Scent of Magic (Healer #2) by Maria V. Snyder

Scent of Magic (Healer #2)
By Maria V. Snyder
Pages: 400
Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley

Rating: Really liked it

Goodreads Summary:

Hunted, Killed—Survived?

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.

Cover Review:

I'm sorry, but....I hate that cover with a burning passion. It's hideous! After the first book's cover being so gorgeous, this one just fell completely flat. It's fake looking and just doesn't seem well put together. Bleh. But don't let the cover turn you off the story!

My real review:

First things first: I love Maria V. Snyder's books. Yes, I am a self-proclaimed Synder book junkie. You should be too. But that's part of the reason I have such mixed feelings on this book.

I absolutely fell in love with her first book Touch of Power. I even made a list of what I loved about the book:
1. Awesome Heroine
2. Hate turned love relationship
3. Kerrick
4. Fantastic secondary characters
5. Ridiculously crazy awesome villain
6. Intriguing and engaging plot
7. No shortage of action
8. Zombies

Sounds like 1 awesome mixture right? And it certainly was! But, unfortunately, Scent of Magic only had about half:

1. Awesome heroine:
I always adored Avery. She's just as likely to kick your butt as she is to help you stand again. She is fierce, intelligent and kick-butt, but also has such a great heart. She's a caring person and I love her determination where he sister is concerned. She's just as awesome in this book as she is in the previous. 

2. Intriguing and Engaging plot:
We learn so much in this book which I absolutely love! The plot is complex and intriguing and Snyder never fails to throw in a curve ball. 

3. No shortage of action:
 Action-packed and fast-paced = awesome! I'm an action junkie so I'm bound to enjoy a book with lots of butt-kickery. And Tohon's army? Plays a much bigger role in this book! Which leads me to...

4. Zombies:
'Nuff said. 

So, sounds pretty good right? And it was! I pretty much devoured the book! But after it ended, it left me...wanting:

1. No fantastic secondary characters:
 Boo. Remember all those guys I loved in the first book? Hardly even in this book. And, to be honest, they are what really made me love the first book. They're hilarious, quirky and are like one big family! I miss their humor and all around awesomeness. I actually did end up liking some of the new secondary characters, but they just can't live up to Papa Bear!

2. No hate turned love romance:
Yeah, I know, they fell in love at the end of the first book, but since they are apart for most of this book, it's more of annoying longing for each other. I miss their snarky interactions.

3. No Crazy Awesome Villain:
Well, at least not till the very end. Look, I like my villains crazy. I don't want to be told, I want to see it. I want reasoning. Tohon = psychopath. And honestly, I love it. His scenes in Touch of Power were definitely...intriguing ;) Sadly, he hardly plays a physical role in this book. Understandable, but I wish it weren't the case. 


Middle road:


1. Kerrick:
Intelligent, loyal, fierce, stoic Kerrick. How come I just couldn't fall for you in this book? Don't worry, I'm already in love with you but I just wasn't swooning over him as I did in the first book. I think this is because I didn't get to see his interactions with Avery and his crew (which I loved!). This was more about his lone journey, and it mainly consisted of him missing Avery. Sweet, but got on my nerves. However, I did love his POV in this book. Very interesting. 

Overall:

So, although this book lacked some aspects I absolutely loved from the first book, it still had plenty to keep me interested. If you loved the first book, you'll still really enjoy this book. Avery is still her awesome self, the plot is crazy (in a good way), plenty of curve balls and zombies. So what are you waiting for?

All the best ♥

Mackenzie