The Legacy of Tril: Soulbound (Legacy of Tril - Trilogy) (Hardback)
$17.81 - Save $0.18 (1%) - RRP $17.99 Free shipping worldwide (to United States and
all these other countries) Usually dispatched within 48 hours | |Short Description for The Legacy of Tril: Soulbound Seventeen-year-old Kaya, a Healer who wants to learn to fight, must attend Shadow Academy where fighting by Healers is outlawed, and so she asks two young men to train her in secret, leading to a choice that wil change their lives forever.
Full description- Publisher: Dial Books
- Published: 19 June 2012
- Format: Hardback 394 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Adventure | Science Fiction | Romance
- ISBN 13: 9780803737235 ISBN 10: 0803737238
- Sales rank: 247,968
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Reviews for The Legacy of Tril: Soulbound
Review from Esther's Ever After
My familiarity with Heather Brewer's work was rather limited (having only read one book of hers) before I heard about Soulbound and it caught my interest with its unique take on fantasy. I'm always looking for new fantasy series to fall in love with, and Soulbound sounded as if it would be exactly that!
It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I didn't enjoy Soulbound, because so many of the elements I look for were there - a brave heroine struggling against her circumstances, plenty of training and fighting, plenty of romance (I don't even mind a love triangle as much as I used to) including forbidden love, and a world to save. But it just didn't work for me like I hoped it would.
Reason to Read:
1. Kaya's bravery and determination:
I'm a sucker for those books that have young women struggling to overcome the limits society has placed on her. The kind where she really feels she has to PROVE herself and does exactly that. Kaya's story fits perfectly within this archetype, and I really liked her for that reason alone. Plus, I like how much self-respect she has and that the romance was pretty good - she isn't weak when it comes to this love triangle and manages to stay pretty true to herself.
But part of the problem for me is that I wasn't really sold on any of the characters. I liked Kaya well enough, but I didn't love her. I admired her to an extent... but then it just felt kinda "mehhh..." for me. She didn't come alive for me. There was nothing that made her stand out in my mind that felt uniquely Kaya-like. That sounds weird, but I grew up reading Tamora Pierce and since then I've sought out a number of books akin to those old favourites. And Kaya felt like a character mold rather than a character to me. Likewise with the boys, both who were interesting enough but they all just felt like archetypes instead of real people. And the love triangle was a bit too draining for me to enjoy the rest of the story, because it seemed to detract from the larger picture.
I also had a hard time with the setting. It never really felt explained or developed at all. I knew it was fantasy-ish but I had no clue about the history or politics or society. This is a deal-breaker for me, and Soulbound didn't deliver. It felt glossed over and largely ignored to the point where it was nearly non-existent and completely forgettable.
I may just be curious enough to try the next one again since I still feel like there's a lot of potential here.
ARC received from Penguin Canada for my honest reivew; no other compensation was received. by Brenna StaatsGood story, but not good enough
Soulbound left me reeling. I was pulled in by the promising premise, but the immature characters, the less-than-exciting romance, and the numerous plot holes unfortunately made this book fall short of my expectations.
When I read the synopsis, I was expecting this book to be action-packed and full of romance. It isn't. More than half of the book is spent on world-building and introducing characters. (And even the latter half doesn't have the action and romance I was hoping for.) And-get this-Brewer didn't even do a good job on world-building. I was left confused several times: why is the world of the Skilled kept secret from the Unskilled? What is the difference between Bound and Soulbound? Brewer didn't explain anything, and I was left to figure things out myself.
Most of the characters felt one-dimensional to me. Even though Kaya is headstrong (which I like in heroines), she's too self-conscious. Also, her reaction to her best friend Avery's death felt too subdued, and although she wants to protect her parents from dying at the hands of the Zettai Council, she still sneaks around, training in self-defense against the rules. Very contradictory.
But she's attracted to Trayton, a gorgeous goody-two-shoes to whom she's Bound. (Personally, I think his preppy name suits him.) Trayton is too perfect to be real (and sometimes he acts like a jerk), and their insta-love is just too unrealistic for me to believe. Darius, on the other hand, is more on the grumpy side and shuns Kaya for the first half of the book. He's much more realistic than Trayton, but I still don't understand his actions and I definitely don't know what's up with his silver hair.
But the thing that upset me the most was the big shocking secret revealed in the last two pages of the book. The problem? Well, for me, it wasn't shocking. I had made a prediction about the love triangle 40 pages into the book based on reader experience and the synopsis...and it came true. And to add insult to injury, the book leaves the reader stuck with that new revelation and absolutely no explanation following. (Yay, cliffies. Not.)
Despite my disappointment, I admit that the book wasn't bad. It was entertaining at times, and I did want to continue reading.
So my review wrapped up in a pretty little bow? Soulbound was okay. I loved the idea and the world created, but the execution and the characters were less than satisfying. It was a good story, but just not good enough.
source: hardcover borrowed from library by Linda
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