Hunted, Killed—Survived?
As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.
Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.
War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.This is the second book of the healer series and Touch of Power is the first in the series. I admit in the last book I did not like Kerrick at all. Even though he was so much better at the end of the last book I had a hard time reconciling him from the beginning. So, in this case it was a good thing for the second book to come a bit later than right after the first. Why? Because in this book I loved Kerrick and actually had to be reminded I didn't like him at first.
So, yes, I was totally on board with the romance. The adventure in this one also was very captivating despite the politics within the story. There was a good balance with the political wrangling and action that neither felt overwhelming the other. It kept me reading at a good pace.
I had a bit of a problem with the ending. Some of the conclusion with the big bad Tohon was a bit too fast and contrived for me, but still left enough open that I will not discount anything. I will also say this: the ending killed me a bit too. UGH! You will want the 3rd installment of this series ASAP. In fact, that isn't even soon enough for me. :)
I give this book 4 stars and think this is an excellent second book to this series. I still really enjoy Avry and she is a great heroine in this series. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a older YA magical adventure. This book will be published tomorrow: 12/18/12
I received this book via NetGalley and the publisher and no compensation for my review was given.
I liked Touch of Power, and I've been looking forward to reading this one.
ReplyDeleteI really wanted more romance in this book. But I do understand the need for more story building. Glad you like the book!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know your feelings changed about a character. I hope you won't have too long to wait for book 3. I'll have to try book 1 lol
ReplyDeleteI think this might be one of the few instances where a gap in between books turned out to be advantageous! Gave your dislike for Kerrick time to become muted, so you started this second book with more of a clean slate with him. So glad you liked him so much better second time around!
ReplyDeleteI did like, and did not like book 1. There were things that were..meh
ReplyDeleteOoo, this is a series I want to read, but need to get into this world. Glad to hear you love Kerrick now. :) Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to hear that Kerrick was a character you ended up loving after not liking him in the first. I haven't read this series, but I have some of Maria's books. Actually, I have read some, but not any of her fantasy. I think I'm thinking of the same author anyway... But definitely want to read this series!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the first book but it's on my want's list. I'm glad the second book seems to be better than the first, but sounds like a cliffie. I can only handle so many of those. I'm waiting for the series to finish!
ReplyDeleteHeather
I really want to read this series, but I so hate everything zombie!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this second book, I am so curious to find out what the villains are going to do in the third book-so much is up in the air!
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