Book reviews by Mobilism's Book Review team
Dec 14th, 2014, 9:45 am
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TITLE: Cracked (Soul Eater 01)
AUTHOR: Eliza Crewe
GENRE: YA, Urban Fantasy
PUBLISHED: 05/11/2013
RATING: ★★★★☆
PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon
MOBILISM LINK: Mobilism

Review: I want to say that Cracked is a refreshing take on a fairly well-known story... But the more I think over what I read, the more unhappy I am with it.

First, the good: the main character, Meda, is incredible, a half-demon who eats souls. I am very tired of never seeing evil girls, and Meda is an unabashedly evil girl, reveling in her strength and power and constantly mocking the extremely foolish 'good guys'...
This boy might have the answers; I just have to take them from him. I consider the many tools at my disposal, eyeing his large blood-splattered frame, and settle on my weapon of choice – one so infrequently used I need to dust it off first.

My eyes fill with tears. “Wha–” I swallow hard “– what were those things?”

“Demons.” Thanks, Einstein. I got that part. “Turns out spiritual warfare is a lot less theoretical than you probably think.”

How many times had he practiced that line? I wouldn’t make judgments on what I think, silly boy. I let a tear trickle over.

He hurries to reassure me. “Don’t cry – I’ll protect you.”

Humiliating. Absolutely humiliating.

Honestly, Meda is what makes this book stand out, what makes it worth reading. The other characters are mostly bland and uninteresting, but Meda's inner commentary was what kept me going when the story itself became ridiculously predictable.
“Demons also feed on souls, good people that they couldn't turn – gives ‘em kind of a high. They especially try to murder Beacons – people who are particularly good or who will have a positive impact on the world. Da Vinci, Gandhi, Betty White and Mother Teresa are the classic examples, but there’s a bunch of other, much less well-known ones.” He gives me a meaningful glance and I freeze. He can’t know I eat souls. There’s no way. All he saw was the demons trying to kill me. Oh my God, he must mean…

Bahahahahahaha. He thinks I'm a Beacon. I look down to hide my twinkling eyes. Bad day or not, that’s hilarious.

“It’s OK. You don't have to be scared, I'll protect you.”

Big brawny man, protect this damsel! I try to look angelic and helpless – Beacon-ish. The haircut and the blood can't be helping. Fortunately he seems particularly thick.

Unfortunately, the plot is extremely predictable. Although we start the book in a mental hospital (where Meda has gone undercover to hunt a murderer, murderers being the only ones whose souls her mother allowed her to eat), almost instantly introduced to Meda's demonic nature, the story goes downhill quickly, with Templar (yes, those Holy Templars, again) Chi showing up to save the day––or so he thinks. Meda, who knows very little about herself and her abilities, fools him into thinking she needs protection and convinces him to take her back to the Templar headquarters.

Not that he needs much convincing, because as Meda says above, he's fairly thick.

And then we have irritatingly do-goody Templars, who are of course attacked by demons because now Hell knows about Meda and they want her to come join them, etc, etc. From the moment Chi shows up to the showdown ending, there are very few surprises and most of them minor. For example, Jo, Chi's love interest, is physically disabled, and I very much approve of how her disability is handled, both in the affect it has on her life and what it's done to her as a person. In fact both girls–-Meda and Jo––are fantastic, and I'd have been much happier if it had been a novel about just them. I really loved their developing friendship and how much of an impact Jo has on Meda throughout the book, first as an enemy, then as a kind of role model, and finally a friend.

But it wasn't all about them, alas. Instead, we readers have, yet again, a book about modern Templars hunting monsters (seriously, can we please come up with a new trope? What is it about the Templars that so fascinates YA authors?) with all the attendant problematic elements––those mainly being, the Templars are very heavily Christian, and there's plenty of in-story evidence for souls and an afterlife. So what does that mean for followers of other religions, and why does no one ever ask these questions? All the world-building is very much hand-waved––or, as Chi says...
“I don't really worry too much about theories – just enough so I know who to kill.”

Yes! Super helpful, thank you! All my questions are now answered!

