Love this cover!
I won the paperback of this in an online contest and Melanie was generous enough to post it to the UK. The cover is gorgeous and I take great care of it.
So, my review, which contains spoilers.
Soriel by Melanie Nilles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Gavin Durinden has problems. Not quite the usual sort that teens have to put up with – he has blue hair and an unidentified ‘condition’ for which he has to be treated at NeoGen labs by a cold and arrogant doctor who seems to like ordering Gavin’s mum around.
Quickly moving forward with the plot, Gavin discovers he is really Soriel, an alien kept as a lab rat. Others of his race – winged angel-like beings – become involved, including the angsty teen alien Kaira for whom Gavin/Soriel starts to have typical teen feelings, and a huge plot to alter his (and others like him) DNA is revealed, putting his whole species at risk, and making for an intriguing story.
It’s fast, fun, and full of really individual characters and intrigue that keeps twisting and turning apace.
For me it missed the fifth star on ending. Having made the driving force/ticking clock imperative the need to cure/save Soriel before he succumbs totally to the StarFire, when it didn’t happen I felt cheated. The ending has its merits, but it felt like a bit of a copout.
Having said that, I liked it enough to read more and I’d certainly recommend it as a fun YA fantasy.
deborahjay 