Review by Booklist Review
This debut novel raises questions about the ethics of sacrificing a few innocent people to save many. Fifteen-year-old Nya and her younger sister, Tali, have extraordinary gifts. Known as Takers, the girls can extract pain from the injured. Since Tali can push that pain into pynvium (a special metal used to store pain), she becomes an apprentice for the Healer's League, but Nya, who can only transfer pain to herself or others, must survive on her own. An unscrupulous duke, were he to know of Nya's unusual abilities, would use her as a weapon in a war he is waging. After a ferry accident cripples the city, Nya discovers that the league is kidnapping apprentices (including Tali) and overloading them with pain. Nya wrestles with guilt as she agrees to help some questionable people and rescue Tali. Hardy's easy first-person narrative helps quicken the pacing of this lengthy novel. The ethical dilemmas raised in this opening book of the Healing Wars series provide thoughtful discussion material and also make the story accessible to more than just fantasy readers.--Garnick, Kimberly Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8-10-In this first book in a planned trilogy, 15-year-old Nya and her younger sister, Tali, who were orphaned during the recent war that nearly destroyed their city, both have the gift of healing. Unlike Tali, though, Nya can't harmlessly shift the pain she takes from the sick and wounded into enchanted pynvium metal. Instead, she must shift it from person to person, a dangerous talent that she keeps hidden from the ruling Baseeri and from the Healer's League where Tali is an apprentice. Scrounging to make ends meet, Nya resorts to odd jobs and the occasional theft to stay alive. When a young soldier discovers her secret and implores her to save his dying father, Nya is forced to choose between protecting herself and acknowledging her ability to save others and perhaps her entire city. First-time author Hardy has written an inventive coming-of-age tale about a likable young woman whom readers will cheer throughout her exploits. Her appealing narration chronicles her expanding worldview as she progresses from a self-interested survivalist to a reluctant heroine to a determined rebel. Fantasy fans and those who just love a good story will enjoy this fast-paced novel and eagerly await book two.-Leah J. Sparks, formerly at Bowie Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Middle School) A war orphan in occupied Geveg, a society in which the highly regulated pain trade is a mainstay of the corrupt economy, Nya has a powerful talent for drawing pain out of a sufferer into her own body. If she only had the ability to dump the pain into pynvium metal to get rid of it, she could become an apprentice in the Healer's League, like her sister Tali. What Nya has instead -- the power to push pain into another human being -- is taboo. But when Tali disappears along with other apprentices following a terrible ferry crash, Nya is willing to do anything to find her, including selling the use of her talent to an unscrupulous pain merchant in exchange for information and, later, pynvium, which is suddenly in short supply. Where has the pynvium gone? Why are the apprentices disappearing? Who's using the crisis for their own gain? Nya's distinctive first-person voice, strongly personable with a wry sense of humor, draws readers in, while the (mostly) simple, hard-charging plot makes the pages fly by. Questions of ethics -- would you save someone's life at the cost of unbearable pain to someone else? Would it make a difference if the pain recipient were willing? -- are adroitly presented. Nya's horror at the prospect of being used as a weapon will resonate with readers, who will eagerly await the next volume of the Healing Wars. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A teen with the power to shift pain from one person to another chooses between saving her sister's life and her principles in this first of a projected series. Orphaned when the Baseer invade and occupy Geveg, 15-year-old Nya and her sister Tali live in an oppressed world where pain is controlled by a Healer's League that trains "Takers" to transfer human pain into a substance called pynvium. The League charges to remove pain, pain merchants buy pain to enchant weapons and anyone able to "shift" pain is subject to "death, prison, maybe even experiments." Nya suppresses her shifting power until Tali and other League apprentices mysteriously disappear and a pain merchant threatens to make her a pawn in his plot to subvert Geveg. In the tradition of strong-willed adventure heroines, Nya rallies, unleashing her powers as she faces complex moral dilemmas. Her first-person narration is suffused with the agony of deciding who will live or die. Timely ethical exploration in the guise of high-action fantasy. (Fantasy. 10-16) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
