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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
5 stars
Brilliant world building, character development and adventure! Excited to start on book 2!
Brilliant world building, character development and adventure! Excited to start on book 2!
As with Maria V. Snyder's Poison Study, this is a cross between adult and new adult. I think it really is new adult, but because that didn't exist when they were published it gets thrown in with adult fiction.
I wanted to like this more than I did. The worldview is so original and interesting. I loved the healer aspect and the way magic worked. Thought that part was well done.
However, my connection to the characters was lacking. It wasn't that I DIDN'T like Avry, because I did, I didn't love her. Her point of view was kind of okay for me. I think it could have been a lot better.
I did not like Kerrick for most of the book. I get that that is the point, but I think she wrote his love interest part in badly. As a woman I could not respect myself if I fell for a guy who treated me the way he did. I know that Kerrick regretted his actions and grew as a character, but it's still not okay with me. I think this particular plotline sends a wrong message, especially to little girls, and kind of reinforces the patriarchy and stockholm syndrome. I'm very disappointed in Touch of Power because of that. I wanted to give it 4 stars, but I just can't do it. It really has nothing on Poison Study. While I will read the next two books in the trilogy and see how it progresses, I don't believe I will recommend this particular book of hers.
I wanted to like this more than I did. The worldview is so original and interesting. I loved the healer aspect and the way magic worked. Thought that part was well done.
However, my connection to the characters was lacking. It wasn't that I DIDN'T like Avry, because I did, I didn't love her. Her point of view was kind of okay for me. I think it could have been a lot better.
I did not like Kerrick for most of the book. I get that that is the point, but I think she wrote his love interest part in badly. As a woman I could not respect myself if I fell for a guy who treated me the way he did. I know that Kerrick regretted his actions and grew as a character, but it's still not okay with me. I think this particular plotline sends a wrong message, especially to little girls, and kind of reinforces the patriarchy and stockholm syndrome. I'm very disappointed in Touch of Power because of that. I wanted to give it 4 stars, but I just can't do it. It really has nothing on Poison Study. While I will read the next two books in the trilogy and see how it progresses, I don't believe I will recommend this particular book of hers.
Ok this book was truly amazing. i didn't expect as much and only went on good reviews to decide about this book but ive never been so glad i did.
Avery is a healer. a person gifted with the magic of taking wounds from others and healing them, but not with out a price, she then must face the same injuries that the person has faced. With a plague that has just ended millions of lives, healers are hunted and blamed for the unknown causes and unable to heal the disease. Avery is the last of her kind. when arrested after healing a sick girl and became too sick to run she is arrested. Fortunately Kerrick and his band of misfits come to the rescue with a mission in mind. To heal the Prince Ryne. The prince who started the hatred towards healers. Of course she's resists at first, but learns she cant run. She knows what it means to heal a plague victim. Death. The plague cannot be cured, even by the Healers, and only Avery is left.
With many unexpected problems ahead will these misfits and Avery get along, and what would happen if a romance were to bloom? Avery knows a future for her is impossible if she heals Ryne. No one has ever survived the plague and no one ever will, without a cure. can they find one. Do they even know that she must give her life in oder to have Prince Ryne's?
I loved this book and the ending had me in tears. I give this five well deserved stars and recoment this to anyone, who like adventure, action, mystery and a bit of Romance.
Avery is a healer. a person gifted with the magic of taking wounds from others and healing them, but not with out a price, she then must face the same injuries that the person has faced. With a plague that has just ended millions of lives, healers are hunted and blamed for the unknown causes and unable to heal the disease. Avery is the last of her kind. when arrested after healing a sick girl and became too sick to run she is arrested. Fortunately Kerrick and his band of misfits come to the rescue with a mission in mind. To heal the Prince Ryne. The prince who started the hatred towards healers. Of course she's resists at first, but learns she cant run. She knows what it means to heal a plague victim. Death. The plague cannot be cured, even by the Healers, and only Avery is left.
With many unexpected problems ahead will these misfits and Avery get along, and what would happen if a romance were to bloom? Avery knows a future for her is impossible if she heals Ryne. No one has ever survived the plague and no one ever will, without a cure. can they find one. Do they even know that she must give her life in oder to have Prince Ryne's?
I loved this book and the ending had me in tears. I give this five well deserved stars and recoment this to anyone, who like adventure, action, mystery and a bit of Romance.
After Poison Study, I thought any book by Maria V. Snyder would be amazing.
Man was I wrong!
I didn't like the second book of the study series and I never read the third one.
I thought this new series would be good. Nope!
Same crap as the first series, but the healing part. All these insane and complicated obstacles kept happening. Would have much rather read Graceling or Fire by Kristin Cashore again.
Bottom line: done with this author!!! Couldn't finish the book nor did I need to because I knew how it ended! Bad, bad, bad.
Man was I wrong!
I didn't like the second book of the study series and I never read the third one.
I thought this new series would be good. Nope!
