Review: Heir to Power by Michele Poague

Heir to Power

Author: Michele Poague
Series: The Healing Crystal #1
Publisher: iUniverse.com
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Format: Ebook
Release Date: December 27, 2010
Source: Gifted to me from BetteRose Ryan
Rating: 4 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The colony of Survin has been hidden for centuries, protecting an ancient religious artifact called the Healing Crystal from men who would steal or destroy it. Kairma, heir to the Crystal, is destined to mate with the handsome Naturi and become the leader of the reclusive colony, but she is too young to realize the peril soon to arrive. At sixteen, Kairma is too young to realize many things...

Kairma would rather go spelunking with her brother and his best friend than study ancient medicine and religious laws, but the discovery of a tomb containing ancient artifacts leads Kairma to question her religion and the true nature of the Crystal. To further complicate Kairma's ascent, a childhood illness has left her resembling a nearby race of men both hated and feared by the people of Survin. Because of this, Kairma's younger sister Kinter, who is in love with Naturi, believes she is the rightful heir.

Disease and infertility have decimated Survin, but bigotry and religious laws forbid the introduction of new members so things heat up when a traveling archeologist stumbles upon the reclusive colony and introduces a powerful new weapon. Forced into a larger world, the Survinees discover they hold an object of unimaginable power, a power other men covet, a power that might save or forever damn the human race.

My Review:

I was surprised at how much I liked this. Not because I didn’t think it sounded good, but there weren’t any of the usual aspects that make me fall in love with a book, like high action and steamy romance. Yet somehow, I can’t stop thinking about it. The story completely captivated me. I was trying to figure out where in the world we were and if we were in the past or the future. It was a constant guessing game that kept me turning the pages, craving more information.

There is a tiny colony of people called the Survinees that live secluded and separated from the rest of the world. They live pretty primitively, but they do so to protect the Healing Crystal, an ancient religious artifact that supposedly has the power to heal the world. The main character, Kairma, along with her brother Zedic and his best friend Collin, discover a vault of sorts filled with strange artifacts that they don’t understand. Combine this with the strange traveler that stumbled into the village with a powerful weapon (a gun), and they begin asking lots of questions. The questions eventually lead them to journey into the city and darker plots begin to unravel from there.

The main character, Kairma, is heir to the Healing Crystal. Kairma is very insecure about her looks. Most Survinees are dark-skinned with dark hair. But after Kairma is bitten by one the White Ones, strange creatures that live in the mountain caves, her hair turns snow white and her skin turns deathly pale. Many of the villagers think that she is evil like the White Ones and don’t trust her because of her looks. Naturally, this makes the young girl very self-conscious. She often questions why she should be the one to inherit the Crystal when her younger sister Kinter would be much better at becoming the villages next Miral, or healer. It was fun to watch Kairma grow over the summer while her friends are away traveling to the city. Kairma begins to grow more confident and really learns how to stand on her own two feet, facing her destiny head-on. She still has a long way to go, but I am looking forward to her further development in subsequent books.

My favorite character was Collin, Zedic’s best friend and love interest to Kairma. Collin was so radical in his thinking. Unlike the other Survinees, he wants to know what else is out there. Collin questions things and was a refreshing change in a village full of followers. Collin is boyish and fun, yet also determined and serious. I really wanted him and Kairma to be together, but he has some fierce competition against Naturi, the man who Kairma is almost certainly going to be mated with (their term for marriage). While I liked Naturi, I was still rooting for Collin the whole time and I really hope they get together in the next book.

I wish I could talk about all of the wonderful characters in this book, but if I did, this review would be ten pages long and you guys would all fall asleep. So just know that there are a LOT of characters in this book, but there wasn’t a single one that I didn’t like. (Except for stupid Narvin from the city who is definitely super shady, but what’s a book without a good villain?)

Here are some things I didn’t like: The POV was kind of confusing. This was written in third person omniscient so we saw through everybody’s eyes. It got confusing at times and I found myself flipping back pages to see whose perspective I was reading from now. There weren’t a lot of action scenes, but the ones that were there were kind of hard to follow. There were times when I wasn’t sure what was happening until it was over and then I was like, oh okay, I guess everyone made it out alive this time.

Some of the dialogue also felt a little forced and unnatural especially things Kairma would say. At times she sounded much older than she was. There was also internal dialogue that just seemed unnatural to me. At times it was almost as if realizations and lessons learned happened too easily. And there wasn’t a lot of kissing. Okay, that’s not really a valid complaint. That’s just me wanting to swoon. But things began to heat up towards the end which gives me high hopes for more kissing scenes in the next book!

This book reads like a fantasy and for a while I was really confused. I received this book from BetteRose Ryan who works for the author and she told me this was a hard science fiction. So as I’m reading, I’m like, um, I’m confused. This feels like a fantasy. Keep reading. It’s science fiction. Trust me. When I finally got to the part where the science fiction aspect clicked, I was already engrossed, but I became even more curious about what was going on. I am dying to know what is happening in the world and what the crystal can really do. I think it’s definitely going to surprise me. Should you read this? Yes. I really enjoyed it and I think it’s super underrated so spread the word. I found a gem! It is pretty detailed though and you really have to pay attention at times so just make sure you’re in the right mindset for it. Happy reading all!  

Have you read this book? Heard of it? What did you think?