Sarah Beth Durst

When the goddess Bayla fails to take over Liyana's body, Liyana's people abandon her in the desert to find a more worthy vessel, but she soon meets Korbyn, who says the souls of seven deities have been stolen and that he needs Liyana's help to find them.

Vessel

Briar Rose

*Review also posted at Briar Rose Reads

I've long been a fan of Sarah Beth Durst. Her stories cover a wide variety of genres, and are always worth reading. This book was quite unlike anything else I'd ever encountered, and while it isn't my favorite of Durst's, it's still interesting.

My favorite character in "Vessel" was the desert. It is beautifully described, and despite the difficulty of living in such a harsh place, I came to understand the fierce love that Liyana and the other desert people had for their home. I also loved the mythical creatures that inhabited the desert, particularly the sand wolves and sky serpents.

The human and deity characters were more or less interesting as well, though they will not be counnted among my all-time favorites. Liyana is mostly practical and competent, with moments of passion and emotion. I am a practical person, and female characters whose main characteristic is "practicality" are few and far between in fiction, so I enjoyed seeing the world of "Vessel" through her eyes.

My main problem with this story--the thing that kept me from giving it 5 stars--is the pacing and plot development. I felt that the pacing was uneven; so much of the story was spent just traveling from tribe to tribe, without a clear endgame. I kept waiting for the "real plot" to start, and then realized I was more than halfway through the book. The ending seemed abrupt and too easily resolved, and not all my questions were answered. (view spoiler)[(So what happens with the drought now? You know, the big problem that was killing the desert people AND the people of the empire?) (hide spoiler)]

The Empire was underdeveloped, as well. I came away from the book with only a vague, amorphous idea of what it was even supposed to be. (A big empire that's suffering from drought, basically. Very little idea about its people or culture or customs. I would have loved to see that better developed, and by extension, the character of the Emperor. He is a very major character by the end, but still I felt that I barely knew him at all.)

Bottom line for me: This book is worth reading. It has some interesting characters, among which the desert itself is the most fascinating. The quandary about the vessels and the deities that "kill" them to inhabit their bodies provokes thought about the nature of sacrifice. Pacing is uneven and the plot seemed a bit muddled and meandering, but I would still recommend giving this one a chance. 3.5 stars.

Cindy Lee

You can also read this review here.

Through this books, I was curious, giddy, sad, heartfelt, hanging on for dear life, and many other feels. MIND-BLOWN...

Liyana is a vessel who has prepared for her goddess her entire life. Kinda sad when the goddess doesn't come then she was basically abandoned by her tribe. Shed some tears, there there. Korbyn, a trickster god in his vessel, finds Liyana and tells her that all the gods are imprisoned somewhere else. Not everyone is willing to trust Korbyn's words (trickster god over here!)

This books has everything. The adventure, the romance. Dude, just my kind of book :) Liyana and Korbyn set off to find the five other gods. And they kind of like each other but Liyana doesn't know what to do because Korbyn is Bayla's (her goddess) lover. You may now ooh and aahh. SO.. DRAMA-RAMA. 

THEN.. Through half of the book, my friend picked it up and read the end. AND.. *mad* SHE ACCIDENTLY TOLD ME THE ENDING.. WHICH RUINED MY ENTIRE EXPERIENCE OF READING THIS BOOK. *sigh* But thankfully! She didn't say the whole ending. What she said was true, but.. it got better because something good also happened at the end :) *saved lol*

One thing that bothered me was how Emperor Jilath and Liyana fell in love so quickly. Dude, like insta-love, man. It was the second time Liyana met him because she wanted to discuss something about the war with him. Then the emperor was suddenly like, "Become my wife." I was reading and like, "Wait.. back up." Read the section like 15 times and was like, "WTF just happened." I was like that for 5 minutes. Seriously, WTF?

Other than that, I have no problems with this book. I still love Korbyn! Sexy trickster god lol :) Definitely pick this up! I've never read something about vessels and this is a really refreshing story!

P. S. Is there going to be a book 2? Wish there will be!

hira

Hope Gamble

Rachel Kanyid

This atmospheric fantasy is, “from the gripping first line, a fast-paced, thought-provoking, and stirring story of sacrifice” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. The goddess will inhabit Liyana’s body and use magic to bring rain to the desert. But Liyana’s goddess never comes. Abandoned by her angry tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in search of her. Korbyn is a god inside his vessel, and a trickster god at that. He tells Liyana that five other gods are missing, and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. For the desert tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. But the journey is dangerous, even with a god’s help. And not everyone is willing to believe the trickster god’s tale. The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she has no choice: She must die for her tribe to live. Unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate—or a human girl can muster some magic of her own.