Same crap as the first series, but the healing part. All these insane and complicated obstacles kept happening. Would have much rather read Graceling or Fire by Kristin Cashore again.
Bottom line: done with this author!!! Couldn't finish the book nor did I need to because I knew how it ended! Bad, bad, bad.
This book was so so. I thought the fantasy element was a bit confusing since I'm new to the fantasy genre. But I liked the love story. It felt gradual and believable to me. I think I'd be interested in the second book in the series.
I love Maria V Snyder. The woman is a freaking genius, I'm telling you. I love all her books, and they never disappoint as a good story.
I found Touch of Magic much more modern as her other fantasy novels- even The Inside series in fact, due to language... The language is quite modern in some parts, and flowed a little differently: still the same style.. But different feeling.
Of course, the ending killed me, and each chapter was a cliffhanger of it's own. Yeesh.. The one in the garden, I think I released a very girlish squeal. And allow me to say..... I half melted at the end. (Who could ever expect he could be that MUSHY?!)
Maria V Snyder continues to not disappoint, and I look forward to reading Scent of Magic.
I found Touch of Magic much more modern as her other fantasy novels- even The Inside series in fact, due to language... The language is quite modern in some parts, and flowed a little differently: still the same style.. But different feeling.
Of course, the ending killed me, and each chapter was a cliffhanger of it's own. Yeesh.. The one in the garden, I think I released a very girlish squeal. And allow me to say..... I half melted at the end. (Who could ever expect he could be that MUSHY?!)
Maria V Snyder continues to not disappoint, and I look forward to reading Scent of Magic.
I don't really write many reviews so here goes nothing.
I will start by saying that I really enjoyed this story, the world the author created, and the characters she introduced. When I finished it, I immediately bought the second book, Scent of Magic, after because I genuinely want to know what happens and I don't want the summarized notes.
The thing I love about it the most is that it was really difficult [for me] to put down. That's not something I find often in a book and I can name a handful of books that have made me feel this way. The story is interesting I found it to be a quick read. I don't always get a lot of time to read so short reads are usually better for me.
So why 4 stars? There are some moments that I feel were missed opportunities for descriptions or dialogue from the author. Sometimes, she didn't elaborate in areas where I would have liked a little more detail. It could be a piece of scenery or, in some cases, lost dialogue. You would be told that there was a discussion but you weren't given the conversation and left wondering what was said. Sometimes you are told later IF it's important to the storyline and I was okay with those moments, however, some were not important but I still found myself wanting something there. In some cases, descriptions were left very much to the imagination because a character is only described as having a bald head or being very plain with a stumpy nose and blonde hair. Personally, I like a happy medium where they give you enough to draw a character in your mind but not drone on for 10 pages about every little detail down to the beads on a necklace.
That all being said, this is a GREAT young adult novel. I like to refer to it as a "gateway" novel that will encourage younger readers to want to read more. I didn't like reading when I was younger (dyslexia did not help) and this is one of those that would have helped me in those moments.
I will start by saying that I really enjoyed this story, the world the author created, and the characters she introduced. When I finished it, I immediately bought the second book, Scent of Magic, after because I genuinely want to know what happens and I don't want the summarized notes.
The thing I love about it the most is that it was really difficult [for me] to put down. That's not something I find often in a book and I can name a handful of books that have made me feel this way. The story is interesting I found it to be a quick read. I don't always get a lot of time to read so short reads are usually better for me.
So why 4 stars? There are some moments that I feel were missed opportunities for descriptions or dialogue from the author. Sometimes, she didn't elaborate in areas where I would have liked a little more detail. It could be a piece of scenery or, in some cases, lost dialogue. You would be told that there was a discussion but you weren't given the conversation and left wondering what was said. Sometimes you are told later IF it's important to the storyline and I was okay with those moments, however, some were not important but I still found myself wanting something there. In some cases, descriptions were left very much to the imagination because a character is only described as having a bald head or being very plain with a stumpy nose and blonde hair. Personally, I like a happy medium where they give you enough to draw a character in your mind but not drone on for 10 pages about every little detail down to the beads on a necklace.
That all being said, this is a GREAT young adult novel. I like to refer to it as a "gateway" novel that will encourage younger readers to want to read more. I didn't like reading when I was younger (dyslexia did not help) and this is one of those that would have helped me in those moments.
There is just something I love about Maria V. Snyder's books. They are fantasy in a sort of classical sense. But it's all her own style too. She always has heroines who are strong, and they take care of business, and kick butt in general. In Touch of Power we meet Avry of Kazan who is a healer. She lives in a world that despises healers. She is hunted whenever she heals someone, but she doesn't like to see people suffer when she knows she can help. She'll stay in one place for a few weeks and then she'll have to leave because she will inevitably heal someone. She lives her life on the run. At one point the father of a little girl she heals turns her in, and she is jailed and awaiting execution when a group of men breaks her out of jail. The book is the tale of their travels and experiences. And of course there's a nice love story in there too. :) I enjoyed the read.