlook this. I'm certainly looking forward to reading the 2nd in this four book series, Spells (due in May).