Marina Vivancos - All That Has Flown Beyond

Kaiyo’s bloodline has been part of the Garrow pack for generations. He has been destined to be shaman, to anchor the werewolves to the land, and lend aid with the force of his Ousía. When Kaiyo is fourteen, however, an attacking group kills all of the adults in the pack, leaving young Ahmik, only fifteen, as leader.
Their worries don’t end there.
Smelling blood in the water, enemies hunt the decimated pack from all sides. Kaiyo grows increasingly reckless in his desperation to defend his pack, to finally grow into his shaman powers, and to protect Ahmik: the boy he loves.
In the end, Kaiyo loses his pack anyway.
Packless, landless, Kaiyo drifts. For ten years, he fights to remake himself into the shaman, and the man, he was meant to become. One phone call from his old pack, though, and he is forced to return.
Something is killing children and Kaiyo is the only one strong enough to stop it.
Kaiyo never thought his journey would take him back to his old land, his old pack, and to Ahmik. Forced to face his past, and the wounded love that still aches for Ahmik, Kaiyo will be tested like never before.

Comment: This is the second story I read by the author and since I enjoyed the first one I read, and this one being a sort of sequel - or at least it's set in the same world - I was even more curious to keep reading about this world of shifters.

In this book, we meet a different cast of characters, belonging to a different pack from those we've met in the first book. This new group has a younger group of people and one of them, Kaiyo, who should have inherited the shaman position, is already 18 and not manifesting any powers. They all know the pack might seem weaker because of this, even though the surrounding packs aren't enemies and can actually help if necessary. However, Kaiyo acts recklessly, apparently uncaring about the healthy bonds of the pack and this forces the others to sever his bond within the pack. After such a harsh decision, Kaiyo is left adrift, in a sea of despair and barely functioning until he reaches rock bottom. 

With the help of his mother, however, he gets help and starts therapy, as well as his self journey to becoming a shaman for that is when his powers finally manifest. The following years see Kaiyo becoming an apprentice and learning so much about being a shaman, dedicating himself to it to the point his work starts to be recognize worldwide and he travels everywhere to help other packs. Things finally reach a reckoning moment when his old pack is in need of help...can he let go of the past to be who they need?

I liked reading this book. I think that, although debatable when it comes to therapy methods, the fictional part of things and the characters themselves made this an engrossing read. While not every part felt the pace was right, I was still touched by some of the things Kaiyo went through and actually think his recovery was quite quick for the amount of sadness and hurt he had.

Still, that is precisely one of the points of this novel: people don't all process deep feelings the same way, especially the negative ones.What works for some, might not for others, even if the situations might seem similar. I liked the way Kaiyo went on his self healing journey but of course someone more knowledgeable in the field or a professional in the area might have a different opinion on whether what is included can be taken as a possibility or not.

The book is divided into two parts: the severance of the bond and how Kaiyo goes from accepting it to falling into depression and all that it entails. We also see how he slowly starts healing and believing in his powers and newfound abilities, to the point where he becomes a strong shaman and quite requested to help other packs. This leads him into a life of learning, of respecting nature and all that is entailed in the life of a pack and how balanced life should be. I suppose this section was a little rushed and he did seem to become too good too quickly but for fiction purposes of the plot I can accept it.

The second part is how, by doing something very especial in saving the life of a child in his old pack, he can't keep the balance his powers demand and that forces him to remain while balance is restored. As one can imagine this is quite a task, for he needs to live with and near the people who banned him. Of course any fiction reader would guess where this would go and it becomes rather obvious how the close proximity and the interactions rekindle old feelings and emotions, especially the romantic ones...

I felt the romance was a bit too...easy, in a way. It's predictable but also, since we only have Kayio's POV (although narrated in third person), one sided and I wish I could have had access to Ahmik's thoughts, Kayio's first love and his obvious mate. I think most time Kayio was too understanding, too much of a shaman and not an individual while dealing with his old pack and his old love. He does try to keep some emotional distance for self preservation reasons and that is why I don't feel the romantic relationship was a bad one, but it isn't always easy to just accept they go from one extreme to the other so quickly, considering the past history.

To be fair, the romance resolution is predictable but I kind of hoped for something more obvious as they dealt with the decision to end together. I mean, a HEA is to be expected but it was all so... quiet and unassuming. I wanted more romance. There is also some minor conflict issues - not really romantically related - toe«wards the end, to quicken some plot situations, but overall, things worked well enough for me. I cried in some parts, when things were really dark for Kayio, not because it was so bad, graphically speaking, but because I imagined how I would act if it were me.

