I really liked Flying Blind so I was a bit sad when Winging It fell somewhat short of my expectations for it. I am still trying to understand what went wrong and have come to the conclusion that maybe it was my reading experience at fault and not the book itself. Winging It had a much slower beginning than Flying Blind and this slowness affected the pacing of the entire novel and also prevented me from getting into the novel as I wanted to.The new elements to the narrative are interesting – especially the singing spell casters and whatnot. What I did not like was the romantic complications and the gradual growth of a love triangle. I also found it difficult to believe that the boy of one’s dreams would not look behind and miss all the self-sacrificing one is doing to ensure dream boy’s survival. That doesn’t happen anywhere except in cartoons – no matter how loud your mp3 player may be.I also thought that the so called leaders of the Pyr, Zoe’s dad the chief among them, would be so blithely unaware of the tensions underneath the surface of the truce. It doesn’t ring true of dragons who have lived for centuries and are versed in the corruptibility of the mages. And to think that he’d leave the lone female dragon alone while he went looking for his missing mate is even more improbable. It doesn’t ring true to character is what I’m saying and if I were reading Cooke’s adult series which I think figure the same characters, I would not be too happy. Also, why would Zoe, unless she is completely dense, not be suspicious of two new students who just happened to transfer to her school following the traumatic events earlier in the year?That said, the novel is somewhat entertaining and does show Zoe’s progression and growth. While this sequel wasn’t a favourite, it did whet my appetite and made me look forward to see how this all ends.
