Review: Slayers by C.J. Hill

Title: Slayers
Author: C.J. Hill
Genre: Paranormal Young Adult
Release Date: 09/27/11
Reviewed by: Sara
But the Book:

Summary:

Dragons exist. They’re ferocious. And they’re smart: Before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant, so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it –- these “Slayers” are descended from the original knights, and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator’s daughter who didn’t sign up to save the world.

The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive?

Plot: 3 Stars
I really wanted to love this novel. The premise was fantastic. There aren't nearly enough urban-fantasy-esqe novels that include dragons. But I found the lack of details a bit disappointing. The reader get the basics as to how the slayers came to be and what the different abilities are, but many of the hows and whys were left unanswered. A few too many details are just taken for granted by the characters. Even while Tori is still learning about her destiny and questioning things, there are some details and history that I wanted her to question, but she did not. Those details aside, this novel was still very interesting. The different powers the slayers possessed and the training they went through were interesting. My favorite parts were the prologue and the last chapter. The prologue gives a glimpse of how evil the dragons can be and leaves you wanting to know more while Tori is finding her way. And the last chapter drops a bit of a bomb. It's not quite a cliffhanger, but it did leave me wanting to know what happens next.

Pace: 2.5 Stars
This novel moved a bit slow for my taste. Life at camp moved at a pretty slow pace while the slayers practiced and showed Tori what was going on. There were entire chapters dedicated to smaller, more trivial events that could've been wrapped up much quicker, like when Tori runs off to get her hair fixed after getting the majority of her ponytail burnt off. There were quite a few times in which the smaller details of every day life were blown up into much bigger scenes than they needed to be. It also threw me off a little when the point of view of the novel changed. The majority of the book was from Tori's perspective, but every now and then there would be a chapter all in italics that was a different point of view. It was normal enough the first couple times, when the point of view only changed to Jesse. But it seemed a little forced when the point of view jumped to a couple other characters.

Characters: 3.5 Stars
Some of the characters in this novel were definitely developed more than others. I really enjoyed the more developed characters, like Tori and Jesse. I wanted to like the less developed characters, but I really didn't get to learn that much about them. Many of the slayers tended to stay in the background, only coming into the spotlight when their powers were needed. Tori was a very interesting main character. She straddled the line in regards to being a bit spoiled. The author did a good job of making sure the reader could still relate to her and not think of her as a spoiled brat. I really enjoyed that she was vulnerable as she began to practice with the slayers. She didn't learn how to use her powers and fight overnight, which made her feel a bit more real.

Cover: 3 Stars
The dark green of this cover is my favorite part. The color really fits a novel about dragons. The yellow color of the title pops against the dark green and continues the dragon feel. But the font itself chosen for the title is a bit too masculine considering about half of the slayers are female, and the novel is mostly from Tori's point of view. The dragon egg used as the focus of the cover fits the novel, but doesn't really draw the eye. It's a little hard to tell what the item is or to distinguish details at a quick glance. I would've rather the cover included a real dragon and maybe a couple characters. This cover is just a bit too generic and doesn't give off enough of a dragon vibe to grab your attention.

Overall: 3 Stars

Disclosure: I received a copy of this novel for review from Authors on the Web.