Destined (Wings, #4)

by Aprilynne Pike

Laurel faces the fight of her life to save everything , and everyone, she loves. This is the final part of the extraordinary faerie tale which began in the bestselling novel WINGS described by Stephenie Meyer as 'a remarkable debut'.

Laurel lived happily as an ordinary girl – until she discovered that she was a faerie. Since then her heart has been divided – Avalon or the human world? Safe reliable David or wild, charismatic Tamani? But now an enemy unlike any before, threatens Avalon and unless the faerie world can win out, there may be no choices left…

An extraordinary faerie tale of magic and mystery, romance and danger

• ISBN13: 9780007314393
• Publish Date: 26 April 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 356
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

"A true hero knows love is more powerful than hate." (Jamison)

The events in Destined takes place within a 24 hour period, but it's action-packed, high-staked and full of constant threats. Destined is not about preparing for an apocalyptic war that only occurs in the last few pages and is resolved in no time. Instead, there are constant challenges, never-ending battles and a sense of danger. There are some silly and contrived moments, but plot-wise Destined is a worthwhile read.

In Destined, the human characters shine. David becomes an invincible warrior after he wields the famous sword, Excalibur, and while his sudden show of invincibility is so silly-it's-funny, David steps up to the plate and proves his loyalty and bravery. There's also Chelsea, a true best friend, who shows that she would literally go to the end of the earth for the people that she loves.

I also thought that Yuki would be an epic, magical and unbeatable character. I do like her character arc, but I was hoping for something more from her because she has so much of potential to be a badass character.

Unlike previous books in the Wings series, the romance in Destined takes a backseat to the plot and the love triangle isn't so prominent. In Destined there's no doubt about who Laurel loves and who she's going to choose. I wasn't invested in either Tamani or David so Laurel's choice didn't bother me, but there are some spoilery things that I don't like about the romance. I do, however, appreciate that letter at the end of Destined. It's realistic and bittersweet.

Destined is the best book in the Wings series. It's action-packed, the plot is more important than romance and it's also a bittersweet and realistic conclusion to the series.

"Anyone can pluck a flower, Laurel. True strength is knowing how to give it life." (Yeardley)

[emruth13]

While Illusions is my favorite of the series, I LOVE how this book wraps it up. Things happen. You worry about the characters. Then, it ends well. I'm happy. Love this series.

[nightingalereads]

2.75 stars

[Kim Deister]

Laurel, as always, is a fabulous main character.  I love that, although she is fae, she has retained her humanity and has tried to embrace both sides of her life.  But in her quest to save those she loves, both human and faerie alike, Laurel can often be more than a little reckless.  She is quick to react and to act, but not always with as much thought as maybe she should have.  But her selflessness is endearing, even if she is often too self-sacrificing.  I like that, as a character, she is written to be imperfect, which makes her character one that is easy to love and to cheer for.  

What I find most interesting about her as a character is the type of person she has been created to be.  She really doesn’t fit anywhere, not fully.  She was raised as a human, not knowing her own heritage as a faerie.  She has human ideals and her ways of thinking are fully rooted in the human world.  But there is no escaping the fact that she is not human, but faerie.  There is so much about her that is completely different from humanity, not the least of which is her very anatomy.  These things set her apart from her human friends and family in fundamental ways.  But nor does Laurel fully fit into the faerie world.  She hasn’t grown up living within the faerie ways, and doesn’t remember her early childhood in Avalon.  Many of the faerie traditions and ideals seem wrong to her because she wasn’t raised within them.  As a result, Laurel isn’t just alien in the human world as a faerie, but in the faerie world with her human ways.  Pretty clear commentary on the life of a teenager, or anyone!

David was a star in this book, as was Chelsea, too.  David took on a fight that wasn’t necessarily his own, the fight to save Avalon.  Considering he had lost his beloved Laurel to Tamani, there was no reasonable expectation that he take that on.  But he put aside his ego and his feelings and stepped forward to be the hero Avalon needed.  On the flip side, there was the Queen.  I couldn’t stand her, which was appropriate for the story line.  She was supposed to be the extremely powerful Winter faerie Queen and she seemed to be more concerned with her own power than those who she was supposed to be leading.    

