A Dream Within A Dream: Book Review: Cracked by Eliza Crewe

Cracked (Soul Eater #1)

Author: Eliza Crewe
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: November 5, 2013
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Source: ARC from Publisher

Description:

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.

As soon as I read the description for this book, I knew I was going to love it. A girl that eats people's souls? Creepy and very strange (which I love!). And this soul-eating girl only kills bad people who have hurt others. Interesting. Meda has lived in solitude since the death of her mother, always on the move and never staying in one place for too long. While taking out a bad guy, Meda is suddenly introduced to three men in black suits - who are just like her. Meda always thought she was special - the only one who can eat souls. Now it seems that she's not alone and she can finally get some answers about herself. Before Meda can talk to these guys, they try to kill her - for no reason. Enter in a trio of teens who call themselves Crusaders - descendants of the Knights Templar whose sole purpose is to fight demons. Which is apparently what Meda is - at least partially. These kids seem to know about her kind, so Meda decides to follow them back to their school, playing the weak human who was attacked by demons, in order to learn more about herself, her heritage, and others like her. Little did she know that once at the school, she would learn much more than she ever thought possible - about her mother's secret past, her true nature, and her destiny.

This book was phenomenal! It went far above and beyond any hopes or expectations I had for it. I loved every single part of it - from the characters to the dialogue and the history of both groups and everything else. It all fit together so well that I was immediately immersed in Meda's world alongside her. Meda was a truly fascinating and multi-layered main character. You wouldn't think that a chick who eats people's souls would make a good lead character, but Meda is the exception. She's smart, witty, and determined to figure out who and what she really is. The part I loved most about Meda was her attitude. She was completely snarky and sarcastic throughout the entire book. The story is told from her point of view, so the reader is inside her head the entire time. She is ridiculously funny in a sarcastic way. I found myself snickering right along with her during the book. There's just something about her attitude and her snarky dialogue that I loved. On top of Meda's character, the other characters are well written too - especially those of the three Crusaders that Meda gets to know. They each have a unique personality with flaws and strengths, which made them accessible and realistic to me. The plot was fast paced and there was so much going on during the book, but I never felt overwhelmed or confused. I loved learning everything I could about Meda, the demons, the Crusaders, all of their histories - basically anything that was important in the book I wanted to know all about! I'm really hoping that we'll get to learn even more in the following book. Although this is a YA fantasy/paranormal book, it weaves in several other genres like action, romance and adventure to make a completely original book unlike anything else out there that I've read. I'm already dying to read the next book in the series, which is the only bad thing I have to say about it - that we have to wait so long!! Very highly recommended for fans of YA fantasy and paranormal novels.