Deceived
(Soul Keeper Series #1)
Author: L.A. Starkey
Publication Date:
August 28th, 2014
Genres: Paranormal, Young
Adult
Book Description:
They say a soul is the immaterial essence, the animating principle, the
actuating cause of an individual life.
But what if you had to share yours
with the one person you hated the most?
The soul mate principle states
that for every one soul there is another that will recognize its match, hence
creating the perfect union.
But what if you had two soul mates, which
would you choose?
What if your choices had eternal
ramification?
Deceived, the debut novel in the Soul Keeper Series, is a
modern day love story about the implications of having more than one soul mate,
and having to choose between the two of them. The decisions of the gods has left
the next generation, their heirs, torn between fate and reality, and the balance
of the future hangs in anticipation of what’s to come.
Buy Links:
MY REVIEW
I do love a good mythology, and Deceived certainly doesn't disappoint. Sam isn't your average teenager. She's fierce and untrusting of others, though not unwilling to let her guard down for the right kind of attention. The story follows her as she goes through a rather turbulent roller coaster journey to discover her true calling. For Sam, there's only one important person in her life and that's Julie, her best friend, who, like Sam, is an orphan. Even though they attend different schools and live in different towns, there's nothing that can come between them - well, nothing except for fate. When tragedy strikes and leaves Sam with a broken heart, she starts to wonder if she is destined to be alone and unloved.
Apart from a very creepy, voyeuristic start, it didn't take me long to be swept away by the story. I found it to be rather fascinating and refreshing. Although Greek Mythology has been slightly overused in YA fiction of the past decade, the author introduces a fresh take on a familiar folklore. Starkey unleashed an ancient myth in a modern world and it captivated me for quite a bit. Unfortunately, the excitement fizzled out about two thirds of a way through the book when it started to become a repetitive cycle of Sam and her two soul mates invading one another's worlds. The story lost it's way a little as it tried to fill the reader's mind with as much information as possible while having Sam spinning in circles as she tried to figure out whether or not she's crazy. The characters just didn't entice me enough to make me care about what was happening to them. I'm not a huge fan of multiple POVs so I didn't like the constant shifts between characters. I wanted to invest my time in Sam's character but I felt distanced from her. I couldn't connect with any of the other characters, apart from Brent that is. I longed to feel the chemistry between Sam and Ken or Sam and Marcus or Sam and Nick or Sam and Brent ... The girl had many choices, to say the least, but I couldn't feel the connection between Sam and any of her love interests, so that was a huge downer for me considering that Sam's reluctance to let anyone get close to her was greatly highlighted at the start of the story and it would have been interesting to explore her feelings as she contemplated forming relations with these guys. The only character I can truly say I would liked to have seen more of was Brent. He made me smile, and he has left an imprint on my mind.
Apart from a very creepy, voyeuristic start, it didn't take me long to be swept away by the story. I found it to be rather fascinating and refreshing. Although Greek Mythology has been slightly overused in YA fiction of the past decade, the author introduces a fresh take on a familiar folklore. Starkey unleashed an ancient myth in a modern world and it captivated me for quite a bit. Unfortunately, the excitement fizzled out about two thirds of a way through the book when it started to become a repetitive cycle of Sam and her two soul mates invading one another's worlds. The story lost it's way a little as it tried to fill the reader's mind with as much information as possible while having Sam spinning in circles as she tried to figure out whether or not she's crazy. The characters just didn't entice me enough to make me care about what was happening to them. I'm not a huge fan of multiple POVs so I didn't like the constant shifts between characters. I wanted to invest my time in Sam's character but I felt distanced from her. I couldn't connect with any of the other characters, apart from Brent that is. I longed to feel the chemistry between Sam and Ken or Sam and Marcus or Sam and Nick or Sam and Brent ... The girl had many choices, to say the least, but I couldn't feel the connection between Sam and any of her love interests, so that was a huge downer for me considering that Sam's reluctance to let anyone get close to her was greatly highlighted at the start of the story and it would have been interesting to explore her feelings as she contemplated forming relations with these guys. The only character I can truly say I would liked to have seen more of was Brent. He made me smile, and he has left an imprint on my mind.
The section where Sam is reading about how Zeus attained his authority and overthrew the Titans felt like a huge info dump. For me, the exposition wasn't executed effectively for it had no impact on me. It was just a lot of information thrown at me all at once. It went on for far too long and lost my interest. I'm a great lover of Greek Mythology but I was bored at this point, which I found displeasing as I was really looking forward to seeing Sam discovering the truth about the world that has become such a vital part of her life.
Overall, this was a solid start to a promising series. Given I hadn't read the blurb and knew not what adventure was awaiting me, I was pleasantly surprised by what I stumbled upon. I was expecting, or had hoped for, more paranormal activities but it seems romance or rather the quest for love was at the heart of this story, which isn't a bad focal point but, as I said before, I didn't feel the love so the story didn't impact on me the way I would have liked it to. Nonetheless, it was still a good read.
VERDICT:
Overall, this was a solid start to a promising series. Given I hadn't read the blurb and knew not what adventure was awaiting me, I was pleasantly surprised by what I stumbled upon. I was expecting, or had hoped for, more paranormal activities but it seems romance or rather the quest for love was at the heart of this story, which isn't a bad focal point but, as I said before, I didn't feel the love so the story didn't impact on me the way I would have liked it to. Nonetheless, it was still a good read.
VERDICT:
SILVER
About the Author
Laurie Starkey is the author of the upcoming Soul Keeper Series,
a supernatural young adult series, and The Liarus Detective Series,
a supernatural middle grade series. She lives in Houston, Texas with
her husband, Jacob and three beautiful kiddos.
She is a CPA by trade, a
church planter and entrepreneur at heart; however, writing and reading are
passions she just can’t help but indulge in. With more ideas than one person
should be allowed, she is blessed to have a muse that doesn’t seem to take a
vacation and more energy that one might consider healthy.
***GIVEAWAY***
A signed copy of both Deceived and Destroyed by L.A. Starkey.
Ends Feb 12th.
Ends Feb 12th.
One ebook copy (ePub, Mobi or PDF) of Deceived.
Ends February 18th (Midnight GMT).
Prize will be sent out after February 23rd.
Blog Tour Organised by:
Hi Alecia!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting me today and for the great review!
I’d love to have you or any of your friends jump on my mailing list. I sent out previews of my covers, have freebies coming and ask for interactive feedback on my books.
http://eepurl.com/9Nrc1
Thanks again. :)
Laurie
It was my pleasure. It was an enjoyable read and I look forward to continuing the series. I've signed up to your mailing list :)
DeleteAwesome!! :)
DeleteGreat review, Alecia! This sounds like a good read overall and I'm a big fan of books with mythology so this sounds right up my alley!
ReplyDelete