Review: Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

I finished up this review about a week ago, but I put a hold on it while I was reading Scent of Magic, Touch of Power's sequel. But finally, here is the review for Touch of Power!

--Steph

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

Steph’s Rating: 5 stars Overall Rating: 5 stars 

Published: December 11th 2011, January 1st 2012 (Kindle)

Publisher: Mira Books

Format: e-book

Pages: 396

Goodreads Synopsis:

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...

Steph’s Review:

    WOW! This book really surprised me! From all of the Maria V. Snyder books I have read (it’s pretty much all of them, I LOVE her), Touch of Power has to be the best, and probably my favorite! This book was just absolutely amazing. The plot is just gripping and I could not stop reading this book. I stayed up super late to finish it, and I reread it the day after because I loved it so much! 

    Three years prior to the start of the story, a plague had spread across the Fifteen Realms, completely exterminating the population. Most of the people believed it was the an experiment-gone-bad done by the healers (though it really wasn’t): people who could take injuries from another, transfer them to themselves, and heal from it faster than any other normal person could. The healers were the only hope for an infected person’s survival, but after some trial and error, they found that the valuable healers couldn’t heal themselves from the plague either. The healers stopped healing those with the plague to save their own lives, and earned the hatred of the rest of the nation. They were hunted down until only a few remained. 

    Avry of Kazan, believed to be the last living healer, is finally captured after years of being on the run. She’s actually okay with it, since she doesn’t have to hide anymore and her death will end her misfortune...until a band of ruffians break her out of her cell and demand that she heal their leader, Prince Ryne. He had been infected with the plague but was under a temporary stasis to keep him alive. If she didn’t heal Ryne, then the ruffians would execute her. It is a lose-lose situation: die by the plague, or die by the hands of rogues. 

    OH. MY. GOSH. I LOVED this book. The characters were just perfect okay? Avry is our lead heroine (heh heh typical Snyder) and she is just smart and strong and amazing. She deals with everything that comes her way, but she is so selfless and wants to help everyone even though she is the one being hunted. Touch of Power just has a whole new light shined on it when we read from Avry’s POV. All of the supporting characters spectacular too! Gah I love Belen, our “Poppa Bear”, who is described as the “daddy” of the band. I love Quain and Loren, always bickering like an old couple. Flea is like the little boy that everyone takes care of, and he is so CUTE! Have I mentioned Kerrick yet??? *swoons*. He is my latest book boyfriend. So. Hot. Sometimes I wish I were Avry, seriously. He is the most recently added boyfriend on our boyfriend/heroines tab (you can check :D). I see a recurring theme in Snyder’s books, the two love interests hate each other’s guts at first...but can’t help being attracted to one another as the series progresses. From the way Maria writes, it just seems natural for her characters to be together. Its not one those dumb and unrealistic love at first sights, another reason that made me love this book even more. I enjoyed reading the character interactions in this book; it is filled with Snyder’s sarcastic humor to the core. She creates a perfect balance of antagonism and protagonism in Touch of Power, so that I never really knew which side would prevail.

    Touch of Power just left me amazed and dying for it’s sequel, Scent of Magic! I cannot wait to get my hands on it and gush about it like did its predecessor!