169) Taste of Darkness by Maria V. Snyder

The Blurb :


She's fought death and won. But how can she fight her fears?

Avry knows hardship and trouble. She fought the plague and survived. She took on King Tohon and defeated him. But now her heart-mate, Kerrick, is missing, and Avry fears he's gone forever.

But there's a more immediate threat. The Skeleton King plots to claim the Fifteen Realms for his own. With armies in disarray and the dead not staying down, Avry's healing powers are needed now more than ever.Torn between love and loyalty, Avry must choose her path carefully. For the future of her world depends on her decision.

My Thoughts :

Maria V. Snyder's books are exceptional and I have enjoyed reading each and every one of them.  However Taste of Darkness, the third and final book in the Healer trilogy was not my favourite.

Finally presented with the last installment of another original and captivating story made me want to read it straight away.  However I took my time and waited till the holidays were coming around because I knew I would have more time to read Taste of Darkness without many distractions and with more time to give it the attention it deserved.  In retrospect maybe I should I have began this one as soon as I received it because I ended up having to take a break halfway through because it was not at all what I expected.

I am not giving this book a bad review, I am just saying that this time around I wasn't feeling the story and characters.  I couldn't follow the story, there was so much going on.  Add the fact that I forgotten most of the story due to the length of time between the books being released.  Such stories with so much depth are hard to follow with long pauses and this is one series that needs to be read after another to be fully enjoyed.  Little things but still they made their mark.

However, what I think ruined the book for me was that the copy I was given to review had no chapters and no breaks.  This meant I didn't even know when the POV was changing until a paragraph or so later.  It gave me a headache and can't believe publishers would give reviewers such a bad edition of the book to read.  I ended up having to back track and re-read a lot of the book to figure out the when, where and who.  It was frustrating and made the story practically unreadable.

So any fans who are reading this review, don't take my words too seriously.  I think anyone who has been following Avry's story will enjoy this book and be happy with the way it ended.  There were some special moments, some interesting twists and of course the concept is just wonderful.  Maria gets another thumbs up for creating yet another unforgettable world, set of characters and plot.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

If you haven't already had the pleasure of reading Maria's work then I suggest you start with the Study Series.  Still one of my all time favourite reads and one I make sure family and friends get a copy of.







 

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