Review: Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Once again I'm pretty sure I can't express just how much I have fallen in love with this author's books.  While this one had a few issues that probably needed maybe a closer editor for little slips, it still had great characters, and really hot, sexy scenes.  I would definitely say this is New Adult and not YA though. 

The main character is Ivy.  And Ivy is part of an organization that is tasked with killing the fae, and any other Otherworldly creatures that might be around.  She was raised to be part of the organization until her parents were killed, at the same time her boyfriend was killed.  And now she is living on her own in New Orleans.  Well, not completely alone.  She has a brownie that lives with her.  And no one can know about Tink, as she calls him, because she really should have killed him when she first saw him.  She's also going to college.  Trying to somewhat have a normal life outside of the Order.  But she doesn't want to get close to anyone, not after what happened with her parents.  So she lives vicariously through her best friend Val, who is a bit of a wild child.  And then a new guy comes to town, Ren Owens.  He is also part of the Order, come from a Colorado group.  He has piercing green eyes, dark hair, and a very sexy grin, that goes along with a pretty sarcastic and sexy sense of humor. And Ivy is drawn to him, even against her rules about getting close to someone.  Especially frustrating is just how annoying he can be.  But it's annoying in a fun way, as she is always having to hide a smile at the things he does to annoy her.  And he seems to be interested in her as well. 

Something is going on, there have been two Order members who have been killed in the line of duty.  And Ivy runs into a Fae that barely looks different from humans, isn't hurt by the iron she stakes him with, and pulls a gun out of thin air that he shoots her with.  She finds out this is an ancient.  And it is very rare to see them.  But while her leader dismisses her story, Ren believes, and tells her more about ancients, and about why he's really come to New Orleans.  Ivy learns more about the fae, as well as ancients, and even more about the Order.  She learns of halflings, half fae, half human creatures, that are part of a prophecy that could spell disaster for Earth in opening one of the gates to the Otherworld.  In all of this she gets thrown together with Ren, and the attraction proves unresistable.  All the while there is a traitor in the Order, and possibly a halfling they must find and destroy.

I thought this was going to be a single story, but no, it ended with a big cliffhanger, and I need to know what happens next! Supposedly book 2 was supposed to be this summer according to a blurb in the back of the book, but according to Goodreads it's not expected till 2016.  This is definitely another must read from Jennifer L. Armentrout.  I love all the different pop culture references in the story.  There are Buffy the Vampire Slayer references, Harry Potter references, too many to even list them all.  Some that aren't even stated exactly what they are, you just know if you are a fan of that specific topic. 

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

This is the first book by Aprilynne Pike that I have read, and I must say I wasn't disappointed at all!  I got a copy of this at the RT Convention back in May of this year.  I've actually not really been a fan of fairy or fae stories.  Not that I mind when they are in other stories, but I haven't actively sought out those types of stories.  I'm finding more and more that maybe it is time to give them more of a chance.  I gave this book a pretty high rating, 5 stars, on Goodreads because I picked it up this morning, and pretty much barely stopped until I was done late this afternoon.  It was that good.  I read one comment that said it was a very simple story, and I guess it was.  But, as a former science teacher, I loved how this put science into the mythology behind fairies.  Very unique to me, but again, as I haven't read a lot of this type of creature, maybe it's not.
So, the main character is Laurel, and she has just moved to a new town with her mom and dad, actually her adoptive parents.  Up until this year she has been home-schooled by her mother.  But now that she's in high school, her mom doesn't feel like she can teach as much that Laurel needs as if she goes to a real school.  At first Laurel really isn't happy about it.  But what is nice is that she makes a friend right away.  A very nice boy at school named David.  David is in her Biology class, which Laurel can tell from just opening the book and paging through it that she is going to be struggling.  But David doesn't seem to mind her strange habits, the fact that she only eats vegetables and fruits and drinks Sprite.  That she wants to eat outside instead of in the cafeteria because it is too loud and she just feels that she gets refreshed with the time outside.  He even gets his group of friends, some of them at least, to eat outside with her.  Things seem to be going well, she's making friends, kind of fitting in.  Then one day she gets a zit or some kind of bump on her back.  This is weird, as even though her body has developed, hips, etc., she's not really gone through puberty, never had a period, acne, etc.  But she decides this is normal, and decides not to worry about it.  Until it gets bigger.  And then one morning she wakes up, and the bump is gone, but now she has petals, actually a flower, growing out of her back.  Now, here is where I'm not quite sure I'd have done the same, but instead of talking to her parents about it, she talks to David.  And David is pretty intrigued.  The science geek in him wants to look at it under a microscope.  And he does, and it is a plant.  Soon, he begins to wonder other things about Laurel, even as she does herself.  When Laurel and her parents go back to the old house, she runs into a really interesting boy in the forest behind the house, named Tamani.  He tells her some more stuff about herself, tells her she is a plant, that she is a fairy.  When she shares with David, they begin to do more research into it.  You'd think maybe this is the big deal of the story, but no, Laurel also learns that she needs to keep her parents from selling the land, that it needs to remain her property to protect something.  But when her dad gets sick, and the hospital bills begin adding up, her mother has to sell just to get the money.  But this leads to a dangerous situation.  Life and death, and also to Laurel learning even more about her past and what may be in store for the rest of her life.
Like I said, I loved the science and mythology in this story.  It was a quick, easy read.  One that grabbed me and made it hard to put it down.  I know I'm a bit behind on this series, and if you are as well, you need to grab it and check it out!