2015 Reading Challenge
5. A book with magic: The Pain Merchant - The Healing Wars: Book One by Janice Hardy
The Pain Merchants was another book from the book pile Helen lent me. As you can see I went through a binge on her books. I got overly excited by her books, that I forgot that I was going to have a mixture of books on this blog. Instead I've had three similar books in a row. Whoops. I had never heard of it before but the blurb intrigued me and with Helen's recommendation, I decided to give it a go.
The Pain Merchants was set in a alternative fantasy universe, there has been a war and the city, Geveg is under control by the all powerful Duke. The protagonist is Nya, a fifteen year old; who barely survives by working odd jobs. Her younger sister is a apprentice at the Healer's League but Nya was unable to join so remains on the streets. She is a Taker, a healer who can pull pain and injury from others. However, she is unable to release the pain into pynvium, an enchanted metal that can store pain like other healers. She has the unusual ability to only shift pain from person to person. This is a dangerous ability that she must keep hidden from the various forces within Geveg. However, a bungled egg theft exposes her to the pain merchants and the Healer's League. Nya now has to protect herself and discover why League apprentices are going missing before her sister is taken.
The plot of the story was written fairly well. It flowed well and was full of surprises, you were not always sure what was going to happen next. However, I found the ending to occur too suddenly, when in the rest of the book the issues the characters faced and how they were resolved happened at a reasonable pace. The conclusion happened so quickly and the main issue in the story was resolved but there had been no real thought put into it. It just happened. I found it quite unsatisfying, Hardy kind of bungled the climax.
Also, the story fell into the classic young adult cliche of making the protagonist the most skilled and powerful character. It's fine but its quite frustrating. I would love the main character to not be the best thing ever. I think it's a good lesson to teach people that you don't have to be all powerful to be a important or brave person. However, in other books that I have enjoyed more it hasn't bothered me. It could be bothering me because its the third young adult book I've read in a row.
The main issue I found with The Pain Merchants was the character development. Nya's character was well developed and she was likeable. However, all the other minor main characters were terribly developed. I felt no real connection to any of them. I first noticed this with the love interest, I just didn't really like him. There was no really reason to not like him but he appeared bland, there was nothing special about the character. He barely had chemistry with Nya and their intimate dialogue was uninspired. The only chemistry you could see was what Nya told you about, like she can't stop looking at him and thought he was cute. Her sister was just as poorly developed, you as a reader felt no real connection to her. When she (spoiler alert) disappears, I found I only cared because Nya was so upset but I wasn't hugely worried if she was only used as character development for Nya or not. The other main character was Aylin, who is initially introduced as someone Nya knew but wasn't really friends with and not someone she can trust but then suddenly she is "like a sister". It was bizarre and a little unsettling.
I found this book alright. I think I will read the next one, hopefully the character are better developed. Overall, it was a okay read, I did enjoy it and found the storyline to be fairly unique. Though there is a part when they are worried they can't heal anymore and I was thinking, "Haven't you learned how to heal without it like we deal with everyday especially if no one can affords it." But of course this a different universe with different norms. I give this book a 3 out 5 stars. I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you like fantasy and magic and are curious by the blurb.
The Pain Merchants was set in a alternative fantasy universe, there has been a war and the city, Geveg is under control by the all powerful Duke. The protagonist is Nya, a fifteen year old; who barely survives by working odd jobs. Her younger sister is a apprentice at the Healer's League but Nya was unable to join so remains on the streets. She is a Taker, a healer who can pull pain and injury from others. However, she is unable to release the pain into pynvium, an enchanted metal that can store pain like other healers. She has the unusual ability to only shift pain from person to person. This is a dangerous ability that she must keep hidden from the various forces within Geveg. However, a bungled egg theft exposes her to the pain merchants and the Healer's League. Nya now has to protect herself and discover why League apprentices are going missing before her sister is taken.
The plot of the story was written fairly well. It flowed well and was full of surprises, you were not always sure what was going to happen next. However, I found the ending to occur too suddenly, when in the rest of the book the issues the characters faced and how they were resolved happened at a reasonable pace. The conclusion happened so quickly and the main issue in the story was resolved but there had been no real thought put into it. It just happened. I found it quite unsatisfying, Hardy kind of bungled the climax.
Also, the story fell into the classic young adult cliche of making the protagonist the most skilled and powerful character. It's fine but its quite frustrating. I would love the main character to not be the best thing ever. I think it's a good lesson to teach people that you don't have to be all powerful to be a important or brave person. However, in other books that I have enjoyed more it hasn't bothered me. It could be bothering me because its the third young adult book I've read in a row.
The main issue I found with The Pain Merchants was the character development. Nya's character was well developed and she was likeable. However, all the other minor main characters were terribly developed. I felt no real connection to any of them. I first noticed this with the love interest, I just didn't really like him. There was no really reason to not like him but he appeared bland, there was nothing special about the character. He barely had chemistry with Nya and their intimate dialogue was uninspired. The only chemistry you could see was what Nya told you about, like she can't stop looking at him and thought he was cute. Her sister was just as poorly developed, you as a reader felt no real connection to her. When she (spoiler alert) disappears, I found I only cared because Nya was so upset but I wasn't hugely worried if she was only used as character development for Nya or not. The other main character was Aylin, who is initially introduced as someone Nya knew but wasn't really friends with and not someone she can trust but then suddenly she is "like a sister". It was bizarre and a little unsettling.
I found this book alright. I think I will read the next one, hopefully the character are better developed. Overall, it was a okay read, I did enjoy it and found the storyline to be fairly unique. Though there is a part when they are worried they can't heal anymore and I was thinking, "Haven't you learned how to heal without it like we deal with everyday especially if no one can affords it." But of course this a different universe with different norms. I give this book a 3 out 5 stars. I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you like fantasy and magic and are curious by the blurb.
Thank you, I hoped you enjoyed reading.
Jenny
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