Hinweis: Zum Zeitpunkt dieser Rezension gibt es das Buch leider nur auf englisch.

Was mich sehr schnell für das Buch eingenommen hat, war für allem der einfallsreiche und lebendige Schreibstil, dem ein ganz besonderer Zauber innewohnt. Er ist detailliert, aber nicht zu detailliert, die Situationen und Charaktere werden in einer Art und Weise beschrieben, die für buntes Kopfkino sorgt und dabei kein bisschen abgedroschen ist, die Dialoge sind locker und glaubwürdig, und der intelligente, trockene Humor hat mich mehr als einmal laut zum Lachen gebracht.

"The sun spread into the horizon as if it were melting into the water, an act that, while poetic, would not have been appreciated by the fish."

Die Charaktere - oh, die Charaktere! Die sind einfach unglaublich fantastisch, und die Autorin schaffte es immer wieder, mir mit nur ein paar Sätzen das Gefühl zu geben, dass ich einen echten Menschen mit Marotten, Stärken und Schwächen vor mir habe.

Ob das jetzt Kaylas leicht durchgeknallte Mutter Moonbeam ist, die mit Hingabe so tut, als sei sie ein Hippie, oder Kaylas beste Freundin Serena, die im Geld schwimmt, dafür aber in ständiger Angst lebt, ihre Eltern zu enttäuschen... Keiner der wichtigen Charaktere war mir egal, ich fühlte mich immer emotional in ihr Leben involviert.

Kayla selber ist eine wunderbare Heldin, die ihre telekinetischen Fähigkeiten mit cleverer Finesse einsetzt, um als Meisterdiebin die Geschäfte der Stadt auszurauben. Ich war immer wieder beeindruckt, wie kreativ und durchdacht sie dabei vorgeht! Was sie mir aber darüber hinaus sympathisch machte, war ihre tiefe Liebe zu ihrer Mutter und ihre Entschlossenheit, ihre kleine Familie zu beschützen.

"If he wasn't more careful, he could be caught by evil people with world-domination plans and forced to commit atrocious acts of atrocity."

Daniel tritt erst einmal als Gegenspieler in Kaylas Leben, indem er sie erpresst - aber eigentlich handelt er nur aus hilfloser Verzweiflung so, denn er liebt seine Mutter über alles und will sie retten. Wie Kayla ist auch er intelligent und einfallsreich, und das liebe ich an Protagonisten!

"He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something profound, or at least difficult to pronounce."

Beide leben im Grunde in einer verkehrten Welt, in der sie versuchen, ihre Eltern zu beschützen und sich um sie zu kümmern, statt umgekehrt... Schnell stellen sie fest, dass sie viel gemeinsam haben, und die leise Romantik, die sich zwischen ihnen entwickelt, fand ich richtig süß und rührend.

"She wanted to fall into that smile. It made her want to frolic through fields with him, and Kayla had never frolicked through a field in her life."

Alte Familiengeheimnisse, Zaubersprüche, Flüche, Voodoo... Die Geschichte ist eine rasante Mischung aus Urban Fantasy und Abenteuer àla Indiana Jones. Kayla und Daniel erforschen alte Pyramiden und versteckte Höhlen, immer auf der Flucht und in einem Rennen gegen die Zeit. Ich fand das unheimlich spannend und unterhaltsam! Ich hätte gerne noch 300 Seiten mehr gelesen...

Fazit:
Voodoo, Abenteuer, Fantasy... "Chasing Power" ist eine spannende, unterhaltsame Mischung - und das mit einem großartigen, staubtrockenen Humor. Das Buch hat einfach alles, was ich gerne lese: intelligente Helden, eine komplexe Handlung und viele, viele originelle Ideen. Ein echtes Highlight in der Jugendfantasy!

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

This book can be easily surmised as fun. Admittedly though, I am a tad disappointed after having my mind blown byThe Lost earlier this year. This book doesn’t even begin to compare on the level The Lost sets but considering the two books actually aren’t that similar, I don’t think it would be fair to compare them.

