Violet Wings

by Victoria Hanley

Book Overview

After learning that she is an extremely powerful fairy, twelve-year-old Zaria Tourmaline uses her magic to try to learn about her parents' and brother's disappearance three years before, and to explore the human world--activities which put her and al

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1606840398
• ISBN13: 9781606840399
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Egmont USA
• Length: 357 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.6" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Authentic characters and setting + magical telling = WOW!

Victoria Hanley has done very well in the past in terms of creating believable characters and settings as well as plots that captivate, and she does not disappoint this time around. Violet Wings is a lovely book that captures a young girl in the throes of discovering that the adults and authority figures upon whom she has relied and trusted all her life are not only fallible but corruptible. The skill of her writing is evident as Zaria comes by this knowledge in an organic fashion--bit by bit instead of all at once. The reader, too, comes by the knowledge of how faerie and genie magic works in small doses. Hanley does a nice job of using encyclopedic entries at the front of each chapter to side-step clunky exposition and add the flavor of actual textbook learning for the magical students in the story. She also does a nice job balancing the wrap-up of the short story arc for this book against leaving lots of room for answers to develop in further books to address the questions of the longer story arc. I can't WAIT to read the next book in this series! I hope she writes fast. :)

Great fairy book for an advanced reader

Review by an 8-year old: Violet Wings has a wonderful main character, Zaria Tourmaline, and a special take on fairies. Zaria is in a class of 50, and her classmates had to wait for her to turn fourteen to get their crystal watches. Crystal watches tell how much radia you have for doing spells and what level of magic you can perform. Radia are used up when you do magic and can never be replenished. When her friend Leona flicks open her crystal watch, she finds out that she is a rare and powerful "half Violet," level 200 fairy. Later back in the classroom, Leona announces that Zaria hasn't opened her watch. She goes to her guardian, Miss Danburite, and opens the watch. She doesn't believe what she sees. Zaria is full Violet, level 100, with more radia than any fairy in Tirfayne. Soon Zaria is in a lot of trouble. With a dangerous mentor, and missing family to find, this is a good adventure story for advanced readers. I hope she will write a sequel.

Fascinating journey into the fairy realm

Zaria Tourmaline is not a typical teen. For one thing she's an orphan whose parents and brother disappeared years ago. She lives with - of all people - her cranky teacher, Beryl Danburite. And she's not exactly human. She is a lavender fairy with violet wings. On her 14th birthday, along with receiving the customary watch and wand, Zaria discovers that she possesses enormous magical powers. This shocking revelation immediately turns her world upside down. Her world is Tirfeyne, which is not typical either. Tirfeyne is located in Feyland, another dimension where fairies, genies, gnomes, leprechauns, trolls, and quite possibly a few trogs live. Zaria is not content to learn about her new abilities from her mentor, Lily Morganite whom she despises. She studies her mother's spellbook which provides her with a comforting connection to her long lost family and an overwhelming desire to find out what happened to them. She and her friends sneak through an unauthorized portal to visit Earth where they experiment with casting spells on unsuspecting humans and wind up in more trouble than they could have ever imagined. But fairies are charged with using their magic to do good in the world. Amid all the turmoil and mischief that surrounds her - not to mention the part she plays in it - Zaria unravels a mystery that involves her missing family. When everything seems lost, it is up to Zaria to make something good come from all of it. "Violet Wings" is part fantasy, part mystery, part coming of age. All together Hanley takes readers on a fascinating journey into another realm with enough friends, family, scoundrels, rascals, plus those pesky rules and laws to stay engrossed without being overwhelmed. Genie historian Orville Gold's narratives at the beginning of each chapter dispense Feyland fun facts and even some clues for the careful reader. Zaria and her friends are enchanting creatures who are just beginning to understand their own powers. Feyland is a mystical world that readers will long to return to again and again.

One word: amazing!

Squee! Violet Wings was just the perfect book for me. I would describe it as being a cross between Faery Rebels by R.J. Anderson and Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. With so many fairy books out there already, It is pretty difficult to write a book that strands out among the others. I truly feel that Victoria Hanley accomplished this with Violet Wings. The pace was so quick and suspenseful that I literally could not put Violet Wings down. I was up until 1:30 in the morning when I finally realize I had to put it down and go to bed for the night. The next day at work I could not wait to get home to finish it. The story grabbed me and wouldn't let go until the very end. The world of the fairies is hardly perfect. All fairies are female and all genies are male and there is a cast system of sorts that divides all of them based on their level of magical ability. These imperfections served not only to build suspense, but also to make the world of fairies more believable. This is also where I saw the most resemblance between Faery Rebels and Violet Wings. I loved Faery Rebels, so this is a the highest compliment coming from me. The character in Violet Wings were well written and easily relatable. I adored Zaria, and I was routing for her and her friends throughout the novel. Zaria is the type of character that reminds me of someone in a Harry Potter book, with the unconventional way that Zaria uses her magic, I could just picture her fighting Voldemort with Harry. In Violet Wings, Zaria has her own villains to fight including an evil power hungry fairy who wants to control Zaria's magical powers. The ending is obviously set up for sequel, so do not expect to have all of your questions answered at the end. I for one cannot wait for the next book. Until then, run out to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of Violet Wings.

Love the main character!

Fourteen-year-old Zaria Tourmaline is a fairy who lives in the magical land of Feyland and has to figure out how to handle the exceptional powers she has been given through her violet wings--and the associated problems. I love this strong female character who shows such bravery and such loyalty to her friends. I also love the imaginary world Hanley has created. Each chapter starts out with an entry by Orville Gold, genie historian of Feyland, who describes details of the worlds unseen by humans on Earth, and the fascinating "rules" of these worlds. Especially interesting is the concept of each fairy and genie being born with a certain level of magic, measured in "radia." When the fairies and genies are older and find out how much radia they have, they must balance their desire to use magic with the reality of how much radia they have been allotted for life. Understandably, this knowledge has a huge impact on their lives. This book is definitely going to be on my gift list for young teenage girls!