Touch Of Power by Maria V. Snyder

I was unaware of Maria V. Snyders' work previously to this book, however I will for sure be continuing with this series. This is a  YA fantasy novel which features a 'Healer' called Avery who is rescued from a prison cell by a mismatch group of men , who unbeknownst to Avery have been looking for her for 2 years. They then begin a long trek lead by Kerrick and it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure that he is the love interest for our main gal Avery. 

"Despite his intoxicating scent tickling my nose. He smelled of living green, moist earth and spring sunshine!

I mean come on, you only have to spend ten minutes in the YA section to know that somethings going to happen with these two. However I will say that the romance is a slow burn and they aren't on the best of terms through most of the book. I was impressed that the romance didn't take away from the story, it had an enthralling plot and the magic system was really cool and imaginative, in particular the magic of the Healers.
The story begins with an introduction to Avery's healing magic, and we're told from Avery's point of view her healing a sick child. When I heard the name Healer I thought she would be this magical woman who healed all, I imagined her just pointing the finger willy nilly at people like 'you, you're healed and you too, and you'. But I was really surprised to find out that Avery actually takes on the injury of the person and then she herself fights the cut, sickness, wound, because as a healer she herself heals at a quicker rate!
I don't know if it was just me but that's pretty cool, and Avery is a great female character. She's caring, smart and snarky. Her relationship with the rest of the guys in the group gave me some of the best moments in the book. I especially loved her relationship with Belen (who I sort of envisioned as Wreck It Ralph the whole way through)

Overall I really enjoyed this book, the magic was interesting and the plot was unpredictable at time. I wasn't the No.1 fan of the romance it didn't detract away from the epic story line. I'm exited to move onto the next book in the series, A Scent of Magic, which I believe is duel perspective from Avery and Kerrick which should be pretty interesting!!

Beth x

ROOM by Emma Donoghue

Now, this isn't a new book on the market by any means but to me it still feels like I read it yesterday. The story was nothing like I've ever read before, and told in such a way that made me speed through it in just two days (which for me is pretty good going).

"Jack is five. He lives in a single locked room with his Ma. "

The blurb is not very long but really intrigued me and gave me everything I needed to know to pick this book up. The book is told entirely from the point of view of a young boy named Jack and the story begins on his fifth birthday. Right from the off you learn that things are not the same for Jack as a normal five year old boy. The narrative for me is very believable, that a young boy in Jacks circumstance is telling the story. He has grown up in a single room all his life so his perceptions of things are skewed to say the least. I can see how the narration would become tiresome to some readers, inanimate objects are often personified for example "I flat the chairs and put them beside Door against Clothes Horse". Jacks character has only ever been around one other person, his Ma, so he is bound to have under developed speech. For me this style of narration really added to the atmosphere of the book and made the story more believable.
The other characters we meet in the beginning of the book is Jacks "Ma" and their captor who Jack names  "Old Nick". The back story of how Jack and his Ma came to be, held in a 11ft by 11ft shed, is slowly revealed as Jacks Ma tries to explain to Jack that there is a whole world outside of 'Room'.

This book, like I keep saying, had me hooked from the beginning and I really couldn't put the book down. Emma Donoghue has talked in interviews about the research she did into real life situations like Ma and Jacks' and to me this really came through right to the end of this book I felt for these characters and believed all they had been through. I definitely recommend this book to any readers, even if this isn't your genre or you've read stories about kidnappings and and hostages before, I genuinely think this book is worth picking up.

Beth x