“Laurel, you are a fairy.”
— Tamani reveals Laurel's true nature to her.
Archivist's Choice
Wings
Aprilynne Pike (2009)
Genre
Fantasy / Young Adult / Romance
Reading Time
290 min
Key Themes
See below
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A teenager learns she is a faerie whose new wings mean a dangerous future tied to an ancient magical world and a forbidden romance.
Synopsis
Laurel, a normal fifteen-year-old, lives a quiet life until strange petals grow from her back. This leads her and her parents to move to Crescent City, where she meets David, her first human friend and love interest. As Laurel deals with her changing body, she has a terrifying first transformation, showing she is a faerie. Soon after, she meets Tamani, a handsome faerie who tells her she is a rare autumn faerie, sent to the human world as a changeling to guard a sacred faerie gate. Tamani introduces her to the hidden faerie lands and explains the balance between their world and hers. Trolls, ancient enemies of the faeries, threaten to destroy the gate Laurel must protect. This leads to a dangerous attack in the woods, making Laurel face her faerie heritage and its dangers. She is torn between her feelings for David and her connection with Tamani, who represents her faerie identity and duty. David, despite the shocking news, is very understanding and supportive. Laurel must choose between her human life with David and her destiny in the faerie lands with Tamani. The story ends with her decision to spend the summer in the faerie lands, training for her role, leaving her human life and David for a time, but planning to return.
Reading time
290 min
Difficulty
Easy
Pacing
Moderate
Mood
Enchanting, Romantic, Mysterious, Discovering
✓ Read this if...
You enjoy unique faerie lore, a love triangle, and a protagonist discovering hidden powers and heritage.
✗ Skip this if...
You dislike love triangles or prefer a more action-packed fantasy right from the start.
Plot Summary
A Peculiar Discovery
Laurel Sewell, a fifteen-year-old, has always been homeschooled and lived a quiet life in Orick, California, with her adoptive parents. One morning, she wakes up to find a petal-like flower blooming from her back. This discovery comes with other changes: she cannot eat human food, dislikes cold, and feels drawn to sunlight. Her parents worry about her sudden loss of appetite and unusual behavior. Laurel tries to hide the flower, but its presence and discomfort make her anxious and isolated from her normal life.
Meeting David and the Move to Crescent City
Worried about Laurel's health and social life, her parents decide to enroll her in public high school in Crescent City, a town a few hours away. This means moving and leaving their quiet life. On her first day at Del Norte High, Laurel is overwhelmed but quickly befriends David, a kind and smart boy who becomes her first real friend. David is immediately drawn to Laurel's beauty and gentle nature. He helps her with high school, offering support as she struggles to adapt and with the mystery of her changing body.
The First Transformation
During a stressful moment at school, Laurel feels intense heat and discomfort on her back. She rushes home and, in her bathroom, sees a shocking change. The 'flower' on her back unfurls into delicate, translucent wings, like a dragonfly's. The change is painful but also exciting. Terrified and confused, Laurel confides in David, showing him her new wings. David, despite his shock, is supportive and fascinated, promising to help her understand. This event strengthens their bond and marks a turning point in Laurel's self-discovery.
The Revelation of Tamani
While exploring the woods near her old home in Orick, a place she feels drawn to, Laurel meets a mysterious and attractive boy named Tamani. Tamani appears suddenly, seeming otherworldly and knowing things about her. He tells Laurel she is a faerie, a Fall faerie, and that the 'flower' and 'wings' are part of her true form. He explains she was left with human parents for protection and that her biological family, the faeries, are looking for her. Tamani is a Spring faerie, tasked with guarding the faerie lands and keeping her safe, further complicating Laurel's understanding of herself.
The Faerie Lands and the Portal
Tamani takes Laurel through a hidden portal in the woods, revealing a beautiful, bright faerie land, unseen by human eyes. He explains the different types of faeries—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—each with unique seasonal abilities. Laurel learns that faeries get energy from plants and sunlight, which explains her recent cravings and dislikes. Tamani tells her she is a rare and powerful Fall faerie, one of the last of her kind, and that her return is important for the faerie world. He also explains 'changelings' – faerie babies swapped with human ones for protection, a practice that led to her adoption.
The Threat of the Trolls
Tamani reveals the old conflict between faeries and trolls. Trolls are ugly, violent creatures who feed on faerie essence, making them a constant danger. He explains that the faerie lands are protected by enchantments and guardians, but trolls always look for weaknesses. Tamani also warns Laurel about the specific danger she faces as a Fall faerie, as their unique abilities make them valuable—and vulnerable—to trolls. This news adds a darker, more dangerous element to Laurel's new heritage, making her face the reality of an ancient war she never knew existed.
