Wingéd

Wingéd #1

by Colleen Houser

When Friedel McBride was taken to the realm of the dead, everything changed. Follow Friedel as she is thrown into a new divine world, filled with winged spirits who guide the living. They are the Wingéd, and they are in danger. In order to earn her wings, Friedel must take the Leap, a long dive off the highest cliff in the mountains, but this cannot be done unless she confronts her mortal coil. As she prepares with her Candidate class, the secrets of her past begin to arise. If she is unable to face the crimes of her past, she’ll be lost to the abyss forever. Meanwhile, lurking within the hallowed corridors, something sinister is causing them to lose more candidates. Friedel is their only hope, and she must find out why their numbers are diminishing before they discover the truth about her. But how can someone whose life reveals such evils ever be redeemed?

Genres: Fantasy

334 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2013

About the author

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Colleen Houser was destined to be a freak. While earning her degree in English/Language and Discourse and working at Sylvan Learning Center, she supplemented her time by reading about dragons, going to Renaissance faires, and writing about death and angels. After she graduated, she did the unthinkable. She married a man who loved the same things she did that she met on the internet and left it all behind to move to his hometown in West Virginia. Here, she has held a few titles including: tutor, data entry specialist, and author, but her favorite will always be, ‘Hey you, move.’

Reviews

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantasy novel following the character, Friedel, who is a tough teen whose violent tendencies wind up getting her killed. Instead of going to heaven or hell, she finds herself in the hall of the Winged. After training, these people merge with souls of various winged creatures- fairies, angels, dragons, etc - and a large portion of the novel is learning what each can do, which makes sense since it sets up a series of novels.

This was probably the most fun I've had with a book all year. It's quick and easy to read, and really easy to get into. The whole time I was reading it, I was wondering where it was going to go, how it all was going to play out in the end, especially considering the twists that occur near the end.

There were a few times when I thought the dialogue was a little too on the nose, but for the most part, it felt pretty natural. The ending, while fitting, felt a little rushed compared to the general pace of the rest of the book, but on the other hand it did highlight how quickly the events unfolded.

I'll definitely pick up the next book to see where it goes, though you can easily read this book as a standalone and have a complete and satisfying ending, which I really appreciate as well!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

~disclaimer: I received this book for free in a giveaway.~

I really liked this book. I was intensely interested in the world that it was creating. And I forgive it a lot as a result of this. I found the hierarchy and the powers and gifts of those within this book very interesting to learn about. And I found it to be a rather unique take on Angels.

However, it was predictable in some ways. Some things surprised me, but some things I saw coming from a mile away. Which is a fault in a lot of young adult fiction.

The main character isn't particularly likable, but main characters don't have to be likable. Also, it had a lot of the "shes the one", "shes so special", people can sense her being special and they act like the questions she asks have never been asked before which I find unlikely.

The ending was strong though. And the ending seemed on character, for the most part, for the individuals involved. And I felt that the other characters in the story weren't, in general, flat and one dimensional (some were, but its hard to flesh out everyone). I think I will likely purchase the kindle version of the sequel (its $3) because I am interested in learning more about the world created here.

Once I do my blog posting on tumblr I'll post a link to it.

I hope my review was helpful!