Release Date: Out now!Publisher: Dial
Pages: 394pgs
The Story
What's worse than being blackmailed to attend a hidden school where you're treated like a second-class citizen? How about nearly getting eaten by a monster when you arrive? Or learning that your soulmate was killed in a centuries-old secret war? And then there's the evil king who's determined to rule the world unless you can stop him . . .
Meet Kaya, a young woman with the powers to heal and the determination to fight. But struggle as she will, she remains tied to three very different men: a hero who has forsaken glory, a tyrannical ruler who wants to use Kaya, and a warrior who's stolen her heart. Kaya learns the hard way that some ties can't be broken . . . and blood is the strongest bond of all.
The Review
For most of her life, Kaya, a young Healer, has lived in a village with her two parents and life couldn't be any better. But when vicious creatures attack the village one night and kill her best friend in the process, everything will change for this young teenage girl, especially since she lives in a world of Barrons, Healers and those of the Unskilled. With her parents being ex-Barrons and narrowingly escaping from their rightful duty, branding them as traitors, Kaya is sent a letter inviting her to attend Shadow Academy to be trained properly as a Healer and be bound to another Barron - her life's main purpose. But Kaya wants to be more than a simple Healer; she wants to fight side-by-side with the Barrons and wield her blade . . . to not be helpless as everyone claims her to be. And with two new boys soon entering her life, one being her bounded Barron and the other one not, Kaya will need to decide once and for all where her true loyalites lie and to find out what exactly it is that she is truly fighting for.
I've been a faithful minion of our Auntie Heather Brewer for quite some time now and SOULBOUND turned out to be one of her best books to date. My favourite of hers EVER actually! Firstly, it was absolutely fantastic, and secondly, it was more than I could possibly ask for from Heather Brewer because I was highly entertained by this book. So entertained! It was action-packed and mysterious, dangerous and intense, romantic and surprising, and it was just your kind of book with some typical fantasy but with all the right amount of elements to make it its own and I can't wait to get more from this series!
Kaya was a perfect heroine in my eyes! She was someone you could easily identify with and she was also someone you would immediately like since she has the 'Rose-Hathaway-from-Vampire-Academy-badassery-type-of-personality' which I'm sure many of you readers will be very, very happy to hear about. I mean, seriously . . . she reminded me a lot of Rose in so many ways. Kaya is completely stubborn, she's super smart and she's ridiculously sarcastic, and she's everything I love in a main heroine. Then, of course, there are other characters too in the book and whether you like them or not, love them or hate them, I was still quite pleased with the romantic love interests in the story, no matter the frustrations that seemed to come along with them.
Trayton is the sweet but gentle type of boy whom happens to be the Barron Kaya will be bound to for life and I loved the connection he immediately shared with Kaya, and how much he actually cared for her. However, I wouldn't go saying they were perfect for each other. I mean, nothing can ever compare to his mysterious and handsome competitor, Darius, whom offered so much more to the storyline and considering the cliffhanger I was left on . . . I SO want more from his character! Now like any other bad boy rounding the corner and captivating the heroine, here we have the second love interest - this silver-haired boy that barks out every order and whom happened to be the one who'd saved Kaya the night of her arrival at the Academy. Unlike the sweet Trayton we love, Darius on the other hand is this fiery fighter who lives and breathes to take charge at every possible moment and while Kaya continues to struggle to trust him but somehow and some way . . . she can't help but be connected to him. Oh Darius . . . I adored him completely and obviously I'm waving his team banner in the air right now! Reminding me so much of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy's Dimitri character, it's no wonder why so many other fangals like me are left swooning over this young fellow and I want more and more and more of him! Clearly.
Overall, SOULBOUND has left me with a lot of questions and my head is still reeling over the ending, so I definitely can't wait to get my hands on its sequel! So be sure to pick up this book when you can so we can speculate together on what happens next!
The Rating
5/5 stars
