Liyana has trained most of her life to be the vessel of her clan’s goddess, Bayla. When Bayla comes, Liyana’s soul will disappear as the goddess inhabits Liyana’s body and uses magic to ensure that the Goat Clan will continue to survive in the unforgiving, but beautiful, desert.
Except Bayla never comes.
Deemed unworthy, Liyana is blamed and left behind by her angry clan as they try to once again curry Bayla’s favor. Alone in the desert, Liyana doesn’t expect to live long until a dust storm brings a boy searching for her and a sudden change in Liyana’s fate.
Korbyn is a god inside his vessel–a trickster god. He is also the only one who noticed five other gods go missing. With Liyana in tow Korbyn plans to rally the other vessels and, he hopes, rescue the missing gods. Unfortunately, Korybn did not earn his reputation as a trickster for his honesty. With many obstacles to face and Korbyn’s true purpose constantly questioned, their task is far from easy.
The farther Liyana travels from her clan, the more she learns about Korbyn and herself, the less sure she is of her fate as a vessel. The Goat Clan needs Bayla to survive. Which means Liyana has to die. Unless a trickster god can pull off one more stunning feat and a mortal girl can find her own magic in time in Vessel (2012) by Sarah Beth Durst.
Vessel is a great choice for anyone looking for a fantasy they can sink their teeth into. In a genre that is filled with tales of forbidden love and damsels in distress, Durst keeps the focus squarely on Liyana–a capable, clever heroine ready to rescue herself and maybe everyone else too.
Durst peppers the novel with stories of her own making to show readers more of Liyana’s world and culture. Set in a haunting world filled with myth and magic this evocative book is filled with varied motives and a story that never quite leads where you expect from the completely original start to the refreshing and satisfying finish.
Possible Pairings: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh, Tiger Lily by Jody Lynn Anderson, The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow, Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken, The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, The Reader by Traci Chee, The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi, The Lost Sun by Tessa Gratton, The Shadow Behind the Stars by Rebecca Hahn, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston, Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones, The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana, Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, Soundless by Richelle Mead, Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon, The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, Updraft by Fran Wilde
You can also read my exclusive interview with Sarah Beth Durst starting November 8, 2012!
*This book was acquired for review from the publisher/author
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