Soul Quest - Amy Jones (review)

Genre:                           Young Adult
Year:                              2011
Word count:                 71,749
Part of:                         Soul Quest Trilogy (book #1)
Followed by:                The Guardians of Souls 
                                       (to be published in August of 2011)
Where to get:               Smashwords,  Amazon
Author's Website:       Amy Maurer Jones

Do you remember how horrified you were about the idea of attending high school? I remember ticking off those last miserable days of my summer vacation following my eighth grade year. Maybe you don’t, maybe you were one of 'those people.' You know who I’m talking about, people like Melissa Small, the distinguished District Attorney, Larry Small’s daughter, popular, gorgeous... and absolutely terrifying to someone like me, Liv Glyn. No, I am far from measuring up to the standards required to make Melissa’s crowd. I’m not even close. I’m just a simple man’s daughter, mostly tolerated by my peers with average looks. If this isn’t depressing enough for you, stay tuned, it gets worse. I was commanded with Spirit at birth by the Great Spirit, Hala. I know, it sounds crazy but it’s true. If you think it's difficult being a teenager, try being a teenager who was born destined to save the world from soul sucking Daevas and their mutant progeny Aengels. There are four of us. My companions of Spirit are Laith, Brayan and Meena. Melissa Small is Laith’s step sister and she is always meddling where she doesn’t belong, further complicating our lives. To make matters even worse, my best friend Jedd is apparently aware of things that are typically undetectable to ordinary humans. So, I have to lie to Jedd, the boy who has been my constant standby since the third grade, to shield him from the horrible and very dangerous truth. Did I mention that I think I’m falling in love with him? The term awkward doesn’t even begin to cover it, trust me. Welcome to the mess that is my life.  

(goodreads.com)

"Hey Mom, how can dead people walk around New York like that?" Liv asked her mother from the passenger seat of their mini van.

"Whoa Brayan, what are you saying? Are you some kind of lie detector in human form?" she asked in amazement.
"Yeah, I guess so." he acted as if it was no big deal.
"Ok. So, for example, if someone is lying you are able to detect it because their heart rate speeds up or because their palms get sweaty?" she clarified. She still couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Pretty much." he agreed.
"Wow, Brayan. This is really cool." she smiled, proud of him.
"Yeah." he sighed."It's great to be able to know when everyone is lying to you when they tell you thinks like...You are a great kickball player Brayan... Lie... You're fun to be around Brayan.. Lie... You're story was really interesting Brayan... Lie... You're my best friend Brayan... Lies, lies, lies! I hate it!" he finally broke down and began to cry.

Soul Quest by Amy Jones totally made my week! Yesterday I ended up staying up till 4 am, just so I could finish it and find out how the first book ends. I just couldn't bring myself to put it down. How could I possibly go to sleep, when this book is so amazing! And you must know that I am a very slow ebook reader, I really don't like spending my time looking at the computer screen (or iPhone screen, depending if I'm currently outside of the house) so this was quite an accomplishment on Amy's part to keep me so captivated. (Thank you Amy, thanks to you I look like a zombie today!)

For the most part of the book the narrative voice belongs to Liv. At first glance you could think she's just an ordinary girl, preoccupied with normal teenager day-to-day problems and dramas, like figuring out whether her feelings for her best friend are anything more than a friendly affection or doing her best to fit in at her new school. Pretty much all the things we all could relate to. But Liv is no ordinary teenager, she is an Oracle of Earth, one of four human-born Oracles, who's duty is to save the Earth from destruction. Her companions of Spirit are: athletic and super handsome Laith (Oracle of Fire), adorable computer geek, Brayan (Oracle of Wind) and knowledgeable and organized Meena (Oracle of Water). Each of them has unique gifts and charms, that will help them fight the evil Aengels and Daevas and try and stop them from stealing human souls.

I absolutely loved the first part of Soul Quest trilogy. I got sucked into the story from the very first pages of the book and I often found myself thinking about it even when I wasn't reading it. It's such a pleasurable read! At first I was a little bit overwhelmed by the magnitude of the world Amy created, but after a while it all come together, every piece fell into the right place. I'm deeply amazed at how much work the author put into creating a whole new mythology for the purpose of the story, it's jaw dropping.

Amy Jones does a superb job of drawing you in. She created an amazing, unique and fascinating world, filled with fantastic, well developed and likable characters. If you liked Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series then I can guarantee you will LOVE Soul Quest!