Silver

TITLE: Silver

AUTHOR: Talia Vance

SERIES: Bandia #1

PAGES: 384 (Paperback)

PUBLISHER: Flux

FORMAT: ARC








Note: An ARC od this novel was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.\
(Originally Posted on 12th August)

An intriguiging debut from Talia Vance, Silver is a novel rich with Irish mythology and unlikely romance. Though it may be slightly different from what I originally imagined, that certainly does not distract from its appeal.

For me, Silver was one of those books where you have to read it all the way through to distinguish whether or not it is enjoyable. I will admit, somewhere around the 60% mark I was sorely tempted to put it down and resume reading another day, however I am glad that I forced myself to keep on reading.

One of the things that really set this novel apart for me was the mythology surrounding it, and after reading countless books about vampires, werewolves and fairies this new branch of Celtic legend was a breath of fresh air in the stiflingly clichéd YA paranormal romance genre. The plot of this book revolves around the one thousand year old myth of the goddess Danu and her descendants, Bandias, who are graced with inhuman power and beauty. I loved learning about this new world with Brianna, and found the subject matter to be just as interesting as it was mystical.

As for the characters, most of them appeared to be well-formed and convincingly written. Though Brianna falls into the stereotype of the beautiful, talented, until-now unnoticed teenage girl just coming into her powers, what instantly makes her likeable is her quiet courage and her quick brain. Throughout the novel we got constant hints of her kindness and her loyalty, all mixed in with her understandable confusion and mixed feelings towards Blake and her new life.

I will say that I was slightly irritated by Blake’s sudden interest as soon as Brianna became ‘beautiful’, but over the book he did prove that he cared about more than just her looks. Their romance leaned towards sizzling rather than sweet, however it was clear that they harboured deeper feelings than just lust and showed that by protecting each other with a vengeance. The only thing that brought this down was the looming threat of insta-love, and it didn’t help that after they’d ‘soul-bonded’ barely a third of the way into the novel they could barely control their feelings towards one another. That said, the romance was still enjoyable and I look forward to continuing their story in Gold.

Though I’m not sure how other more experienced reviewers will find this book, it should certainly be praised for its originality and creativity. An entertaining debut novel, this is one series I will be keeping an eye on.