OKAY...I WAS WRONG!!!! Sorry, Aprilynne...

I'm a little late to the Wings party, the debut novel by Aprilynne Pike. It released in May 2009. That is shortly after I took an interest in writing as a serious endeavor. When I began my fledgling attempts to write a YA novel, I started to do research on the genre. I went to the bookstore (remember when we used to do that! *sigh*) and began checking out young adult books to get a better understanding of how they're composed. Fairies as a trend were really taking off around this time too. I've never been drawn to the fairy saga as a subject I was interested in reading, but the cover of Wings caught my eye. I picked it up, looked it over and debated buying it. I put it back in favor of a contemporary YA, Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles to be exact. Wings stayed on my mind though and I figured I'd get it one day. I started seeing reviews on Wings across the blogoshere. They were mixed. Stephanie Meyers'  endorsement was certainly instrumental in piquing my interest in the book.

Book One

As I began my collection of YA books, I decided I had no interest in fairies. As I considered the reviews I was seeing, I figured the book was getting a substantial amount of attention because Stephanie Meyers' endorsed it; after all, she's Aprilynne's friend. I dismissed the book, but not totally. It crossed my mind from time to time; I'd pick it up and leaf through it when I went to the book store. I'd stop by Aprilynnes' blog to see what she was up to and what was the latest news on the Wings trilogy. During one such visit, Aprilynne stated that for a short time, Wings would be available for free to download to a Nook. I had recently received that e-reader and figured what the heck. I may as well check it out. I downloaded it and there it remained, unread for weeks. When I went on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I decided to finally read it.


OMG! I freakin' love this book! Those of you who visit here regularly, may be aware that I'm a total romance junkie. This may be a fairy book, but Aprilynne gave me just want I wanted in the romance department. I was completely absorbed. She didn't make me wait for it either. She started it within the first eight pages (Nook "pages", anyway!). I learned that the author has the same writing sensibility as myself. I like to focus on the relationship in my writing and I can tell that Aprilynne does too. She's a passionate woman! Lol...This is a great example of how an author shouldn't be afraid to giveaway content for free. I'm a total Aprilynne Pike fan now. I will be buying the rest of the trilogy and can't wait to learn what her new series is about. I'm sure smokin' hot boys and heart-pounding love will factor in somewhere. I also enjoyed her take on the fairy mythology. I've seen some complaints about it, but it pulled me in and I'm not even a fairy aficionado.

I allowed myself to be unduly influenced by negative reviews and I didn't see the story in that way at all. It's one of my favorite books! When I had to put the story down, I couldn't wait to get back to it. I sat out under a coconut tree, enjoyed the Caribbean breeze and lost myself in the world of Wings.The biggest lesson I learned from this experience is that one should process info from varying sources, but always keep an open mind and decide things for yourself.

Sorry for doubting you, Aprilynne and thanks for a great story! Ha!

Toodles, ya'll!