Touch of Power by Maria V Snyder

Touch of Power by Maria V Snyder
Healer #1
Release Date: December 20, 2011
Publisher: MIRA Ink
Source: NetGalley
Rating: Enjoyable

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.... - Goodreads

Touch of Power was a pretty good book. I love all of Maria’s books, and I really enjoyed this newest one from her.

The Poison Study trilogy is one of my all time favourites, and I was so pleased to learn that Maria was bringing out another fantasy novel. Touch of Power had a very similar feel to Poison Study, and I was incredibly happy about this!

Avry was an awesome character, and I enjoyed reading things from her point of view. However, much like the other characters in this novel, she reminded me a lot of the protagonist in the Study trilogy. Avry is smart, kickass and just generally an all-round good person. Much like Yelena.

As for the love interest, Kerrick, I didn’t like him AT ALL. He was horrible in the beginning, and I just couldn’t get over how he treated Avry. I was going to spoiler block this next bit, but I think it needs to be said... Kerrick lashed out and hit Avry at one point in the novel. This is unacceptable, and the fact that they went on to be lovers really grated on my nerves. If a guy hits me, there is no way I would go on to falling for him or starting a relationship with him. NO WAY. Even if he was stressed, that is no excuse. I am really disappointed in the way their relationship was handled, and I would have loved for Avry to have gone down a different road and fallen for someone unexpected.

The side characters, as mentioned previously, were too much like the characters in the Study trilogy for my liking. I kept comparing them, and the huge similarities were a bit too much for me to handle and I found it to be really distracted.

The villain of the novel was creepy, and pretty awesome. I liked him well enough, and I thought he was a good antagonist for the story.

I loved the fantasy elements of the novel and, as always, Maria V Snyder handles these very well. I can’t describe how much I adored reading about the different types of powers and the people who wielded them. I’m always interested in these types of themes so I was pleased with this!

As usual, Maria’s writing had me hooked from the get go. I’m a HUGE fan of her writing style, and will definitely continue to read everything she comes out with. The world building in this novel was fantastic, and it was an excellent setting for a story such as this one, with all the different plants, conflicts and political challenges. The history of this world was also rich, and I can’t wait to learn more about the Healers in the next book.

I think if you haven’t read the Poison Study books then you’ll adore this novel, but I think those who have read them before will probably see where the plot and where the characters are going. This story was excellent, but it was missing the unique feel that Poison Study had when it pulled me into the world. I’m definitely going to be reading the next books in the series – trilogy? – but I feel I must warn those of you who may be expecting something completely unique.