Wings by Aprilynne Pike (4/5 stars)

I love books about fairies in the modern day world; so I was eager to read this book. I really enjoyed it; I thought the premise of the book was very interesting and the idea of fairies being plants was fascinating. This is supposed to be the first of four books about Laurel; at least that is what I read according to the author at this time.

This book is full of mystery and danger. Initially Laurel is just in shock when a blossom blooms out of her back. But after going over the evidence with her geeky biology friend they figure out that maybe she really is a plant instead of an animal; she can only eat fruits and veggies, she doesn't bleed, and she always need to have her skin exposed to air. When things start going bad for her family after a mysterious man tries to buy some land from Laurel's mom; land that has been in her family for generations, Laurel finds out that she is more than just a plant and that her mother's land is more than just land.

This book was a very creative take on fairies. I enjoyed the interesting prospective of fairies being plants. I also enjoyed how biology was applied to prove out the theories of Laurel's true nature. It was interesting that there is hinting at more types of mythical races being included in this series (trolls, etc.). The story itself was a fairly complete story; you aren't left in a huge amount of suspense at the end of the book. It was a well-written novel and was easy to read. I enjoyed the book immensley.

The only thing that I think detracted from the book was that some of the characterization was a bit weak. I think sometimes Laurel came across as whiny, helpless, and indecisive; there were times when this got annoying. David sometimes came across as needy and obessed which was also bothersome. Even though I found some of the characters to be a bit sterotypical and slightly annoying; it didn't detract from the story that much and the creativity of the story really outshown any of the faults.

Overall I find myself really looking forward to the next book in the series. This series should be interesting and shows a lot of promise.