Review: Soulbound

Soulbound (Legacy of Tril #1) by Heather Brewer
Release Date ~ June 19, 2012
DIAL ~ Penguin
ISBN13: 9780803737235
ARC received from Penguin Canada for review

Goodreads Synopsis:
Tril is a world where Barrons and Healers are Bound to each other: Barrons fight and Healers cure their Barrons' wounds in the ongoing war with the evil Graplar King. Seventeen-year-old Kaya was born a Healer, but she wants to fight. In Tril, and at Shadow Academy, where she is sent to learn to heal, it is against Protocol for Healers to fight. So Kaya must learn in secret. Enter two young men: One charming, rule-following Barron who becomes Bound to Kaya and whose life she must protect at all costs. And one with a mysterious past who seems bent on making Kaya's life as difficult as possible. Kaya asks both to train her, but only one will, and the consequences will change their lives forever.

My familiarity with Heather Brewer’s work was rather limited (having only read one book of hers) before I heard about Soulbound and it caught my interest with its unique take on fantasy. I’m always looking for new fantasy series to fall in love with, and Soulbound sounded as if it would be exactly that!

It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I didn’t enjoy Soulbound, because so many of the elements I look for were there – a brave heroine struggling against her circumstances, plenty of training and fighting, plenty of romance (I don’t even mind a love triangle as much as I used to) including forbidden love, and a world to save. But it just didn’t work for me like I hoped it would.

1. Kaya’s bravery and determination:
   
   I’m a sucker for those books that have young women struggling to overcome the limits society has placed on her. The kind where she really feels she has to PROVE herself and does exactly that. Kaya’s story fits perfectly within this archetype, and I really liked her for that reason alone. Plus, I like how much self-respect she has and that the romance was pretty good – she isn’t weak when it comes to this love triangle and manages to stay pretty true to herself. 

But part of the problem for me is that I wasn’t really sold on any of the characters. I liked Kaya well enough, but I didn’t love her. I admired her to an extent... but then it just felt kinda “mehhh...” for me. She didn’t come alive for me. There was nothing that made her stand out in my mind that felt uniquely Kaya-like. That sounds weird, but I grew up reading Tamora Pierce and since then I’ve sought out a number of books akin to those old favourites. And Kaya felt like a character mold rather than a character to me. Likewise with the boys, both who were interesting enough but they all just felt like archetypes instead of real people. And the love triangle was a bit too draining for me to enjoy the rest of the story, because it seemed to detract from the larger picture.

I also had a hard time with the setting. It never really felt explained or developed at all. I knew it was fantasy-ish but I had no clue about the history or politics or society. This is a deal-breaker for me, and Soulbound didn’t deliver. It felt glossed over and largely ignored to the point where it was nearly non-existent and completely forgettable.

I may just be curious enough to try the next one again since I still feel like there’s a lot of potential here.

Review: First Kill

First Kill (The Slayer Chronicles #1) by Heather Brewer
Release Date ~ September 20, 2011
Penguin ~ Dutton Juvenile
ISBN13: 9780803737419
Received from: won in Goodreads giveaway from Penguin Canada

Goodreads Synopsis:

Heather Brewer's five volume Chronicles of Vladimir Tod tracked its vampire hero through five school years of biting and other acts of mayhem. Now Vlad's cousin Joss Mcmillan, who appeared in the series, takes center stage in an offshoot epic that promises to attract readers not afraid to listen to a different paranormal drummer. Joss is a Slayer with uncommon, indeed unique powers, but he will need every talent in his arsenal to survive a recent infestation of vampires. Chronicles with claws.

I just discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer not too long ago, and I've been HOOKED on it since! So, that may have had something to do with my decision to finally read First Kill, the new spin-off series from Heather Brewer.

Needless to say, I've found another vampire slayer to worm their place into my heart. I haven't read the previous Vladimir Tod books, but I found it easy enough to understand this great new series without the prior knowledge. But I'm sure fans of Vladimir Tod will find lots more to discover in Slayer Chronicles.

1. Male protaganist:
   I really liked reading about Joss as a character, and I'm hoping to see even greater development from him in future books. And I think it's great when there are new series which focus on male characters, to sort of balance out the female ones. Joss is such an interesting character himself, and is a part of an interesting story that can easily be enjoyed by fans of paranormal YA (male AND female readers).
2. Good twists:
   I love nothing more than good plot twists. And First Kill sets you up nicely so that most of them are rather unexpected and surprising. I like books that keep me guessing, and there are plenty of questions in First Kill, and just enough are answered to keep you interested and satisfied, and enough left unaswered to keep you guessing.
3. Vampire slaying for a younger generation:
   Vampire slayers aren't a new idea, and like I said, I picked this one up while in the middle of a Buffy kick. But I think it's an idea that hasn't been used as much recently, even with all of the fixation surrounding vampires. Even for those who are sick of vampires, I think the storyline following vampire slayers is one that most will find captivating and engaging for its unique perspective (similar to the alchemist perspective in Richelle Mead's Bloodlines).

First Kill made for rather light reading, and while it was enjoyable I still would have liked to see a bit more happen and a story that would engage me more as a reader. It felt rather light for a book that dealt with more serious topics like death and grief, and I wish that had been implemented more overall but perhaps it is something that will be brought up in later books.

For a book I wasn't expecting very much from, I was incredibly impressed by how muc I enjoyed this one and can now see why people have been enjoying Heather's past books as well. I'm not sure how much this series will tie in to the Vladimir Tod books, but I can't wait to see where the next books go!