Review: Secondhand Skin: A Soulbound Universe Novel by Hailey Turner
Nothing says you can’t steal a heart. Keeping it though? That’s another problem.
Wade Espinoza knows a thing or two about hoards. As a dragon, he’s got plenty. What he doesn’t have is a relationship, and he swears he’s not looking for one. But when he’s sent to Boston to answer a cry for help from another pack, he’s drawn into a mess of fae bargains centered around a selkie who Wade instantly becomes obsessed with.
Riordan Maguire is struggling to keep his selkie clan out of the clutches of a fae lord who will do anything to take over their territory. Partnering with the Boston god pack means coming face-to-face with the first person he’s ever wanted to willingly give his sealskin. Too bad Wade isn’t local and is something altogether strange that Riordan isn’t sure he can trust.
Amidst a growing danger in the streets and Boston Harbor, Wade and Riordan are desperate to find a way to keep everyone safe. For bargains are dangerous things to break, but so are hearts. Wade isn’t willing to shatter either of theirs in a race against time that could see Riordan torn from him forever.
Secondhand Skin is an exciting new standalone novel set in Hailey Turner’s best-selling Soulbound Universe focusing on Wade Espinoza.
Review:
Dear Haley Turner,
I loved Jono and Patrick and their adventures in the main Soulbound series. I mean I did get a little tired of the non stop, not taking a breath danger characters were living in, but I never stopped enjoying the characters and Wade, a constantly hungry baby fire dragon in human form always was one of my favorite ones. I grabbed the book from KU the day it was out and devoured it in two days. It was quick, fun, light read and I enjoyed every page of it. I just hope that it will be a stand alone novel, even if I remain convinced that everybody or almost everybody has stopped writing stand alone these days.
Wade is sent (not that he minds much) to help the Boston God pack with a problem which Ella, the Dire of that Pack, is not even willing to disclose on the phone. And as blurb hints at, apparently a lot of magical beings clans in Boston are also having problems, because someone is trying to grab their territories by kidnapping people and doing other bad things. Of course Wade inserts himself right in the middle and does his best to help as many people as possible on behalf of his Pack and himself, because he does not like when people try to enslave others (paraphrase).
I always adored Wade (even when I wondered whether he will be able to carry out his own book – as in whether he has more depth as a character besides being always hungry). I thought he carried his own book very well, even if he is still always hungry. He is after all still a growing baby Dragon, even if he is twenty three in human years.
Now, I did have a small criticism about that. I do understand that it is hard to write a character who has both the qualities of a human and a fantasy being, but if Wade is still a “growing dragon”, shouldn’t he still have some other things that he needs to grow into so to speak besides being always hungry? As a twenty three year old young warrior he seemed perfectly mature to me otherwise. I mean, I know that the writer tried to do it – it was shown that for example Wade is able to “hear” other people/beings in his head, but was not able to respond to them just yet, and that he would be able to do it later. I however would have liked to see that he had other “developing skills” as a dragon so to speak. It did not stop me from enjoying him as a character of course.
I loved Wade’s chemistry with Riordan, of course they are both romanticized and larger than life characters, but you won’t see me complaining. These books have many characters like that and it still feels to me as if they are drawn believably.
The only other couple of minor criticisms that I have is that Marek being a billionaire is starting to feel a little too convenient for the plot purposes. I have no problems whatsoever with characters who are wealthy, but what if Wade for example was not able to pay Lucien for his help? What would he have done then?
I also very much disagree that it is a stand alone novel, actually. I mean the story is a stand alone, but there are *so many* references to the events and people from other books that if I have not read them, I would have been a very irritated reader.
Still overall very enjoyable and very tasty book :)
Grade : B+
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