Illusions by Aprilynne Pike

Illusions is the third book in the Wings series.  I realized, as I searched for my reviews of the other two books (Wings and Spells), that I hadn't reviewed them.  So I guess I'll just do a quick little overview of what these books are about.

The main character, Laurel, discovers, in Wings, that she's a faerie when a flower blooms on her back.  She's introduced to Tamani, a faerie who also happens to be Laurel's guard.  Tamani has been in love with Laurel for the longest time, but Laurel has a boyfriend, David.  In Spells, Laurel spends a summer in Avalon, the faerie realm, learning her spells and faerie lore.  She grows closer to Tamani, but denies that her feelings are more than friendly.  As she learns more about what it means to be a faerie, she also discovers that deadly trolls are out to get her.  She comes to depend on both David and Tamani to keep her safe, but finally begs Tamani to let her go.

In Illusions, the trolls are still causing problems for Laurel and Avalon, and new student, Yuki, seems shifty.  Laurel wonders almost instantly if Yuki is a faerie, and is she is, what court does she belong to?  And does she even know that she's a faerie?  Things seem fishy, especially since mysterious Klea introduced Yuki to Laurel.  Laurel isn't sure about Klea's motives, but she knows not to completely trust her.

This third installment found Laurel even more torn between Tamani and David.  Honestly, it was grating on my nerves.  Just pick someone already, Laurel!  Quit leading both boys on.  It's obvious to me that Tamani is Laurel's guy, and Laurel might finally be realizing that.  Or not.  She just can't make up her mind.

Illusions had some boring, drawn-out parts (every time Laurel talked about using her faerie magic to find out what kind of faerie Yuki is, I wanted to pluck my eyes out), but overall it was an okay read.  The discovery as to what Yuki and Klea are wasn't all that shocking, but it made a good stopping point.  I definitely think these books could have been condensed...I mean, is a fourth book really necessary?  Regardless, I'll read the final book so that I know how the story wraps up.  I won't be waiting on pins and needles, but I'll read it.

2.5/5

One final thing...what's up with the Illusions cover?  It seems so different than the other covers, especially the title font.  Not so sure I like it.  The reflection of the flower in the water is cool, but the font looks horrible.  Just my opinion.

Other ratings:

Wings: 4/5

Spells: 3/5

Afterlife by Claudia Gray

So, Hourglass left off with star-crossed lovers Bianca and Lucas facing very different futures than they'd originally thought.  Bianca turned into a wraith and Lucas became a vampire.  Honestly, I don't remember the exact details that brought us to that point, but that doesn't really matter.  Since Lucas is now one of the vampires he used to kill as a member of Black Cross, he seeks refuge at Evernight Academy after a battle with his own mother.  Bianca hides out at Evernight with Lucas, and since no one can see her unless she becomes solid and allows them to, she's free to do as she wants.  Mostly, she wants to help free Lucas from the horrible nightmares of Charity that have been plaguing him.  And she wants to know why Mrs. Bethany is hiding wraith traps all over the school.  What is Mrs. Bethany planning, and does Bianca have anything to fear from her former headmistress?

I had planned on reading this book because I read the three previous books, but when I went to pick it up I discovered that I just didn't care.  I wanted to skip it, but I gave in to my sister's request that I read it.  I can't say that I enjoyed it.  I thought it was okay, but I can't give it higher praise than that.  Honestly, I was pretty bored most of the time I was reading.

I discovered some things about Mrs. Bethany's past life that should have been interesting, but really just did nothing for me.  The fate of Bianca and Lucas was somewhat interesting, but by the time that all came about at the very end of the book I just didn't care.

There's a book about Balthazar in the works, but I am so done with this series and these characters.  I won't be reading it.

2/5

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

This book has been called a "haunting story of friendship and love".  That, along with all the rave reviews this book has received, built up such an anticipation in me.  I couldn't wait to read this book!  Unfortunately, Never Let Me Go did not live up to my expectations.  Maybe I wasn't thinking critically enough, maybe I'm not intelligent enough to get to the deeper meaning...whatever.  I just didn't enjoy it.

Never Let Me Go is told by Kathy, a 31-year-old who is recounting her childhood days spent at Hailsham, a private school in the English countryside.  It was at Hailsham that she met Ruth and Tommy, who would become her two best friends.  At Hailsham, the students were brought up to believe that they were special.  They were content, until the remarks of one of Hailsham's teachers forced them to see the truth about who they were and what their future would hold.

I don't want to spoil anything here, so I won't say what the big secret is.  I'd already known to a degree what the secret was before reading the book, so I wasn't as surprised as I could have been.  But I don't think I would have enjoyed the book more had I not known beforehand.  The story was so slow, and things were alluded to and then not explained until further on in the book.  I felt like I was going in circles.  And when Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy discover what the big secret is, it seemed to me like they didn't do a whole heck of a lot to change their fates.  They kind of just accepted everything, and that bothered me.

I don't know.  Maybe I'm not making any sense.  And maybe I haven't thought enough about this book.  Let me just say that I didn't care for it, and that's okay with me.

2/5

Fly Me to the Moon by Alyson Noël

When flight attendant Hailey Lane's work trip is cancelled, she rushes home to surprise her boyfriend of four years.  She'd found a blue Tiffany box in his bag before she left, and with it being her birthday and all, she's certain that he's going to propose.  She couldn't have been more wrong.  When she arrives home, she finds Michael in the bedroom with another man.  Realizing that she has nowhere to go, she plans trips around the world to mend her broken heart.  Hailey discovers that, of all the men in the world, sometimes Mr. Right is in your own back yard.

Fly Me to the Moon is the selection for our church book group this month.  The woman who recommended it hadn't read it prior, but, thinking it was a YA book, felt no hesitation in suggesting it as a good read for our church group.  She feels horrible now that she suggested it because there were a few scenes of crude sexual behavior as well as crude language throughout.  It's definitely not a YA book.  She still enjoyed the story, but I can honestly say that I didn't.  I felt like the story dragged too much, and Hailey found herself in too many questionable situations.  I don't think the various trips to other countries added much to the story; the only trip I found even remotely interesting was Hailey's vacation in Greece.  The ending was very abrupt, too.  There was a lot of build-up between Hailey and a certain someone, and I think things were wrapped up far too quickly.  This was the guy that I wanted to read about because I knew Hailey was bound to end up with him, but we were only given snippets of him here and there throughout the book.

Overall, I though it was an okay read, but definitely not something I'd recommend.  I'll take Ms. Noël's YA series, The Immortals, over this any day.

2/5