Book Review: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Title: Wings
Author: Aprilynne Pike
Series: Wings #1
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Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: April 6th 2010
Format: Paperback
Pages: 294
Summary from Goodreads;
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.
Rating:
3 stars, enjoyable but lacked a few things.
Thoughts:
The cover is gorgeous, simple yet gorgeous. The writing in Wings seemed to flow straight out of the book and into images throughout the whole book but the action actually started to pick up during the middle. The only thing I disliked was the love triangle towards the middle, how Laurel starts acting reminds me of Twilight's Bella, not choosing between the guys but kissing them both. I hadn't really given much thought to this novel's characters because of the smooth pace, until I actually finished reading it.
I felt like the characters were a tad too naive and just too young to be in high school. There was some character development but not as much as I'd hoped for, I really liked the characters though which makes it more frustrating to me considering I wanted to see how they'd change and turn out. I really liked the idea of her being what she was though, which overtook the prospect of the whole book.
The whole plot and idea of the book itself was fantastic but the characters were a tad weak. The pacing was quick making the book a quick and light read which I enjoyed. The detailing was fantastic, the setting was great, and the idea of Avalon existing in this book was amazing and made the feel of the novel more magical.
The ending was really good, really leaves you wanting the next book. I will be picking up Spells soon. I hope to see more of character development there and find out more about Avalon.
I recommend this to anyone looking for a light, fast paced novel with beautiful writing.
First sentence:

"Laurel's shoes flipped a cheerful rhythm that defied her dark mood."