Review ~ Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

Title: Touch of Power

Author: Maria V. Snyder

Series: Healer #1

Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

Published: December 2012 (first published December 20th 2011)

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life....

I am a massive fan of Maria V. Snyder, but for the life of me I don’t know why I didn’t begin this series sooner! She is a master of building fantasy worlds full of kingdoms and Princes, magic and deception. She creates characters that you passionately love or hate and I was swept away into the amazing plot. If you haven’t started this series… Get onto it now!

Avry is a healer; she can save a person by taking the sickness or injury from them, making them well, but in turn she takes the burden herself, but she is able to heal faster than a normal person. Because of this ability, she has lived on the run and in hiding as the world fears healers since they are rumoured to have begun the plague. When she is caught, she is soon rescued by a group of men that want her to save someone important and the journey through the Fifteen Realms begins.

Avry is a fun character. She takes everything in her stride and is determined to make her own decisions. No amount of persuasion will sway her. I loved this stubbornness about her and it always lead to something entertaining, whether she was trying to escape or help execute plans. This journey was intense, amusing and action packed.

There were lots of great characters we met in this book that I grew to like. Belen turns out to be a good friend for Avry and Flea was a loyal kid. Loren and Quain are an amusing but fierce duo. Kerrick… he was a different one. He is set in his ways and his only goal is to find a healer to fix his friend and will do anything in his power to do so. I didn’t like him at first, but like Avry, he started to grow on me. And the villain of the story, Tohon… he has psycho tendencies for sure!!

The whole book was at a great pace to keep you engrossed by the plot. If we weren’t amongst danger, there would be plans being made or the characters were on the run. There weren’t many swoon moments in this story, but really, I wasn’t looking for any. Maria certainly knows how to keep me drawn to the pages and leaving me wanting to grab the next book immediately! I’m keen to continue the story, that’s for sure!!

I received a copy of this book from Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review.