Not. Apparently, you not only receive powers if you're born a demon-slaying Templar, but also if you marry one. Why?
“Oh, and anyone who marries a Templar,” Uri adds.

“But how?” I ask.

They all blink at me.

Finally Uri answers, “Because God says so.”

Fair enough.

No! Not fair enough! What? God categorically exists but only pays attention to Earth to give the spouses of Templars super-strength? AND THIS IS TOTALLY FINE?

Argh.

Now, I'm not usually someone who likes to draw comparisons between books that use similar set-ups. Two Sleeping Beauty retellings can be completely different even when the stories are the same, simply because of how they're written. A secret race of demon-hunters does not make Cracked a copy of Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments by a long shot. However, in one respect, they do need to be compared, and that is in self-awareness. CC's secret race of demon-hunters have a seriously problematic culture, but one that is commented upon by various characters and is rather difficult to miss. It's very clear that CC has intentionally made her demon-hunters messed-up people and is aware and in control of the whole thing. I do not get that impression from Cracked, despite the Templars having an even worse parenting system than CC's Shadowhunters; where Shadowhunter children are at least raised by their parents, Templar children are dumped in trailer parks and may not see their parents from one year to the next, with very little adult supervision. This makes me even less likely to be a fan of the Templars (I have a thing about bad parents/parenting), but my real problem is how no one acknowledges just how awful a situation this is. There's a particularly horrible scene where the few adults in charge order the collected teenagers to stand and die against a demon army, and no one blinks an eye or thinks this is strange. I would have appreciated a little more acknowledgement of how fucked up the Templars actually are, rather than the set-up being that this is strange and unusual but just different, rather than HORRIBLY WRONG.

I mean, demon parents apparently have more interest in their kids than the Templars do. So. I think that says it all, right?

I still want to give Cracked four stars on the strength of Meda's narration alone. The story itself is, as I've said repeatedly, stupidly predictable; Crewe seems to have taken a very well-known storyline and stuck an interesting character in the main character slot, one who mocks and abuses the idiot do-gooders at every opportunity. Meda breathes fresh life into the good guys/bad guys conflict, and despite a weak ending, she makes this book a fun, quick read.

Not quite enough that I'm sure I want to read the sequel--but still a book I'd recommend, albeit with reservations. You guys will just have to let me know what you think.
Dec 14th, 2014, 9:45 am
Sep 11th, 2015, 6:10 am
Wow, I was hoping that this series would be good, mainly because my sister's name is also Meda and I would be imagining her as the soul-eating demon. LOL. But I hate it when plots doesn't make any sense, it only frustrates me.

Thanks for saving me from this book.
Sep 11th, 2015, 6:10 am
Dec 16th, 2015, 2:31 pm
This series is awesome.You rally should read it
Dec 16th, 2015, 2:31 pm
Mar 16th, 2016, 9:09 pm
This is one of my favorite YA book series and Meda is awesome!
Mar 16th, 2016, 9:09 pm
May 7th, 2016, 3:52 am
I've been avoiding this book for ages... and I'm not even sure why. I didn't even know what it was about. But now I'm certain it's not for me. Thanks for the informative review!
May 7th, 2016, 3:52 am
Jun 19th, 2016, 6:30 am
I have just finished this book and im glad that i gave it a try.
Meda is not your typical heroine that falls helplessly inlove with a guy and she kicks ass.
All in all i love the series.
Jun 19th, 2016, 6:30 am

I like people too much or not at all. ~ Sylvia Plath ~
Jul 1st, 2016, 12:34 am
Read it anyway, and have to say you were right on the money. I did like Meda but when I can guess next chapters dialog ahead of time, it gets a little boring.
Jul 1st, 2016, 12:34 am
Sep 18th, 2016, 11:29 am
I liked Meda... What happens at the beggining cemented my love for villains no villains, lol, but yea, the book lacked something.
Sep 18th, 2016, 11:29 am

I'm a Survivor
Sep 19th, 2016, 6:56 pm
Sounds interesting but not sure it is for me....
Sep 19th, 2016, 6:56 pm