Early Book Review: Daughter of the Centaurs by K. K. Ross

Daughter of the Centaurs by K.K. Ross is the first book in the Centauriad series for young adults. It is scheduled for release on January 24, 2012. Malora is a headstrong and independent teen that wants to follow in the footsteps of her father, a horse wrangler and hunter. Despite her mother's wishes that she follow her path and become a healer, Malora does everything she can to follow hr dream. Unfortunately, huge bat like creatures called leatherwings attack and soon Malora is on her own and dependent on the very skills she longed to master for her very survival. Possibly the last living human, Malora becomes the leader of her own herd of horses, until the day centaurs capture her and some of her herd. Now Malora must adjust to a completely new society, and discover if the comforts she finds there are worth giving up the freedom and life she had come to love.

Daughter of the Centaurs is a coming of age story for Malora, who must discover her abilities, limitations, and values. When the story opens, Malora is dealing with the relatable conflicts of following your heart and doing what will make the people you care about happy. Family expectations, and the judgments of others weigh of Malora just as they would any teen. However, she knows her own mind and heart enough to now what will make her happy and what would not. That made me like Malora from the very start. Like anyone else, along the way she has some doubts and loses her way, but does her best to be true to her own heart through out the tale. Other characters are developed well, and left me wanting to read more about the entire world in the promised books to follow. Orion and his family, and the society they belong to, are interesting in their faults and their successes. I thought that the arc of Malora's growth and action of the story was perfectly placed to capture the attention of the readers and keep the interested enough to keep reading the series, without leaving them feeling left hanging with unresolved crises.

I recommend Daughter of the Centaurs to young adults and adults that enjoy fantasy, dystopias, and solid characters. I am eager to read what comes next, but I do not feel like the book was missing a conclusion, which sometimes happens with series starters. While there's plenty left to discover about each character, and room for lots of adventure in the future, I do appreciate the fact that there was no glaring cliffhanger to make me feel obligated to read what comes next. Instead I will keep reading because I care enough about the characters and the world they live in to do so.