Review: Chaotic tale of Avatars, slayers, supernaturals and soulmates!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 4, 2013
My head is still swimming trying to follow this story with all it's twists, revelations, characters, Gods, villains, etc. The heroine, Deryn, is a super-smart scientist and her sidekick Ondrea arrive in a different realm through a portal connecting Earth. She and her partner are there to research and decipher the mysterious writings on a temple. They are greeted by military personnel that had been set up there consisting of the leader, Colonel Alejandro Vargas. They are there to see whether this realm is habitable and oh yeah....all of them are supernaturals...consisting of shapeshifters, fae, etc. Deryn is the only "human" there so naturally she is considered the weakest. But unbeknownst to them (except for Ondrea), Deryn is much more than what she appears to be. In fact, she is a slayer of the supernaturals but she keeps this a secret because if they find out, she will be in danger of being attacked by them. Another supernatural that knows who she is is Kane (who is part of the military personnel) who happens to be a dragon shifter and a lifelong childhood friend of Deryn and Ondrea. Oh yeah - he and Deryn have a very close relationship - more than besties but not yet lovers. He's very protective of Deryn as is Ondrea. Alejandro finds an instant attraction to Deryn but is puzzled and confused by Deryn's apparent flighty ways and how she can talk to animals especially a monkey that she picks up along the way (wait until you find out who this monkey is)!Anyway, the moment Deryn appears, a mysterious, sinister evil appears and communicates with her. Deryn senses them and can talk to them and she realizes that it's up to her to protect the rest of the personnel from this evil. This eventually leads to a whole tale of the original Gods/Avatars that used to live there. Deryn is apparently related to the Avatars seeing that she is the "original" slayer that protects the Avatars. The evil presence wants Deryn and puts her through a series of tests to find out who she really is. Needless to say, this whole story is about Deryn and Alejandro trying to protect the other from the evil and the miscommunication and mistakes made because of the need to protect. Many revelations come out but you will have to pay close attention in order to find out and follow the story. There's a lot of back history that comes to the forefront and when they do come out, you will finally have an understanding. If you don't follow, you will get lost and have to reread the pages. So do pay attention. There's lots of battles with the evil things, betrayal, hurt feelings and a whole array of characters that you have to keep track of. The characters that stood out for me other than the two leads were: Kane (who loved Deryn more than a friend), Ondrea (Deryn's bestie and most supportive friend), Issac (the Fae Prince who bonded with Deryn in her time of need), Folk (the chauvinist with a heart of gold) and Che (the monkey that Deryn talks to and who is very protective of her).There is a lot of sexual tension between Deryn & Alejandro and while this is considered an erotic paranormal tale, the eroticism is kept contained...but it was still HOT. There is a lot that is revealed towards the end - the story was never boring but the revelations in the end made it worthwhile that I stuck with it. This is definitely a tale of finding your soulmate...and I mean really.... SOULMATES! I hope Ms. Roth writes the next story about Kane..and then Ondrea...and then Che (the monkey) and Issac (the Prince Fae) and of course, Folk who turned out to be also endearing!