Book #91 - Destined (Wings #4)

Destined (Wings #4), Aprilynne Pike
307 pages
paranormal romance
Started 8/13/12
Finished 8/14/12
4.5 STARS

This series has come so far for me. I remember completing Wings (Wings #1) and feeling very "meh" about it. The only character at that point that evoked any real emotion from me was Tamani. I felt that Laurel and David were very childish, and I wasn't engaged. I very nearly didn't continue with the series. But, Tamani drew me forward, and I am SO glad I went on. Because Destined was such a wonderful ending to the series.

Avalon and its inhabitants are literally fighting for their lives. And, in the front lines are Laurel, David, Chelsea, and Tamani. Laurel has to reach deep down to harness her powers and all she has learned to help those that she loves. And Tamani and David need to learn to allow her to do so, despite their first instincts, which are to lock her away to protect her. As the war escalates and the final battles are fought, lives end up literally in the balance.

One of my favorite parts of this book is that Laurel finally, FINALLY, makes a choice!! For the past three books, she's been back and forth between David and Tamani, and it's been one of my biggest irritations with the series. Thank the Lord, she comes to her senses and makes a real and final choice. I loved that.

This book was action-packed. It started nearly from the very beginning and didn't end until the very end. It's one battle after the other, and Aprilynne Pike did a fantastic job describing it all to me. I could hear the screams and smell the smoke and taste the panic in the air. I loved those moments that Laurel was able to steal with Tamani and David away from the battles that are raging around them. It softened her and made her much more likable.

As flat as Laurel and David seemed in the first book, they both were that much more vibrant in the fourth. Pike did a great job maturing them and making them more real. And, Tamani - well, he was perfect the whole way through. I love that faerie.

Overall, I would say, this series is the perfect example of why you shouldn't give up after only one book in a series. You never know what the next one will be like. And, you may end up loving it in the end.