Reviewed by Joan Stradling for TeensReadToo.com
Nya and her sister have been orphaned. Though her sister has been taken in as an apprentice with the Healer's League, Nya is on her own. She has the power to take pain, but Nya isn't a Healer - she's a Taker. Instead of shifting pain into the enchanted metal known as pynvium, she can only push it into another person.
This dangerous skill makes her valuable to the enemy, and she finds herself forced into working for a pain merchant. When her sister and other League Healers mysteriously disappear, Naya must make some difficult choices and decide how far she'll go to save her sister.
THE SHIFTER is a brilliant beginning to THE HEALING WARS novels. Hardy has an elegant way of drawing the reader into the story with her characterization, and keeping them in the story with plot twists and the dark, war-torn setting for heightened tension.
I loved reading about the darker side of healing as Nya's story unfolded, and I look forward to continuing to follow these characters in book two of the series, BLUE FIRE.
Nya and her sister have been orphaned. Though her sister has been taken in as an apprentice with the Healer's League, Nya is on her own. She has the power to take pain, but Nya isn't a Healer - she's a Taker. Instead of shifting pain into the enchanted metal known as pynvium, she can only push it into another person.
This dangerous skill makes her valuable to the enemy, and she finds herself forced into working for a pain merchant. When her sister and other League Healers mysteriously disappear, Naya must make some difficult choices and decide how far she'll go to save her sister.
THE SHIFTER is a brilliant beginning to THE HEALING WARS novels. Hardy has an elegant way of drawing the reader into the story with her characterization, and keeping them in the story with plot twists and the dark, war-torn setting for heightened tension.
I loved reading about the darker side of healing as Nya's story unfolded, and I look forward to continuing to follow these characters in book two of the series, BLUE FIRE.
