Review Deceived by L.A. Starkey
6:00 AM
Deceived L.A. Starkey
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.
MY REVIEW:
Lots of people say there's no use in reinventing the wheel. I disagree. STRONGLY. Especially when it comes to books. I love books that take the standard and flip it. DECEIVED by L.A. Starkey does just that; and I give her major props for doing it and making it work. She has taken the myth of Prometheus/Zeus/Titans Vs. Gods and changed the story so throughly it surprised even me when it all became clear.
YA Retellings/reimagining/recreations are my fav kind of stories to read, but often time you'll find that while some things are different--a lot is still the same. Perfect example:the standard love triangle of YA or the myth of Hades and Persephone.
DECEIVED does pull on the love triangle aspect, but to me it felt different and I really liked it. However, all this praise does not mean I don't have a few issues with this book, thus the 3 star rating.
Sam is our heroine and also referred to as a Soul keeper. I liked her a lot, but I had issues with how her actions would contradict her personality and thoughts. She doesn't like to get close to people--boys--but she lets one of the high school guys be all over her and she doesn't even seem to really like him. Frustrating for me as a reader. Other than that, she was great. Strong, funny and quick thinking.
Our two heroes, sigh....Marcus and Nicholas. Brothers and both sons of a Titan. Both hot guys are soul mates to Sam. But they themselves are two halves of the same soul, thus why Sam has two soul mates. Both boys are very different--a representation of "light and dark" to my reader eyes and imagination. And, fortunately, both guys are very well developed characters. I see similarities but also very unique characteristics that draw me to Marcus and Nicolas respectively.
I think Marcus is my favorite---because he never contradicted himself!
Nick was the cool bad boy, doesn't like that he's being "used" for this prophecy and wants a way out. But, like Sam, he contradicts himself. He is drawn to and dreams of Sam, is lustful for her in their dreams, then bam some other chick seems to appear from his past and he's all about she was his one true love. Very confusing. I actually had to set the book down just after this because I was getting bored and confused.
Clearly, I did pick it back up, and I'm glad I did.
Julie is another character important to the story. She's Sam's bestie and also "soul sister" to Marc and Nick (though only in the dream parts of the book). She was a pretty cool character over all, along with her brother who was a third tier character.
I said earlier L.A. took the legend of Prometheus and changed it, which I love, but getting all this new information to the reader, and making sure it was clear and understandable.....I think I remember it taking almost 4 chapters. That's a lot of unneeded information for me, plus it kept hopping POV's and that broke up what could have been a very nice flow. I was tempted to set it down again, but I mad myself continue on. Once we got past the info dump, a bit more than half of the way through the book, the story started to come alive for me; and Sam finally meets the boys in person and learns about her part of the prophecy dealio.
The relationships between all the characters is really enjoyable, on all levels. The main characters are easy to relate to, even if you did not have to go through what Sam did with being adopted.
WARNING: DECIEVED stops off at a very interesting place, though not in a good way for me. It felt like we stopped on a chapter and the rest of the book didn't download. Know what I mean?
It wasn't horrible, but just felt very cut off with a lot still left unresolved.
Overall I liked this book well enough, I am even planning on reading the ARC of the second book L.A. so graciously sent with the copy of the first book, but it is one that does not have top priority for me because of my issues above. I will read it, because I want to know what happens, just not right away. DECEIVED hasn't totally hooked me on a new addiction.....yet. Who know what the second book might bring.
YA Retellings/reimagining/recreations are my fav kind of stories to read, but often time you'll find that while some things are different--a lot is still the same. Perfect example:the standard love triangle of YA or the myth of Hades and Persephone.
DECEIVED does pull on the love triangle aspect, but to me it felt different and I really liked it. However, all this praise does not mean I don't have a few issues with this book, thus the 3 star rating.
Sam is our heroine and also referred to as a Soul keeper. I liked her a lot, but I had issues with how her actions would contradict her personality and thoughts. She doesn't like to get close to people--boys--but she lets one of the high school guys be all over her and she doesn't even seem to really like him. Frustrating for me as a reader. Other than that, she was great. Strong, funny and quick thinking.
Our two heroes, sigh....Marcus and Nicholas. Brothers and both sons of a Titan. Both hot guys are soul mates to Sam. But they themselves are two halves of the same soul, thus why Sam has two soul mates. Both boys are very different--a representation of "light and dark" to my reader eyes and imagination. And, fortunately, both guys are very well developed characters. I see similarities but also very unique characteristics that draw me to Marcus and Nicolas respectively.
I think Marcus is my favorite---because he never contradicted himself!
Nick was the cool bad boy, doesn't like that he's being "used" for this prophecy and wants a way out. But, like Sam, he contradicts himself. He is drawn to and dreams of Sam, is lustful for her in their dreams, then bam some other chick seems to appear from his past and he's all about she was his one true love. Very confusing. I actually had to set the book down just after this because I was getting bored and confused.
Clearly, I did pick it back up, and I'm glad I did.
Julie is another character important to the story. She's Sam's bestie and also "soul sister" to Marc and Nick (though only in the dream parts of the book). She was a pretty cool character over all, along with her brother who was a third tier character.
I said earlier L.A. took the legend of Prometheus and changed it, which I love, but getting all this new information to the reader, and making sure it was clear and understandable.....I think I remember it taking almost 4 chapters. That's a lot of unneeded information for me, plus it kept hopping POV's and that broke up what could have been a very nice flow. I was tempted to set it down again, but I mad myself continue on. Once we got past the info dump, a bit more than half of the way through the book, the story started to come alive for me; and Sam finally meets the boys in person and learns about her part of the prophecy dealio.
The relationships between all the characters is really enjoyable, on all levels. The main characters are easy to relate to, even if you did not have to go through what Sam did with being adopted.
WARNING: DECIEVED stops off at a very interesting place, though not in a good way for me. It felt like we stopped on a chapter and the rest of the book didn't download. Know what I mean?
It wasn't horrible, but just felt very cut off with a lot still left unresolved.
Overall I liked this book well enough, I am even planning on reading the ARC of the second book L.A. so graciously sent with the copy of the first book, but it is one that does not have top priority for me because of my issues above. I will read it, because I want to know what happens, just not right away. DECEIVED hasn't totally hooked me on a new addiction.....yet. Who know what the second book might bring.
~Dynomoon
L.A. 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.
4 comments
I love books with mythology so this one sounds right up my alley. I'm glad you liked it despite the issues you had with it. I often find I get more into a series after reading book 2. Usually the whole storyline and world gets intensified and further developed (more answers, too!) Great review! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review and hosting me on your site today!!
ReplyDeleteLaurie
Good review and giveaway! I like the cover. :)
ReplyDeletenice review about the characters
ReplyDelete