I liked this story, yes. I will read more by the author at some point.

Grade: 8/10

Marina Vivancos - In This Iron Ground

Damien is nine years old when his parents die. What should have been the worst moment of his life begins a journey shadowed by loneliness and pain. The night of a full moon, four years and seven foster homes later, Damien flees to the forest, desperate to escape everything.
Instead, he finds the Salgado pack, and the earth beneath his feet shifts. Damien has seen the Salgado children in his school: Koko, who is in his class, and Hakan, two years older and infinitely unreachable. Damien is suddenly introduced into a world that had only ever existed in his imagination, where there is magic in the forest and the moon. He meets creatures that look like monsters, but Damien knows that monsters have the same face as anybody else.
Over the years, Damien and Hakan grow closer. First, just as friends and foster brothers in the Salgado house, and then into something heated and breathless when Damien joins Hakan at college. Despite what he may yearn for in the darkest part of the night, Damien knows, deep down in that bruised and mealy part of his core, that he’s not good enough to be part of the Salgado family, their pack. He’s not worthy of calling Hakan his home.
Even though he knows in the end it’ll hurt him, he’ll hold onto this for as long as he can.

Comment: I got interested in this book after seeing some positive reviews. Since I like the genre, and within that the shape shifters are my favorite type of character, there was no doubt I'd want to try it.

In this book we follow Damien, the main character, as he goes from the traumatic experience of losing his parents and then into foster care where things don't always work out as planned, and how he copes and deals with others. Somehow he makes friends with the Salgado family and they welcome him, showing him there are good people too, not just those who think they know best. The fact the Salgados are a family of shifters is no worry for Damien and he quickly becomes part of their family, even though he keeps feeling he doesn't really deserve such good people in his life. One member of the family in particular turns out to be his best friend and as the years go by, Damien can't help but feel more than just friendship until he can't keep it to himself anymore. But will he risk the best thing that happened to him when he knows he doesn't deserve more than what he already got?

I think it's pretty clear this isn't a cookie cute story. The story does focus on Damien and his struggle to feel accepted and worthy. A huge part of the novel is centered on his difficulty to embrace his own value and the fact the way he sees himself might not be the way others see him, especially those who like him or who want to help him. I have to say I liked this part of the book. I, too, sometimes have thoughts similar to those Damien expresses here...maybe not as dire, no, but I mean, who doesn't feel a little down sometimes? I like introspective characters, as long as their path/evolution shows some development.

Damien is a character who suffers abuse. Not sexual, before you think that, but abuse nonetheless. Of course, this colors his way of thinking and the way he reacts in certain situations. I can't say if the change into a depressed state is as realistically portrayed as it should, but it felt like he was in a very bad place and we follow those thoughts for a little bit. I think it might be hard for some people to read this, especially those who are also in a bad spot, but I was reading and hoping this would mean Damien would learn how to cope, how to change his way of thinking...I can't say if it's well done but it felt like it was, like when he starts dealing with things, he slowly but surely learns he has value and he is worthy.

The book is divided into two parts, first while Damien is a teenager and is dealing with all the negative aspects and the process of healing because he makes friends with the Salgados, and the second part, when he goes to college and other kind of feelings get into the mix. I wouldn't say this is a romance, because not only are Damien and his love interest young but because this is mostly focused on Damien's journey. However, the fun part is that while Damien goes through all this, he is included within a loving family, a family that cares for their members and it shows how having someone in "your corner" does help in making one feel braver.

The paranormal content, regarding the existence of shifters, isn't an issue that gets too much explanation, it just makes sense that there are different types of humans, and the world of shape shifters is pretty simply depicted, as if it was just a feature in the world, not a big deal. I can only suppose the existence of shifters here was just a way for a contrast to happen between people who are expressive about how much they care and to offer something extra for Damien to think about. It doesn't feel the author wanted to expand this too much but perhaps the next novel might give more insight.

As for the romance, like I said, it's not the main focus but it does add a few sweet scenes here and there. I think there are some moments between them, while they are already a couple, that could have been done better. I think that, if one goal of the novel were to be the portrayal of how a good relationship can help someone to have a better chance at happiness, the end result was not as epic as it could have been, the relationship is sweet and soli yes, but we infer a lot, more than what happens in the page suggests. Still, it was obviously good to see Damien find love.

All things considered, this was a good, emotional novel, it fit many of my favorite things to see in a book but there were some elements which could have been done a little better or, to say it differently, if some elements had been done in another way, I might have appreciated the story even more. I will try the other book in the same world too, at some point.

Grade: 8/10