I was nothing, a washed up, useless nobody to them. The angered look that permanently etched my face wasn’t new for any of them. The resting bitch face was something that defined me, Davina, the spoiled, unhappy, selfish brat. I suppose they were right about that. I really wasn’t a happy go lucky girl. I didn’t carry around a cheery disposition. I didn’t grow up showered with love and affection … affection or dolls and ponies. I wasn’t a pampered princess like that.
No. I was raised with wolves.
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Davina struggles with low self-esteem, anxiety and mood-swings. Which in her case, is a result from unrequited love. When Liam claims Genesis, Davina not only loses her best friend but also the man she’s always loved. I didn’t like her very much in the first two Accalia novels but at least now I have a better understanding of why she acts the way she does. Like some young adults, she struggles to fit in with her piers and just wants to be loved and accepted for who she is.
I truly enjoyed this short novella from the Accalia Series and look forward to reading the next. Love that we’re getting to know each and every character and what makes them tick. I highly recommend The Healer to everyone who loves a great sci-fi fantasy.
Obviously, if you are reading this book, you have read the other books in the Accalia series and, if you are like me, you kind of think Davina is a major, uh, we’ll go with brat just to keep it clean. However, now that I’ve read her story I’m beginning to see why she is the way she is.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think she needs to tone down the attitude and stop blaming other people for her own issues, but I can see why she acts that way. Being raised with the pack like she was, she seems to have it in her head that she is actually a part of the pack, instead of what she really is, which is a healer. It’s going to take some time and some work but I really think that she become an amazing person if she just focuses and stops trying to be something she’s not. She also needs to get the idea of her and Liam out of her head. That’s just not going to happen.
This is one of the things that I really love about this author, she knows how to create such complex characters. You see one thing when you first meet them, but the more you get to know them, the more you realize that they all have layers. Like Davina. She may seem like a grade-A ‘brat’, but there is, in fact more to her than meets the eye and suddenly I don’t hate her as much as I did when I first met her. She’s got issues, then again, we all do, but once she starts to work through them, I think that, beneath that course outer shell, she could be a really sweet person. I am really looking forward to seeing her grow some more!
Definitely 5 out of 5 stars!
I have been so excited to dive into this series more. This novella, gives you insight to things you wouldn’t have known in the previous books. You have more information regarding Davina and why she is the way she is. It helps you figure her out and gives you more of a reason to forgive her previous actions. I never liked Davina in “The Accalia” and in “The Curse”, but in this one you can’t help but understand and forgive her. You learn to love her in your own way. You get a glimpse of what she could be and what she could have in regards to relationships. All she needs to do now is to fight for it.
You get to read more about Chuck as well. He is trying to figure out where he fits into this world, and what his purpose amongst the pack will be.
Great novella, can’t wait to read the next book!!
“The Healer: An Accalia Series Novella: Davina (The Accalia Series Book 3)” is a finely written, engrossing character study with a coming-of-age gloss in the midst of a paranormal series. How did I know what a good book—novella really—this is? When I finished it, I was “no, no, don’t stop, I want more.”
Davina, the healer in the story, is a conflicted young woman with more than her share of anger, bitterness, and disappointment. Yet Davina is also a strong, beautiful, and talented person who is on a journey of self-discovery. Her finding and accepting herself forms one of the main themes–hence the coming of age quality in the story. She is coming into her own power, but not without continuing conflicts.
The man Davina loves—a shape-changer who can become a wolf—loves someone else. And he and his love-interest, along with Davina’s brother and some others, have gone off to Russia, and left Davina behind. Davina’s mother sends her off to her grandmother’s to get an important plant or herb, and there is a mystery about this. Another young man—Davina’s apprentice— goes with her and adds a layer to the story as he challenges Davina on more than one level.
The author, Heather Girton, evokes sweet, warm feelings with her descriptions of a first date and first kiss between Davina and the man she loves, just as Girton’s passages evokes despair and anguish when things go awry in Davina’s world. Beautifully descriptive, with just the right touch of magic. A well-done addition to a fine series. Hurry up, Heather, and write the next one!