The ending (no spoilers!) was done in a really creative and interesting  way.  It was not the traditional, “happy ever after” ending that I was expecting.  There is a certain expectation for a neatly tied-up ending, especially in a faery tale.  While it wasn’t a bad ending, it wasn’t at all what would fit that faery tale formula, more bittersweet than sweet.  It was terribly beautiful in some ways and terribly heartbreaking in other ways.  I came into the ending expecting it to follow that formula, but after experiencing it, no other ending would have been as emotionally right for the series.  It could have ended at the end of the final chapter, with a perfectly acceptable ending.  But immediately after that, Pike inserts a note to the reader, a note that brings the reader into the mind of the author and subsequently into the mind of David.  The note explains that there is more to the end of the story, an end that is not so “HEA” but more human.  In other words, more realistic and more imperfect.  This ending is written in the form of a letter and was beautiful, and terribly sad in so many ways.  Thoroughly emotional and full of its own magic.

Things to love about Illusions...

   --The themes.  This book was a bit darker than the others, and touched on some more universal themes.  I think the darker tone made the story, although fantasy, more believable because the situations were not glossed over.  
   --The intensity.  This was my favorite of the four books, far more action-packed and far more intense than the others.  There was more of the “sweet fairy tale” feel throughout the other books, until the end of the third and this one and I liked the more realistic feel to the darker 

Things I wanted more or less of...

   --A little more of the Queen.  I felt that her character was underutilized in the overall story.  Her aloofness and refusal to protect her own seemed to be too much out of character for those of Avalon so I wanted to know more about why.  I really would have liked a more expanded role for her, more depth into her character that would have explained more fully her reactions and actions.

Some quotastic goodness...

   --Sleep wasn’t an option, not while the only thing between him and an angry Winter faerie was a thin line of table salt (7).
   --“Never underestimate the power of a situation you put yourself into (23).”
   --“No person’s life should be defined by a single purpose, especially one they didn’t choose (246)."
   --The best, most lasting changes are those which come about gradually; to reach great heights, a tree must first put down extensive roots (331).

My recommendation:  I am sad to see this series end and can only hope for a companion series in the future!  A must read!

[Chelsea]

This was the perfect ending to a good book series. Though I'm really sad it's over I'm glad it ended where it did. I love her concept of faeries and how different they are from any other book. While the series sometimes wasn't the best I'm really happy with it now.

[lizarodz]

It is always sad when I’m opening the last book in a series. It’s like knowing that I would soon have to say goodbye characters and a world that I’ve come to love. I think this is so true for Destined, the last book in the Wings series.


To say that Destined is action packed is an understatement. The whole story takes place in a little over 24 hours, stating right where Illusions ended. Klea, Yuki and the trolls attack Avalon and it’s a war for survival among beings that are stronger and the power of chemical warfare that Klea unleashes. It is really hard to do this review without spoiling it for you, but I’ll do my best :)


We finally see all the characters we’ve come to love shine and others, as it happens in wars, don’t make it. Laurel’s actions and decisions are crucial at the end, and even Chelsea and especially David have their moment of glory and fame. Avalon rises to the occasion and they fight as best as they can.


So, by know you must be asking: Who ends up with Laurel? Well, I’m not telling… let me just say that I was ever so happy about it. There is a particular scene towards the end that is golden (*big sigh*).


Queen Marion is despicable, and I’m glad that Jamison knows how to play the game of power and put all his pieces in place years before. I am also happy that all of Avalon was there to witness her treachery.


The plot of the story is intricate, with many surprising turns. Ms. Pike is a masterful storyteller, and Destined was able to capture the magic that started with Wings. The ending was a big of a disappointment for me. I know that Ms. Pike warns us not to read the last part if we liked the ending, but I did any way and it made me so sad. I think also that the ending was kind of abrupt and I didn’t have a chance to savor it. I would love to see more of Laurel and ‘mystery lover’ (my lips are sealed!), and what their live together was like. Also, there is a big opportunity for a companion series after Jasmine becomes queen (*hint*).


The Wings series is a wonderful and vivid addition to the fairy worlds and I hope you give it a try.


About the cover: I like the cover of Destined best, after Wings. I like the color blue of the flower and the font too.

[notajammiedodger]

I know I will never be able to write a proper review for this book.
Perfect ending to a wonderful series. I used to hate finishing books, but I think the reason I stopped hating it, was because I started hating finishing series more. There was an authors note at the end of the book just before the kind of "epilogue" that said it was a bittersweet ending. And it really was. It made me happy, but made me cry a whole lot at the same time. Anyway, super happy with how this fantastic series ended :D Still sad to leave the characters behind now though :( But I now look forward to being able to read the whole series in one go :)

Now this is totally unrelated to Destined, but Cassandra Clare has said that the ending to her Infernal Devices series would be bittersweet, and I thought after this ending I understood what that meant more. But now I am just more worried than before :|

[catiebug]

I'm so sad this series is over! I loved the ending though, even if it was sad, it was the right way to go.