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.
I've seen this book for a while and I've heard lots about it. I saw an interview of Aprilynne Pike on Inkpop and I saw that she said her Faeries were different from other ones. She said that she thought that she was the only one to make Faeries into pure plants. Well I remember thinking that she was wrong because I made Faeries like that in one of my own books...only they are not fully plants like hers.
What I liked: I loved her idea of Faeries and how they are pure plant like creatures. While the idea is kinda orginal, I've seen it in other books but it just wasn't as explained as this book. You could tell that she did her research and I thought that was really cool.
All the characters were very good, although at times David seemed the Mr. Perfect we've seen one too many times. And sometimes Laurel seemed like she wasn't a girl who could take care of herself. I found myself partly crying when we found out that Laurel's dad may not make it and when her mom was about to sell their old house. But then I was really glad when that Jamison guy came and gave her stuff to help her out. The only part I didn't like that him was that I have no idea who he actually is! He seems like he must be some kind of gate keeper to me.
I thought that while I like Tamani (his name is cool too) was cute and stuff, I thought it was kinda creepy the way he likes her. It seems to me that he's more of a stalker-ish guy who doesn't really like her for who she is but just wants her body or whatever. David was cute, I really hope Laurel ends up with David.
The plot was good, I enjoyed how Laurel knew that there wasn't something right about the guy who wanted to buy their old house and how in the end she kinda helped fight then trolls off. I hope that in the next couple of books we'll see more of Avalon or whatever it was called and I hope that we learn even more about faeries.
One of the things about this book that I didn't like was that I thought that the book took a while to get to the action and that it started out really slowly. Overall I really liked this book and I hope to read the next two books. Hopefully, they will be even more exciting.
So have you ever read a book where the author took a different look at something that's been done lots of times before? Did you like it or not?
Sincerely,
Peony
Hmm. I personally hated this book, which is why I haven't wasted my time posting a review of it on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was extremely childish and poorly written, I hated all of the characters, and the plot was boring. I didn't find anything unique about this book at all. Of course, I do harbor a rather strong dislike for paranormal novels.
I'm just glad I got it for free on my nook. I would have been pissed if I had paid good money for it.
I do see what you mean. The only thing I did like about it was the fact that her fearies were plants. But other than that it was okay, I don't think it's one of my favorites though. But I did like it.
ReplyDeleteI don't really like paranormal novels either. Most of them all seem to be the same thing but with slightly different forms. You got it free on your nook? That's cool! I found it at my library so I didn't have to pay either.
Peony said: "The only thing I did like about it was the fact that her fearies were plants."
ReplyDeleteActually, that's true for me, too. I did think that was unique and interesting. My problem is that it was the only thing that was interesting. So you could literally tell me the entire story in one single sentence ("The faeries are plants"). And then I would be okay with that. Write a one-sentence book and I will be content.
I feel like too many paranormal authors say to themselves, "well, I have a unique type of creature, so I don't need to come up with a new and exciting plot, interesting characters, or an imaginative setting."
In order to capture my interest, a paranormal novel has to have a healthy dose of all of these aspects, not just a "new spin on an old idea" or whatever. And that, I think, is why there are very few paranormal books that I can stand to read.
I agree. The plot wasn't all that unique. I could, if I really wanted to, find a book that had some problem involving someone wanting something from the character so they could invade the "secret" species land. And the main character being the only person who could stop them.
ReplyDeleteTrue, that's one of the reason Twilight bugged me. Sure she had a new twist on vampires (although sparkling is pretty silly), but how the main plot throughout four books was Bella trying to get Edward to marry her and whatnot wasn't just all that interesting. She could have done one book about it and that would have been fine.
I don't really like paranormal books to begin with, I've found some that I can stand, but eventually most of them are boring and I'm just sick of love triangles. I mean, they're not only in pretty much any paranormal book, but they're in a lot of other books too. Anyways, having just a new twist on something doesn't make a whole book exciting.