ARC Review of Cracked by Eliza Crewe (GIVEAWAY!)

Title: Cracked (Soul Eaters #1)
Author: Eliza Crewe
Review by: Sarah
Release Date: November 5th, 2013
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Pages: 326

 

Ever since my mom was murdered, I’ve been completely alone. I live in the shadows, because there’s no one like me. I have no choice because I have to fight the Hunger, the Hunger that drives me to hunt people and eat their souls. And I have to fight it if I want to stay out of the darkness.
 Who am I?
I’m Meda Melange.What am I?I don’t know—but I’m not human.And now, I finally have the chance to find out.
In this first book of the gripping Soul Eater trilogy, find out who Meda is and which side she will come down on in a thrilling tale of the war between good and evil.

So Meda knows she is a monster. Never bothered to find out the specifics, exactly. But she's too busy eating people's souls, anyway. She needs them to survive. For the sake of her late mother, she tries to limit herself to only the Bad Guys, a la Dexter. When the book opens, we meet our wouldn't-be heroine, Meda, who is currently plotting some nefarious deeds while locked away in a mental institution. Awesome. Meda's voice is the perfect mix of sarcasm and sass, with just a touch of hidden depths, making the reader laugh with her, cringe at her, and sympathize with her all in the span of a few pages.

Fast forward, and Meda is now thrown into is a world of Templars and demons. The Templars are a special brand of humans that devote their lives to ridding the world of demons. Meda involuntarily ends up tagging along with a young group of Crusaders-in-training after they mistakenly think they've saved poor, innocent Meda from a nasty death by demons. In reality, Meda herself is part demon (oops) though she didn't know until now. She plays up the damsel in distress act, careful not to inform her new companions of her true identity, but if they find out, she can just eat them, anyway. No skin off Meda's back. Or is it? What she's really after is finding out the truth about her parentage and her existence, only to come upon a lot more than she bargained for.

Meda's characterization was probably one of my favorite things about the book, it's not everyday you see such unabashed anti-heroism in a main female character in young adult literature. I've been craving this kind of character to pop up more in YA novels, so I was very excited when I saw this book was giving me just that.  I loved that she was decidedly unaffected by the boy-hero character and went back and forth between plotting his untimely death on multiple occasions. Even though she struggles with coming to care for the people she tentatively calls her "friends", she's a looking out for number one kind of girl, and I loved that. That being said, it was fascinating to see Meda's progression throughout the book and I think it will be even more interesting to see how her character progresses throughout the rest of this series as she battles between the light and dark inside of her.

Another thing I particularly enjoyed was getting to know this world the author has set up for us. I haven't been this excited about a new fantastical/paranormal world in quite some time. Though a bit complicated, the world of Cracked is easy to follow and understand and I can't wait to learn more about it as the series continues. Not to mention our colorful cast of characters, especially a certain someone, a hot someone (hey, Meda's words, not mine!) in particular I suspect when haven't seen the last of.

This book was fast paced, action packed, and fun as much as it is heartwrenching. I always hate to be That Guy that says, "it's like blank meets blank!" So I'll try to be a little less cheesy and say I think fans of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural and books like Vampire Academy would eat this up! Especially my voracious readers out there who aren't ready to come off their Halloween high just yet. You'll be excited to get your hands on this book and I'm sure it won't disappoint!

3 and a half coffee cups!

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