The Soul Thief - Cecelia Holland

Book - The Soul Thief - Cecelia Holland
Where I got it - Have you ever gone into a store that has really cheap books? Like books that are already only $4 and then are 50% off? When this happens to me, I can't help myself from buying at least one - even if I don't want it. When stores are practically giving away books, I have to buy them and that is how I got this book.
Why I never read it before - This book starts off very slow, it took me a while to get into it. I think that when I bought it I was too young to appreciate it and just didn't have the patience to wait for it to get interesting.
My Rating - 4/5

Review -

This book is great. It takes place in the feudal age with Vikings and a young Irish man. It is about a young man who is cast away by his father and then returns home to find his whole family has been murdered and his twin sister has been taken by the vikings.

Corban starts a quest to try and find his sister. He gets caught up on the way, making friends and money and falling in love. Eventually he finds his sister but is not able to take her until completing even more difficult tasks.

The characters in the book really grow on you. At first I couldn't stand the main character, he was a bit of a wimp and didn't care much about anything besides himself. As the story progresses, he really grows into a very strong person. Another character, Grod, starts out as a bit of a greedy old man. He is at first, Corban's mentor but is soon getting more out of the young man than he could offer him.

There are characters in this book who are 'witches' and this gives it just enough of a touch of fantasy to keep it interesting for me. It has a historical feel that just appeals to me.

My biggest problem with this book is that it is the first of a series and nothing about the appearance of the book would suggest that to you. There is no series title, nothing proclaiming 'book #1', there is no excerpt from the next book, nothing to suggest that it isn't a stand-alone novel. Nothing drives me crazy more than getting into a book and expecting it to end with all of it's loose ends tied up and then to realize that it doesn't end on the last page. I had to google the author when I was finished to find out that no, this story isn't over yet.

I loved this book, I am just really frustrated now that I won't find out what happens to all of my favourite characters for a very long time!