Blog Tour ~ Soul Bender by Robyn Jones ~Review & Tour Wide Giveaway~

Hey everyone! I have a review of both books in the Touched Girl series for you as part of my stop on this awesome tour today! I'm proud and excited to be a part of the tour for this series organized through JC's Book Haven. You can follow the tour here. Don't forget to enter the tour wide giveaway below!! :D
                                                           

Soul Walker (A Touched Girl Series #1)

by Robyn Jones

Published December 9, 2012

252 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Average Rating: 4.14 / 5.00

My Rating: 4.50 / 5.00

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~Synopsis~

 

"I need to get you to the hospital." He was taking responsibility for me. Only my parents had that job. I stretched my hand out in protest, but the lack of depth perception had my trembling fingers grazing his overheated neck. I swore his whole body shook.

When five-year-old Anna Pierce is offered a chance to have nightmare-free nights for the small price of her voice, she jumps at it. Silence has to be better than all-consuming dreams about blood and death and fangy monsters. The bargain she strikes comes with a secondary benefit, visions of a person's future potential. The combination of visions and silence changes her very nature and soon she's diagnosed with autism. Twelve years of living in her head comes to a screeching halt the moment Peter Davis pulls her out of an icy river.

Her new life has her twirling, tiptoeing, and crashing through unfamiliar territory, one filled with a cranky grandma, a knocked up cousin, an unpleasant cousin, a bunch of mostly good vampires, and the boy who rescued her.

To top it all off, the deal she made at five is no more. Anna is expected to talk, to figure out her resurfacing nightmares, and to control her ever-growing powers. And she'd better get it done soon because if the good vamps want a piece of a living, breathing Touched girl, the evil ones simply want. They'll take Anna for their very own.

 

~My Review ~

 

Anna is one of the most intriguing and unique female main characters I've come across. I liked her immediately and admired her inner strength. Every one of her "quirks" just endeared her to me even more. I couldn't imagine having nightmares to the point where I'd agree to give up my voice. Those must have been terrifying for Anna to have agreed to stop talking. And for twelve years! That's such a long time, especially since she has the ability to speak. She is soon diagnosed with autism, and I haven't read a book where the main character has been diagnosed with autism. With so much awareness having been raised for autism these past few years, it was really interesting to see the world through Anna's eyes. I cannot tell you how much I love this girl!

 

The action takes off from the very beginning, and I was thrilled to go along for the ride. Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be any new stories to be told with vampires, Jones proved me wrong, and I was just fine with being proven wrong. :) Especially with the world Jones has built and the characters she has developed - the combination made for the kind of reading where I was completely absorbed in the story no matter what was going on in the background of the "real world"!

 

Anna's grandmother, Ella, and her two cousins, Sara and Betsy, surprised me with how much they grew on me. I cared about them as much as I cared about Anna, which surprised me because I wasn't sure how they were going to treat her in the beginning. There are so many laugh-out-loud moments and witty dialogue between Anna and the other characters - I found myself smiling every time Anna interacted with her family.

 

I absolutely fell head over heels in love with the characters, the story, and the world Jones created in this start to what is sure to become one of my favorite series. I am looking forward to the next book!!

 

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for the blog tour.

 

Purchase Link for Soul Walker:    Amazon         

Soul Bender (A Touched Girl Series #2)

by Robyn Jones

Published March 11, 2013

307 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Vampires

Average Rating: 5.00 / 5.00

My Rating: 5.00 / 5.00

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~Synopsis~

How much can a soul take before it breaks?

 

Anna Pierce has a vampire boyfriend, a driver's license, real friends for the first time since she was five, and now she faces one of her biggest challenges, senior year at a mostly all girls Catholic high school. Sure, she's a member of the talking crowd now, but she'll never be like everyone else. How can she when the first of her kind has camped out in her dreams?

 

Little dead girl Emily decides Anna's destiny can wait no longer. It's time for this generation's Touched girl to hunt. Trained in a virtual dream landscape to destroy all in her path, Anna must choose between her destiny, the one beat into her on a nightly basis, and her legacy, the one instilled in her by her parents.

 

Along the way, old enemies remain dutifully obsessed, new foes lurk in the shadows, and odd Little Duckie Anna Pierce sets out to be social.

 

~My Review~

 

The challenges that Anna faced in this book were even tougher than those from the first book. My heart broke for her several times, and I rooted for her to draw from her well of inner strength that I love her for and fight for what she wants from life. She's easy to love, and all of the ways she is different from "typical" girls makes me love her even more. She's such an awesome character!

 

So many moments had me biting my nails in anticipation (and I never bite my nails!) of what was going to happen next. I had no idea where the story was going to go, and I allowed myself to go on this wild ride through Jones's world once again. I had missed all of the characters so much! I was only too happy to jump right back in!

 

Things became much more complicated for Anna and the vampires she has befriended. She begins school, wading through all of the drama and turmoil of being a teen girl. I couldn't help but giggle when she lamented becoming caught up in emotions she isn't used to dealing with. I also empathized with her because being a teen girl is difficult enough without the extra complications of being a Touched girl. The way Anna looks at life and deals with situations in her life made me laugh along with her, cry with her, and fight alongside her. I felt like I was right there with Anna and a part of her family.

 

Jones drew me into her world again with her beautiful descriptions, realistic and endearing characters, excellent world-building, and lyrical writing. I need the next book like yesterday!

 

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for the blog tour.

Purchase Link for Soul Bender: Amazon

 

 

About Robyn Jones

I'm the mom of two hardcore boys. My oldest trained me to be matter-of-fact, no frills. My youngest wants the whole singsongy sweet package. Thank goodness for reading and writing because they are my sanity makers. I know life is all about the journey, that's why I like my fiction to be all about the destination. I want to be taken somewhere not here when I read, same goes with the stories I create. Thrills, chills, tears, and laughter, but there has to be something to hold on to at the end.

Blog = http://robgirlbooks.blogspot.com/
Twitter = https://twitter.com/robgirlbooks
Goodreads = http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6859637.Robyn_Jones

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