Touch of Power (Avery of Kazan #1) by Maria V Snyder

Pages: 390
Publisher: Mira Books
Released: December 2011


Plot: Avery is a healer, she has the ability to cure the sick by temporarily taking away their disease. A gift some might say, however this is not true. Avery lives her life in hiding, hunted and feared all through the realms as the scapegoat to the cause of the plague that has killed many.
Avery soon discovers that she is the last of her kind when she is hunted and captured by Kerrick and his men with the task to travel back with them and cure their friend. But with trouble always at their backs will they make it in time? And even if they do will Avery want to heal this 'friend'?

Good Points: I actually quite liked this book. I thought the story was quite unique and they're was plenty of action and drama to keep me entertained. The book is written in the main character, Avery,'s perspective and what a character she is! By the end of the book I was very impressed by her strength and the things she does to protect her friends. She wasn't whiney and she got on and did what she had to do which I liked.
The other characters, mainly those who help capture and save Avery all work well together, they're personalities shining though individually as well, Belen or Poppa bear as Avery nicknames him and Flea are the main stand-out characters in my opinion, yet the book does not fail to show humour and fun through its other notable characters.
The plot was good and I liked where the series is going, definitely looking forward to the next books!

Bad Points: I have to admit at first I wasn't sure about the pacing of the book, in my opinion especially when they were travelling near the beginning that large chunks were missing. However by the end of the book you realise the vast time period to which the book spans and it would have been unrealistic for everything to have been shown. But I would have liked a little of something.
Also I was a tiny but confused at how the plague spread....

To Sum Up... This book is a really good read, once you get into it you can't seem to escape from the world Snyder has created and its characters that you fall in love with just like Avery does.
It's got to be said this book isn't as good as Poison study which is by far my favourite Snyder novel but I think the series has lots of potential and I look forward to reading the next books!
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