The Wednesday Review: Thicker Than Water by J.L. Brunell (The Spring Series Book 1)

The Book:

Book Title: Thicker Than Water

Book Author: J.L. Brunell

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publishing Date: January 8th, 2019

Publisher: Self Published

Synopsis: Having the ability to heal yourself and those around you can only make you a target.

Growing up in her small village, Taliea Strongwell always thought she was just an ordinary village girl, until finding her murdered parents. With their deaths comes the realization that her parents weren’t who she thought they were. Knowing she can only trust her neighbor, Gabe, the two of them flee the village for safety.

It’s during their flight that Taliea learns that not only does she have a kingdom to rule, but she is also the descendant of one of the Chosen Eight, a group of people who drained a magical spring which now runs through her veins giving her the power to heal herself and others.

From the moment she learns the truth she must make decisions that will not only affect her life by the lives of those closest to her, but trying to make changes in a society stuck in the past is difficult.

At just eighteen she must learn to navigate this new life and its rules, learn to defend herself against the ever-present threat of the Bracknids, hunters of those with the Spring in their blood,  all the while friendships develop and betrayal waits for an opportunity to strike.

Who is friend? Who is foe? Can she bring peace to her people or will her actions bring them to war?

                     

The Review:

Thicker Than Water was fast paced and intense. It was full of emotion and excitement. It had a unique premise and a satisfying, cliff-hanger ending.

Did I enjoy this one? I did. Though, I wish the pace had slowed down a bit. Everything seemed to happen so fast, and there wasn’t much time for character development or story setting. I did enjoy the history of the story, the magical spring, and the Chosen Eight, though, and I did enjoy at least getting to know Taliea a little.

Taliea started off feeling a little like a typical YA female character. She was thrust in to a dangerous situation, and was pretty focused on what she lost and how things had changed so suddenly. But, what I loved about her is how I saw her grow and mature. She grew in to her role of queen and made me want to follow her story.

I didn’t feel like I grew attached to any of the other characters though. I wish I had. Because Taliea was very attached to them herself. I also never really felt like the story setting was pinned down and developed for me. The book focused more on Taliea and the history of her ancestors, and the Bracknids. I felt like the book could have been a little longer and not skipped over so much time to really develop what I felt was lacking.

Was this worth a read? It was. Though it was a little predictable, and seemed to follow the basic YA style plot-line, it had it’s own originality to it, and the history of the story, and Taliea, really kept me going. I would definitely pick up book 2 to find out what happens. I’d rate it about 3-3.5 stars.

Thank you to the author for providing me with this free e-book in exchange for my honest review.

Darque Dreamer

Blogger/ Punk Rocker / Quirky

Housewife

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