Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Taste of Darkness by Maria V Snyder!!

As the final entry for this week's Mark This Book Monday I have one of those ARCs that have been pending a while in my NetGalley account, but I finally got around to read it! Thanks a lot to Harlequin Mira for the approval!

This one is not only part of my 2014 Series Challenge as the final book of the Healer series, but also part of my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge and as such, also part of ARC April!

Taste of Darkness by Maria V. Snyder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was the reason I read the entire trilogy, since I requested it on NetGalley and got approved for it, but unfortunately I couldn't read the previous books or this one in time for release date. I'm so thankful for Harlequin Mira for approving me, and better late than never, I guess?

This ARC had a few minor issues that annoyed me a bit while reading it, the biggest one being the fact that the different POV chapters where not separated, even to the point of a line on a page being one POV and then the next line after the stop being a different POV! Thankfully Kerrick's and Avry's voices were different enough, to recognize them instantly but it was a bit confusing. The formating affected also the ending a bit, cause I had to read the final pages twice to make sure I hadn't missed anything!

Taste of Darkness starts right where Scent of Magic left us, all unhappy and in shock & denial! I will try my best to keep this review spoiler free, but you can expect spoilers for the previous two books. This was quite a fantastic final book for a trilogy, even if I felt like some threats where included just to throw something more to keep us entertained till the final showdown happened.

I am a huge fan of Avry, she's one of my fave female leads with her healing selflessness, her streak of stubborness and her loyalty. I really felt for her through all the pain and losses she went through in this book! She still managed to overcome some difficulties and kick arse.

One thing that seemed to be a recurring theme in this book and series is how you keep on assuming the worst about friends missing and how you should not give up hope too easily. And how it seemed that death was not always permanent but can't be cheated all the time and not without consequences.

I loved how we get more and more information about what really happened and how the plague was started, but not everything is explained, we still have some things here and there left to be figured out or imagined on our own. I loved the Peace & Death Lilies, a different kind of magic from the usual one.

This was quite a fitting ending for a great trilogy, with plenty of action, intrigue and an ending that kept us worried till the very end! Well deserved 4 stars for this one!



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Saturday Pages: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder!!

As the final entry on this week's Saturday Pages I have the sequel for the previous entry and one that doesn't suffer from the dreaded middle book syndrome! It is also part of my 2014 Series Challenge!

Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Scent of Magic is another one of those strong sequels that don't disappoint, and after a great book like A Touch Power, it's not an easy feat. As usual, I will do my best to avoid spoilers for the book, but you can expect spoilers for book 1 since the plot of this book is built on the ending of book 1.

These series has become a quick favourite of mine cause I love the main character, Avry. She's strong, resourceful and even if she's headstrong and stubborn as a rule, she doesn't usually charge head on onto disaster. She just doesn't take orders just because well, but she is more than ready to work together when informed of the plans. I feel a special kinship with her since she's a healer and I'm a nurse, though I always wonder if I'd be able to take other people's injuries as my own to cure them.

Scent of Magic is told in dual POVs, from Kerrick's and Avry's, which make sense since they spend most of the book apart, wondering what's going on with each other, wondering about each others' safety but never failing to do their duty. Each one of them has a different mission but both are working to make sure Tohon or the northen tribes won't overrun the Realms.

Avry takes advantage of the fact that most people think her dead, so she takes on another identity to infiltrate the army of the High Priestess of the Creator. It's very interesting to see Avry prove her own worth to others and herself by doing something other than being a healer. I loved how she tried to make amendments with her sister and how she kept on worrying about keeping her friends believing she was dead.

We've got quite a bit of world building in this one, since Kerrick's travels take him beyond the Realms, and we learn a lot by comparing the tribes customs and traditions with the ones from the Realms.

There's plenty of military tactics, political intrigue and magical mysteries to keep our attention page after page. We also keep on wondering about the fate of some of characters here and there.

The ending was quite evil, with an awful emotional cliffhanger that made me extremely happy to have the final book to read right after this one. Well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars!



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Saturday Pages: A Touch of Power by Maria V. Snider!!

For this week's Saturday Pages I have the first book on a series that I had wanted to read for a while and even more once I got approved for the ARC of the final book of the series on NetGalley.

This one is also part of the Series Challenge 2014, even if it wasn't in my original list!

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had this series in my TBR list for quite a while since the moment that I read in the synopsis that it was about a healer. It really appealed to me since I'm a nurse and I'm always drawn to stories with healers in them, even if I usually don't like medical fiction.

As usual, I will try my best to keep this review spoiler free.

Avry is a Healer in a world where they are reviled and have been hunted down and killed for failing to cure a plague that decimated the population and completely changed the political face of the different kingdoms or realms.

She's been running and hiding for 3 years, but she risks discovery to save a lil girl. That lands her in prison and she's rescued by a band of guys that want her to use her powers to save one of the leaders of the realms, and one that she doesn't think worthy of risking her life to save.

She is half kidnapped half rescued, but after trying to escape unsuccessfully and finding that the alternative of being taken prisoner to be delivered to another powerful leader are worse, she sticks with the band, even if she makes it very clear she won't be healing their leader.

I loved Avry, how caring she is, how deeply she loves being a healer and how much a part of herself it is. She's also strong, a bit stubborn and very much able to adapt and learn in every situation. I loved how her interactions with her band of captors/recuers went from mistrust and resent to respect & friendship. And how her relationship with Kerrick changed from strong dislike and mistrust to other quite different strong emotions.

The characters were great and I got quite emotionally attached to the whole band, not just Avry and Kerrick. Some of the misunderstandings between Avry & Kerrick would frustrate me a bit, but nothing that would take me out of the story.

I loved the world building of the story and how we keep on discovering things about the healers, the realms, the plague and all the political maneouvers that are taking place. But the characters are what totally make this book, so human and so flawed and so trying to make their way in a broken world to do what they think is right, even if they don't always agree on how or what that is.

Very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars!



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