Spells by Aprilynne Pike

In a literary world where vampires are a dominant subject, it's refreshing to know that some people can be original and break "norm" with another good book. Spells by Aprilynne Pike, is a faerie book and a sequel to Wings the first in the soon-to-be trilogy/series. Wings came to me in a shallow sort of way: it had a pretty cover! With it's simplicity and beauty, as well as the summer weather, it was the perfect trap for me to pick it up and take it home. The series tells the tale of protagonist Laurel Sewell, who is a faerie living in the human world. She never thought that there was anything different about her until one day, when a bump starts to form on her back. At first she believes it's a tumor of sorts, but eventually, it blooms into a flower. Not exactly normal, so she is forced to hide it while trying to balance out her developing social life, transitioning from home schooling to high school. I haven't read Wings in about a year, so it's hard to summarize it here, and I had a rough time starting this book, where there were references to the last book and I couldn't remember anything about it, such as people, places and things. Laurel and her "parents" live on "the land" as it's referenced as in Spells, and the family has some financial issues, so when a shady real estate agent tries to buy the land, it seems like a wonderful deal. While the woods always seemed magical to Laurel, little did she know that the gate to the faerie land of Avalon rested in the trees. After learning this, she must do everything in her power to prevent the land from being sold to Jeramiah Barnes, enemy to the faeries.

Spells picks up a year after the end of the first novel, when Laurel is called to enter The Academy, a faerie school, for six weeks of training. Before she came to live in the human world, she had lived in Avalon for seven years, but she remembers nothing about it, leaving her far behind her other classmates. With the help of a good looking Tamani (her watchdog of sorts) she adjusts to the Nirvana of Avalon, but after the six weeks are up, she knows she needs to leave Tamani and go back to the human world, where her boyfriend David awaits. The constant threat of trolls and the romantic war between David and Tamani, as well as the straddling between two lives leaves Laurel in a state of disillusionment as conflicts pile up.

Usually I'm not one for faeries, but these books are very well written, and MUCH better in the romantic department than the Twilight Saga. It has a balance of normal problems with a fantasy twist, and the descriptions are beautiful and you just want to fall into the pages and live in Avalon. Vampire books get old after a while, and once you're tired of blood sucking, too-good-to-be-real gorgeousness, go to your local bookstore or library and check out Wings and at least get a taste for something different. Reading a wide range of novels is healthy, especially for book addicts like myself, and hopefully for you. Now, I must ask you:

"Do you believe in faeries?"
-Peter Pan

Happy Blogging!

-Devon