The Attack in the Woods
While with David in the woods near her old home, Laurel senses an unsettling presence. Suddenly, a hideous troll attacks them. The creature is strong and aggressive, trying to catch Laurel. Tamani appears just in time, fighting the troll fiercely. David, despite being human, tries to help protect Laurel. The fight is brutal, showing Tamani's warrior skills and the trolls' monstrous nature. Though the troll is driven away, the encounter leaves Laurel and David shaken, proving the danger she is in and the truth of Tamani's warnings.
Conflicting Feelings and David's Understanding
Laurel feels more and more torn between her human life with David and her faerie heritage with Tamani. She cares deeply for David, who offers her constant support and a link to the human world she knows. However, she feels an undeniable pull towards Tamani, who understands her true nature in a way no human could. David, despite his hurt and confusion, tries to understand Laurel's new reality and her connection to Tamani. He struggles with the idea of a secret faerie world and Laurel's part in it, but his love for her makes him as accepting as possible, even as he feels her slipping away.
The Dilemma of Choice
As the school year ends, Laurel faces a big decision. Tamani urges her to return to the faerie lands for good, where she can be safe and fulfill her destiny among her own kind. He stresses the dangers of the human world and her important role as a Fall faerie. David, on the other hand, wants her to stay with him, to continue their human life. Laurel loves her adoptive parents and values her friendship with David, but she also feels a strong, growing connection to her faerie identity and a sense of responsibility toward her biological family. The choice weighs heavily on her, as it means leaving one world for another.
A Summer in the Faerie Lands
Unable to completely abandon either world, Laurel makes a compromise: she decides to spend the summer living in the faerie lands, learning about her heritage and abilities, while promising to return to David and her human parents for the next school year. This decision is difficult for everyone. David is heartbroken but understands her need to explore her true self. Tamani is relieved but still hopes she will choose to stay. Laurel takes this chance to fully immerse herself in the faerie world, to train with Tamani, and to discover her full powers, knowing a permanent choice still awaits her.
Principal Figures
Laurel Sewell
The Protagonist
Laurel transforms from an innocent, confused human girl into a self-aware faerie, beginning to embrace her true identity and power.
David
The Supporting
David evolves from a typical high school crush into a fiercely loyal and understanding companion, accepting a world beyond his comprehension for the sake of love.
Tamani
The Supporting
Tamani's arc is less about personal change and more about fulfilling his protective role and attempting to guide Laurel to her destiny.
Moms (Lena Sewell)
The Supporting
Lena moves from concerned confusion to a reluctant understanding and acceptance of Laurel's true nature, prioritizing her daughter's happiness.
Pops (Robert Sewell)
The Supporting
Robert's arc involves his gradual acceptance of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding his daughter, demonstrating unwavering paternal support.
Trolls
The Antagonist
The trolls serve as an external, unchanging threat, their role being to drive the plot and highlight the stakes for Laurel and the faerie world.
Themes & Insights
Identity and Belonging
Laurel's journey is about finding out who she is and where she belongs. She first sees herself as human, but her changing body makes her question this. Learning about her faerie heritage creates a deep conflict, as she feels connected to both worlds. She tries to balance her human upbringing with her faerie nature. This theme is central to her choices, as she struggles with picking between David and the human world, and Tamani and the faerie world.
““She was a changeling, a faerie left in a human world, and the human world was quickly becoming a cage.””
Nature vs. Nurture
This theme explores whether Laurel's human upbringing or her natural faerie identity will define her. Her human parents raised her with love and a normal life, but her faerie essence constantly pulls her toward nature, sunlight, and specific dietary needs. Her physical transformation and instincts, like disliking cold and connecting to plants, show the power of her faerie biology over her human conditioning. The story asks which aspect will win in her final choice of lifestyle.
““She craved the sun, felt its warmth seep into her skin like a forgotten memory, a deep, primal need.””
First Love and Forbidden Romance
Laurel feels her first romantic feelings for David, a sweet and understanding human boy. Their relationship is innocent and supportive. However, Tamani, her faerie guardian, brings a more intense, destined love tied to her true identity. This creates a love triangle where Laurel is torn between the comfort of her human love and the strong, ancient pull of her faerie connection. The 'forbidden' aspect comes from the dangers of faeries and humans mixing, and the rules within the faerie world.
““He was human. She was… something else. It was a chasm that felt impossible to cross.””
