On the Back
of the Book
The apprenticeship is
over
Now the real test has
begun
When word that Yelena is a
Soulfinder – able to capture and release souls – spreads like wildfire, people
grow uneasy. Already Yelena’s unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As
the Council debates Yelena’s fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is
rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated
before.
Honour sets Yelena on a path
that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reuniting with her
beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies and enemies.
Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself – and save the land she holds
dear.
Pre Read
Thoughts
Book
one was excellent, book two was good and now I’m ready to read book three. The
final book in fact. I’m not sure how I feel about reading this, especially as ‘Magic
Study’ left me feeling slightly disappointed. I do want to finish what I
started with this series though. As you’re well aware, I purchased the whole
trilogy for £5 in The Works. I think this is the best I think this is my
favourite cover of the series. I can’t explain why, it’s just that the whole
thing ties together nicely and the model looks a part of the cover and not a last
minute addition. The synopsis confuses me a bit and that does make me hesitate
slightly before I pick it up. I only hope that this book recaptures the form
that was displayed in ‘Poison Study’.
Post Read
Thoughts
I’m
sad to say that this was another disappointment, the beginning was horrifically
slow and I had a terrible time trying to get into the story. It really did take
me ages and when I did finally find myself starting to drift into Yelena’s
world I found my opinions on some characters had changed. Quite dramatically in
fact. Saying that, the last few chapters were absolutely amazing and I wish
that the rest of the book had been written like that. Once again some of the
plot was incredibly obvious but I was fooled about a few of the major plot
developments. That goes in the author’s favour but it’s negated by the fact
that I did guess some of the major plot developments. I can’t help but feel
that she was a bit obvious with her characterization. I also liked that once
again I found the book easy to visualise.
Now
on to the characters, but I’m not entirely sure who I’m going to talk about. I
think I’m going to let my brain to do a bit of work. It may secretly be harbouring
opinions.
Yelena – she really frustrated me in
this book. The strong, independent woman was gone, replaced by some lovesick
fool who was afraid of stupid things. It felt as though she was just relying on
her magic and Valek and because of that her brains had melted and she could do
anything for herself. She regained her strength a bit at the end but it was too
little, too late. I don’t like her any more.
Kiki – now Kiki is Yelena’s trusty
steed (Sorry, I’ve always wanted to get ‘trusty steed’ into a review) but I’m
not really a fan of the idea of a horse that can communicate with its owner. Especially
when the horse is made to sound like a peppermint obsessed toddler. I’m sorry, but I genuinely think that the
relationship could have been explored in a better way.
Moon Man – he’s Yelena’s Story Weaver
and I think the best way to describe him is amusing and confusing. I loved how
he always had an answer to Yelena’s questions and that he didn’t care if they
made sense or not. Most of the time he didn’t make sense but he’s a nice guy
and some of what he said sounded really good.
There
are other characters that I’d like to talk about but I’d be here all day and
nobody wants that. Trust me; you won’t be able to stop me.
Overall,
I’m not entirely sure what to make of this. There are some truly awesome
moments but they’re negated by some truly mediocre ones. I did eventually find
myself in Sitia and Ixia but it took ages for me to get there. I’m not sure why
the quality falls away as the trilogy progresses but it’s very disappointing.
Maybe the author just ran out of ideas and had to stretch out what she had. It doesn’t
matter that it lacks idea wise and the beginning is really bad, the writing
kind of makes up for it.
My Rating
3 stars – This is a book that evens
itself out so in the end it becomes a good book. I’d recommend that people
finish the trilogy but I’m disappointed that the whole trilogy, and especially
this book, didn’t live up to the quality of book one.
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