Silky by Lazette Gifford

Release Date: January 11, 2011
Publisher: ACOA
Pages: 261
Series: Silky #1
Review Source: eBook for review from author

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Captured as a child and sold into heartless slavery, life has robbed Silky of his magical abilities and left him with no expectations of a better life -- until his own act of bravery delivers him into the hands of a powerful Lord of the Land.

His troubles are far from over since Lord Reed is out of favor with the King and danger threatens at any mischance. Working with Lord Reed starts him along a path that will lead to power, danger and heartbreak -- and a future the young slave boy could never have imagined.

My Thoughts:
'Silky' is a fantasy book that focuses a lot on the court politics of Anthica, the land where the story takes place. The main character of the novel is Silkation, or Silky as he quickly comes to be called. It was very interesting to see Silky rise from his life in slavery to be a freedman and then gain even more power as the story goes on.

I'm sort of on the fence with this book, though. There were some parts I really enjoyed, and I even liked the whole basis of the story. However, I found it hard to care a lot about the characters. The narration almost felt removed to a certain extent, so I didn't really get to know any of the characters that well. And for the characters whose motivations we did get to see? I'm not sure I bought it. Silky was so self-sacrificial, which I do understand, but it got to be a bit much at times. And during the second half of the book he was supposed to be so powerful, but he always had to be protected by his friends. Then there's the villain, Amity (gotta love the name irony). I understand that some people are selfish, and some people seem to be just plain evil, but would a person stoop to such horrible actions just because they wants attention? It seemed a bit much, especially because she grew up with such a lovely family, so I can't see why she would be that way.

Don't get me wrong, there definitely were aspects of the book I liked. Perhaps it just didn't really feel like much of a YA novel. It was also disappointing for me that there were very few female characters at all, though I guess it makes sense because of the men ruling the land. I did really enjoy the ending, even though I expected the one thing to happen right from the beginning. I wish we had gotten to hear more about Silky's personal journey and the emotions behind everything rather than all the political intrigue and the mechanical descriptions of law-making.

The Cover: I hate be to be critical, but ouch. It's pretty bad. Like it kind of creeps me out bad. =(

Rating:
[2/5]

Find Silky by Lazette Gifford on Goodreads.

Buy the eBook through Amazon, B&N, & Smashwords.