"Wings" by Aprilynne Pike

I recently read Wings by Aprilynne Pike. I must admit, I liked it better than I thought I would, but it still didn't appeal to me very much. But I'm not into romance literature, either, especially teen romance. Overall, it struck me as a kinder, gentler Twilight, though I still have yet to read Twilight to be able to say for sure (romantic vampires? doesn't pique my interest).

Should junior read it? As a protective parent, I say no. It was mostly clean, but there were a few things that bothered me. For one, there was some language and the 's' word was used once. There was no sex, per se, but there was one scene that I thought unrealistic. It had the two teens making out and getting, um, tempted to go further. Then the girl, Laurel, says she doesn't want to do that now and the boy, David, just turns the hormone machine to instant off. I certainly hope young girls don't believe guys can stop on a dime like that. As a parent, that scene bothered me because I would never want my daughters getting that close to temptation. That's when problems happen.

What I did like about the book was the mystery of who Laurel really is and the gradual discovery of the world she comes from. That's what kept me reading, not the romance fluff. I also liked the character. Since we homeschool our kids, I appreciated the positive and realistic light it showed homeschooling in. I've also flirted with being a vegetarian (I'm now a recovering vegetarian), so her being vegan appealed to me as well. There was some good action toward the end, too. I like action. Especially when there are explosions. Of course, there were no explosions here. Bummer.

Overall, the book was well written and thought out. I suppose older, more mature teens would do fine. It is one, though, that I strongly suggest parents read, too. My daughters read it before I did, but I trust them to know what dating situations to avoid, so I don't feel the hormonal scenes effected them. Both of them didn't care that much for the book, but neither one of them liked Twilight, either. Probably the only way I'll read the sequel is if it is nominated for a Whitney Award. That's the only reason I read this one.