The major selling point of this book is adventure, it’s why it’s so fun. I mean these kids are trying to find magical stones that will grant the person who has them invincibility. Who doesn’t want to be invincible (certainly not me)? There is also a bit of myth/ancient history involved which makes it all the more exciting, for me at least.

Kayla is a great main character. I love that she is willing to go so far to take care of her family but at the same time, what kept on bothering me was that she was just a teenager. She had powers yes, but she was inexperienced in using them and she really should have confided at least a little bit in her mother. No matter how good the intentions, it’s never good to keep a secret of that magnitude.  That said, her loyalty wasn’t a bad quality, I loved that in spite of everything, she recognized that her mother was not the bad guy here. That her mother always wanted what was best for her even if what she thought was best did not line up with Kayla’s ideas about what was best for herself.

In fact, I loved that there were actually good flawed parental figures in this book. There were bad ones, but they were counteracted by the good ones; the parents who in spite of their not so good actions, were never portrayed as evil or even as plain old bad since their children realized that they were not in fact the enemy.

I also loved Selena. I loved how she was not the perfect best friend and actually had issues of her own. She may have been confident but she was also insecure about certain things and did actually need to stand up for herself.

Daniel was also just as fun to read about. I loved that the fact that he was hot wasn’t particularly emphasized. It was in the beginning but as Kayla got to know him better, the emphasis was less on his beauty and more on the fact that he was actually a great guy. What I liked most about him though was his determination to get his mother back; at the same time though it was one of his worst characteristics considering it led him to lying and what have you.

The romance is one of the things that did not work for me though. I expected more considering that the two actually complemented one another but before the relationship had even had any real time to progress, they had already fallen in love and I just ended up being disappointed.

The plot also ended up falling apart when things became rushed towards the end and everything ended up being wrapped up neatly in a bow. It’s one of the reasons why I was so disappointed in this book. It started off beautifully and I was so excited to see where it would all go and how things would turn out but it just didn’t go as well as I had hoped. There wasn’t enough focus on the ancient history/myth for my taste and I wish we actually found out more about the past then just the brief mentions we got. All of this could have linked to something so full of awesomeness yet that wasn’t the case and that made me sad.

I felt like there was a lot of potential in the world building itself too but the fact that it wasn’t explored as much as possible didn’t bother me as much as the fact that the plot ended up not being as awesome as it could have been.

On top of that, I hated how some things wrapped up. As I mentioned before, I felt like the ending was too neat and that there were just some knots that could have been tied a whole lot better than they were.

With all my disappointment expressed, I have to say, this is definitely a book I’d recommend to anyone who just needs something to read. It’s fun and adventurous and while it’s far from perfect, you’ll still have a good time. I know I did.

The book starts off with a girl that has a telekinetic power and her best friend hanging out and abusing her power by stealing. Her secret is not just her power but the fact that her father wants to kill her. So when she meets Daniel she sets out on an adventure she didn't expect, finds out what she really wants in life and meets the challenge of whatever is thrown at her.

Sara Beth Durst usually gives us some great standalones in the YA genre. Usually you have series and a standalone is rare so I think that is one reason her books stand out for me. The other is the fact that I really end up enthralled with her stories. I enjoy her writing so I was excited to get this book. I was not let down.

I did enjoy the characters of Kayla and Daniel but who really shined was Kayla's best friend, Selena. She is the girl you want to befriend. She is loyal, snarky, smart, and witty. She stole the show and I think that is my biggest complaint... not enough Selena. Kayla and Daniel did have their moments as well. Kayla has incredible growth into maturity within this story and Daniel learns to finally listen. There is romance, but no insta-love.

I give this book 4 stars. I really enjoyed the adventure as well as these characters. One other complaint is that while I do like the cover in it's simplicity, it does not fit at all with the book. So, don't look for clues there. :) I recommend this book to those that love a good YA adventure filled with magic.