Review - Illusions (Wings, Book 3) by Aprilynne Pike (3.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 384 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: May 3, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0061668098
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd in the Wings series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
 
This is the third book in the Wings series by Pike; there are four books planned in this series.  This was a decent book but too much of the beginning was focused on Laurel angsting about which boy was right for her.  The second half of the book was really great.

Laurel has left Avalon and is all set to go back to her normal, human, school.  She is hoping that her and David will get some quality time together; but when Tam shows up incognito as a foreign exchange student Laurel is suddenly conflicted about who she really loves Tam or David.  Tam is leading the force of scouts that are guarding Laurel from Troll attacks.  And there is a new fairy in town, this new girl doesn't seem to know that she's a faerie and Laurel and her friends can't figure out what her deal is.

The first part of this book is dedicated to Laurel being wishy washy about who she wants for her boyfriend, David or Tamani.  I think the whole love triangle thing was really over done in this book and wish Laurel would just pick someone so that we can get on with the story.  For those who care, I am very team Tamari because he is the only one who has even a slight chance of making a decent life with Laurel, but whatever.  Needless to say the tension between Tamani and Laurel in the book is very high and, for the most part, well done (even if there is too much of it).

There are some things in this book that I really enjoyed.  I love Pike's writing style, it is fun and easy to read.  I love reading about Laurel doing all her mixing and analysis to create and identify spells (with a chemistry bkgd this stuff is just fun for me).  I also enjoyed the action in the second half of the book and enjoyed some of the revelations that happened toward the end of the book.

I just couldn't get over how much time was spent on all the teenage angsting.  I would have liked to see the first half of the book happen in half of the time and then spend more time on the mystery surrounding the strange Japanese fairy and the Trolls.  I also missed Avalon and wished more of this book had taken place there.

The book ends with a total cliffhanger; it stops completely in the middle of the story (I hate this).  There wasn't any resolution to any of the issues raised, the book just stopped.  So be ready for that.  If that drives you nuts, than you may want to wait and read this book after the fourth book is released.

Overall this was an okay addition to the series.  I love the characters, love the spell mixing, and love that action that happened late in the book.  I did not like how much time Laurel spent angsting about which boy to choose; I also did not enjoy the ending which just stopped the book mid-story.  Of course I will be reading the fourth book because I need to know what happens next. 

This book goes towards the following challenges:
- 100+ Reading Challenge