Soulbound by Heather Brewer

This is the first novel in the Legacy of Tril series by Heather Brewer.

Kaya has grown up living with the Unskilled - humans who known nothing about the Barrons and Healers who are in a 100 year war. But Kaya knows enough about them since her parents are both Barrons.

The only problem is that Kaya has not been introduced to that world. She has been told that she is a Healer by her parents, but because her mother and father are both Barrons, they broke the rule where they could not marry one of their own. It needs to be Barrons married to Healers.

Because her parents did that, they have been hiding with the Unskilled and have made sure that Kaya has stayed out of trouble.

But when a Graplar comes into her town, a creature that's soul purpose is to kill humans, and kills Avery, Kaya's best friend, the location of Kaya and her parents was revealed. Now, Kaya got an "invitation" to go to the Shadow Academy to be trained as a Healer. Only in the invite, it basically said that if Kaya doesn't go, her parents will pay the punishment.

Now Kaya is stuck in a place where Healers are snobs and Barrons are cocky. She has a guard, since Healers are not allowed to fight and are "weak" unless they have a Soulbound or a Bound where they can protect their Healer.

Kaya is not having it. She wants to learn how to take care of herself instead of waiting for someone to save her in a fight. But that is against Protocol. No one is willing to teach her how to protect herself, except for maybe one person.

Darius.

But for some reason, Darius, who is the only Unskilled at the Academy who trains all of the Barrons to fight, seems to hate Kaya on sight. And Trayton, Kaya's Bound who she is to be with at all times in case he gets hurt and needs Kaya to heal him, won't help her because it is his responsibility to protect Kaya if she is in trouble.

Somehow, though, the Graplars are able to come inside of the walls protecting Shadow Academy. And Kaya keeps getting caught by them. She will find a way to defend herself, even if it is against the law at Shadow Academy.

But can Kaya find a way to protect all of the ones she's come to care about at the Academy before it is too late? Read Soulbound by Heather Brewer to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
I have not yet had a chance to read any of Heather Brewer's novels, but I really loved this first novel of her new series! I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but after reading the synopsis about a girl wanting to find someone to train her to fight, I knew I would like it!

And I just have to say, once I met all of the characters I knew exactly where this was going to go. Especially because of the tension and the intensity with both male characters in Kaya's life, I knew exactly what was going to happen and I was waiting at the edge of my seat for it to occur.

But to have it happen on the last page?!? Gah, it just about killed me. I cannot wait until August to find out more of Kaya's adventure! Should have waited until closer to August before grabbing this and falling in love with this storyline.

So, as you can see, I really did like this novel. Actually, I liked it more than I thought I will.

Kaya is a great character. She knows she is a Healer and is anxious to learn more about Healing, but she also wants to learn how to protect the ones she loves. After seeing her best friend get attacked in her village  she never wants to be defenseless again.

And the love interest in this book! I definitely have a favorite and hope it goes in that path because I think they were made for one another.

Now I will have to look into Brewer's other series to see if they are as good as this novel. Maybe I will get a new favorite author!

I would definitely recommend this novel to young readers and try to explain the amazingness of this book to them! Can't wait for the sequel to come out!