Environmentalism and Connection to Nature
The faerie world is linked to nature, with faeries getting energy and power from plants and sunlight. This highlights an environmental theme, showing the beauty and fragility of nature. The faeries' role as nature's guardians and their vulnerability to destruction (from trolls) stresses the need to protect the environment. Laurel's changing needs, like not being able to eat human food and craving sunlight, directly connect her to this theme, showing a deeper, linked relationship with the earth.
““The faerie lands hummed with life, a vibrant symphony of green and gold that spoke to her soul.””
Plot Devices & Literary Techniques
The Faerie Wings/Flower
The physical manifestation of Laurel's faerie nature.
Initially appearing as a mysterious flower on Laurel's back, this device serves as the primary catalyst for the plot. It physically marks Laurel's transition from human to faerie, triggering her confusion, her search for answers, and ultimately, her full transformation into a winged faerie. It is a visual representation of her true identity breaking through her human facade, and its evolution directly correlates with her growing understanding and acceptance of her heritage.
The Hidden Portal
A magical gateway connecting the human world to the faerie lands.
The portal, concealed within the woods near Laurel's childhood home, is a classic fantasy device that facilitates the transition between worlds. It represents the boundary between the mundane and the magical, allowing Laurel to physically enter the faerie realm and experience her heritage firsthand. It also symbolizes the secrecy and isolation of the faerie world, protected from human intrusion, and is crucial for Tamani's ability to guard the lands and interact with Laurel.
The Changeling Trope
The mythical concept of faerie children swapped with human babies.
The changeling trope is a foundational element of Laurel's backstory. It explains her human upbringing despite her faerie heritage, providing a logical reason for her initial ignorance of her true nature. This device introduces the idea of faerie protection mechanisms and the ancient practice of placing faerie children in the human world for safety. It also raises questions about identity and belonging, as Laurel grapples with being a faerie raised by humans.
The Love Triangle
Laurel's romantic dilemma between David (human) and Tamani (faerie).
This common young adult romance device drives much of Laurel's emotional conflict. It externalizes her internal struggle between her human life and her faerie destiny. David represents the comfort of her past and the known, while Tamani embodies her future and her true self. The triangle creates tension, emotional stakes, and forces Laurel to confront her desires and responsibilities towards both worlds, making her ultimate decision more impactful.
Critical analysis
Notable Quotes
“I will always protect you, Laurel. No matter what.”
— Tamani's promise to Laurel, showcasing his dedication.
“I just don't know if I can leave this all behind. My whole life is here.”
— Laurel struggles with the implications of her fairy heritage and her human life.
“Being a fairy isn't just about flowers and pixie dust, Laurel. It's about responsibility.”
— Tamani explains the serious side of fairy life.
“It was like looking into a kaleidoscope, only instead of colored glass, it was made of her memories.”
— Describing Laurel's experience of accessing ancient fairy memories.
“You can't have both worlds, Laurel. Not forever.”
— Tamani's stark warning about Laurel's dual existence.
“The garden was more than just plants; it was a living, breathing entity, connected to her in ways she was only beginning to understand.”
— Laurel's growing connection to her ancestral garden.
“There are things in this world, Laurel, that you can't explain with science.”
— David's growing acceptance of the supernatural.
“Sometimes, the hardest choices are the ones you have to make for the people you love.”
— Laurel contemplating difficult decisions.
“He looked at her like she was the most fragile, beautiful thing he had ever seen, and it made her heart ache.”
— Laurel observing David's affection for her.
“The scent of honeysuckle and damp earth filled her senses, a perfume that was both ancient and utterly new.”
— Laurel experiencing the magic of the fairy world.
“You belong here, Laurel. This is your home.”
— Tamani trying to convince Laurel to embrace her fairy heritage.
“It wasn't just about flowers, it was about life, about growth, about something ancient and powerful stirring within her.”
— Laurel realizing the depth of her connection to the earth and her powers.
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Key Questions (FAQ)
The central premise of 'Wings' revolves around Laurel, a seemingly ordinary human girl, discovering she is actually a faerie changeling left in the human world. Her journey begins when she sprouts wings on her back, revealing her true, magical heritage and forcing her to confront a hidden world of faeries, trolls, and ancient magic.
About the author
Aprilynne Pike is the author of the best-selling 'Wings' trilogy, which includes 'Wings,' 'Illusions,' and 'Earthbound.' Her work is known for its imaginative take on faerie lore and its engaging young adult fantasy narratives. Pike's debut novel, 'Wings,' was a New York Times bestseller, establishing her as a notable voice in contemporary fantasy fiction.
