Spells - Aprilynne Pike

Title: Spells
Author: Aprilynne Pike
Publisher: Harper Teen, 2010 (Hardcover)
Length: 359 pages
Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy
Started: June 3, 2010
Finished: June 4, 2010

Summary:
From the author's website:
Six months have passed since Laurel saved the gateway to the faerie realm of Avalon. Now she must spend her summer there, honing her skills as a Fall faerie. But her human family and friends are still in mortal danger--and the gateway to Avalon is more compromised than ever.

When it comes time to protect those she loves, will she depend on David, her human boyfriend, for help? Or will she turn to Tamani, the electrifying faerie with whom her connection is undeniable?

Review:
I wasn't nuts about Wings when I read it last month, but reading Spells has made me reconsider my feelings of this series. Spells benefits from the world building of Wings and it can get right down to business without fussing over reviewing everything. Laurel is summoned to Avalon over the summer for something like a crash course in being a Fall faerie. This was my favourite part of the book because it further developed the faerie universe and of course, more Tamani! Whereas David was the key guy in Wings with Tamani being introduced later, Laurel spends the first half of the book with Tamani and David only shows up in the last half. The love triangle is more developed in this book as Laurel is torn between thinking of living in Avalon in the future or remaining in the human world. Tamani of course wants her to fulfill her responsibilities as a faerie whereas David tells her to do what she wants regardless. Laurel is also realizing that being a faerie living in the human realm isn't so easy. Things that work for her as a faerie don't work so well for humans, she has to hide her blossom, and of course there's those trolls out for revenge. It really developed Laurel, Tamani, and even David as characters and showed that they really are quite conflicted, so I'm very happy my concerns with the first book were fixed upon reading Spells. It really makes me want to finish the series and see what path Laurel will choose, because it could go either way. With that in mind, I love how the author made Shar yell at Laurel at the end, Laurel was being a bitch and needed to know it. The plot is thickened right at the end, so I am eagerly awaiting book 3, whenever it will come out.

Recommendation:
If you read Wings and loved it, then you've probably already read this. If you read Wings and weren't nuts about it (like me), give Spells a try before you dismiss the series altogether, it's well worth the read.

Thoughts on the cover:
Good continuity with the Wings cover, but this one didn't wow me like the Wings cover.