Cracked by Eliza Crewe

Expected Publication: November 5th, 2013 by Strange Chemistry

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Synopsis:

Meet Meda. She eats people.

Well, technically, she eats their soul. But she totally promises to only go for people who deserve it. She’s special. It’s not her fault she enjoys it. She can’t help being a bad guy. Besides, what else can she do? Her mother was killed and it’s not like there are any other “soul-eaters” around to show her how to be different. That is, until the three men in suits show up.

They can do what she can do. They’re like her. Meda might finally have a chance to figure out what she is. The problem? They kind of want to kill her. Before they get the chance Meda is rescued by crusaders, members of an elite group dedicated to wiping out Meda’s kind. This is her chance! Play along with the “good guys” and she’ll finally figure out what, exactly, her ‘kind’ is.

Be careful what you wish for. Playing capture the flag with her mortal enemies, babysitting a teenage boy with a hero complex, and trying to keep one step ahead of a too-clever girl are bad enough. But the Hunger is gaining on her.

The more she learns, the worse it gets. And when Meda uncovers a shocking secret about her mother, her past, and her destiny… she may finally give into it.

 

Rating:

 

Review:

**Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Strange Chemistry!

This book was such a delightful little read, I was very surprised by it. I really have only a handful of complaints and even those are hardly worth mentioning. Cracked is written in the first person, from Meda’s perspective. Sometimes first person can be a problem if the narrating character is not very likeable, so I was a bit apprehensive for a few minutes. But it quickly became apparent to me that this was not going to be the case here. Meda was delightful. Funny, quirky, sarcastic, and wonderfully evil. Her inner dialogue made me laugh so often. For example, narrating an argument between two other characters as a tennis match. It shouldn’t have been as funny as it was but I couldn’t help it.

The plot was intriguing although admittedly it started off a bit thin. I started to get a little bit worried that there wouldn’t be much to it, but about halfway through it started to really pick up. The last part was both slightly surprising but also exactly how the book should have gone. I was a bit surprised that we got a happily ever after with a bit of a bitter aftertaste. To be honest, I figured it would just be a happily ever after,so it was a nice change that it wasn’t entirely so.

Although Meda was fantastic, the other characters started off badly. They seemed a bit unimportant and I had a hard time connecting with them. This resolved itself by the end and so I have to say it was a marginal problem at worst.

My one biggest complaint was this line, “I released a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.”  Ugh, can authors PLEASE stop using that phrase1 Never once in my life have I been holding my breath and thought “well by God, I didn’t realize I was holding that breath!”. It just doesn’t happen so please stop using it. However, at least there were no color changing eyes in this one. And since the rest of the book was so great I have to just overlook that small annoyance.