The next couple of chapters are what I call the lull chapters, they’re really interesting, but it’s a lot of conversation. This is the part in the book where the majority of the mysteries are explained once we get past it and understand everything, the plot can move forward. So hold onto yourselves! I’ll try to get some of the details, but I do want to save some surprises for when you read the book yourself!

Laurel decides to go back to see Tamani. Good idea? Maybe….maybe not. David isn’t too happy, but he can’t stop her, so he just says to be careful. It doesn’t take Laurel to find him, he pops out right when she calls for him in all of his supermodel-green eyes- great hair- glory.

They end up talking in the same clearing they were in the last time she visited. After some friendly (and flirtatious) banter they get down to business. Laurel has magic! Which she can’t quite believe, but apparently she has a lot, she’s quite a powerful faerie.

There are four kinds of faeries, and they correspond with the seasons. They range in power opposite of what you might think. Winter are the rulers and most powerful, no one really knows the limit of their power. Autumn are second. (Laurel is an autumn faerie) They do a lot of plant magic, elixirs and potions, not really specific, but they can do a lot. The Summer faeries are flashy and entertaining, and finally the Spring faeries are the last in line, and the manual labor. (This is Tamani)

Even though it would seem that Tamani got the short end of the stick, he didn’t. He can entice people. That’s how he got Laurel to follow him the last time she was there. Needless to say, Laurel really isn’t too thrilled about that. But now that she knows, it can’t happen again. That’s good!

Now here’s something I find most interesting. Tamani’s hair roots and eyes are green because he eats green plants! Laurel has normal coloring because she drinks a lot of water and sprite, and doesn’t eat enough of one color to change her pigments. I think that would be awesome! Just change the color you eat, and get a makeover!

Several other things are covered, including pollination. Yeah, basically the faerie sex talk. Apparently, since faeries pollinate to reproduce, no pregnancy risk. And I QUOTE THE BOOK– ‘sex is just for fun’ Moving on…..

The rest of the chapter reveals that Laurel’s families land is very important to the Faerie Realm, and she cannot under any circumstances allow her parents to sell the land. How she’s going to accomplish that, I don’t know. Also turns out Laurel is 19 in faerie years. It would also seem that there is more to why she was given to human parents than is being revealed. I have a feeling we’ll find THAT out very soon.

Tamani seems overly sad to see her go. It was obvious he liked her, but this is almost too much. He even gives her a small faerie ring to where around her neck to think of him. He kisses her hand before she leaves, and the glow from it seems to spread through her whole body as she rides her bike away.

"Hold onto your seats everyone, it's going to be a bumpy ride!" That's easily what I could say about chapter 8 of wings. This chapter explodes all the weirdness we've seen into outright mania, and yet somehow it all makes sense.

Laurel goes back to her old home with her parents, to clean it up and check on it. (Maybe the visit from the strange realtor had something to do with it? Anyway, not to jazzed about cleaning, Laurel wanders off with her guitar to a familiar stream. She lets the petals free on her back, since the get sore from being tied down. As she sitting there playing Sarah Mclachlan (Good choice!), this is where it gets really interesting.

Someone rustles in the bushes, and falls out of the foliage near her. The stranger, whose name is Tamani, is gorgeous. Brilliant green eyes, black hair with matching green roots, perfect tan, prefect body. He knows Laurel, and she knows him. It tickles at her mind, though she can't really say why.

He tells her to come with him, and grabs her hand. This is where Laurel loses her senses, she goes with him. Not a smart idea. However, I think that his physical touch had something to do with the persuasion, since once he lets her go her wits come back. As any normal girl would, being alone in the woods with a stranger, she freaks out and tries to leave. Her lures her back with the promise of answers.

***MAJOR SPOILERS***
If you want to suprised when you read this book, you should probably not read the rest of this post.





Ok...Are you ready for this? -- He tells her she's a plant. Not just a plant, but the most highly evolved form of plant. A Faerie.

A FAERIE!!!!!! What??? Are you crazy?

That's pretty much the reaction Laurel has and she runs away as fast as she can. (smart girl)

The next day David can tell somethings up, but Laurel manages to avoid him at school until biology. Tears are a big factor here. She promises to tell him later as they start to come, and since Laurel doesn't cry much, he doesn't push the point. David takes her back to where they had their first 'date', the twisted tree.

At this point, Laurel is in full on meltdown mode. And seriously, who wouldn't be with all the crap that's been going on? She's plagued by the memory of Tamani, and refuses to believe that she is a Faerie, or a plant. David simply adds fuel to the fire by saying that it makes a lot of sense. (Which it does, having to be outside, vegan, overly obsessed with nature, can't swim in salt water) She freaks out on him too, and in a deja-vu like repeat of the day before she runs away.

Chapter 9 finishes with Laurel asking her father if she had been different as a child. Though he gives her placating answers, I think the parents may have more of a clue than they're letting on.

More to come soon. Is two chapters to much for one post? I would like to finish the book before I leave for school and this seemed about the only way to do it.

CV

P.S. Any ideas for future book reviews or blog posts are welcome! E-mail me a charleevale@post.com