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Saturday Series: Stealing Phoenix (Benedicts #2) by Joss Stirling

This Saturday Series I will be reviewing Stealing Phoenix, which is the second part in the Benedicts series by Joss Stirling. It tells Yves' story and how he stole his soulfinder.




Phoenix belongs to the Community, a gang of thieves with paranormal powers. Yves Benedict, an American student visiting London, is her mark. But Yves turns out to be more than just a target. He is her destiny. Her soulmate. The Community owns Phoenix's past and it wants her future too. Can Phoenix save the boy she loves . . . and herself?


Review:

"Stealing stuff wasn't something I did by choice; it was a means of survival."




Phoenix' life has always been about surviving. Living in the Community meant that you did as you were told. If you were disobedient, you would be punished by the Seer, their leader, whom could easily mess with your mind.

So far she has been able to stay out of his way, but everything goes wrong when Yves becomes her next mark. Phoenix has to steal from him, but when they discover they are soulfinders her world turns upside down.

Living life from the sidelines has made Phoenix wary. She doesn't know what it is to have a normal life, a loving family, not having to live in constant fear and survival mode. Her mother made her believe that finder her soulfinder, might be her only way out of the Community. But now Yves is standing right in front of her, she's doubting. They are from opposite sides of the tracks and she doesn't want to involve Yves in her life.

"Who would think my soulfinder would turn out to be a thief?"




Yves luckily is very stubborn, an obvious family trait, and he's not going to give up so easily. It's what every Savant dreams of, finding their soulfinder. He just didn't expect his would have been trying to steal from him. But it will be a fun story to tell the children one time.

Before they have the chance to enjoy this wonderful discovery, the Seer finds out and suddenly becomes very interested in Phoenix and her connection to the Benedict family. Since Phoenix is under his order, she has no choice but to obey him and that's when it all goes horribly wrong. Everything she has tried to prevent comes crashing down. Now she and Yves have to find a way to get out from under the Seer's thumb.

This was a great sequel. Yves is the smartest and sweetest boy from all the Benedicts. He and Phoenix are total opposite, so just sit back and enjoy the fireworks. They do pretty much nothing else but arguing. She wants to protect him from the Seer and he's thinking the same for her, but they have different ideas on how that is going to happen.

"Soulfinders can't be bad for each other - they are each other. We aren't complete apart."

The biggest difference between them is how Yves is very confident of his connection with Phoenix, how he wants to protect her and help her. He's had a very easy life compared to her, so he doesn't always fully understand how her world works. Phoenix is not so sure that what's between them is meant to be, she has her doubts and is afraid Yves might get hurt if they would stay together. It's mostly her doubts and his stubbornness that gets them in trouble.

Stealing Phoenix has a lot more action than Finding Sky. From the first page you realize the threat has always been there, you're right in the middle of it and it's not going to be so easy to get out of it. You get a great point of view of what could happen if you grow up outside the Savant Net. The Benedicts are lucky, but it hasn't been so easy for everyone. Luckily for Phoenix, Yves would walk through fire for her.

Besides all the action there is of course space for some romance, you do have two Savants who found their soulfinder. So between all the action and the drama, you get some lovely scenes with London on the background.

It's also always fun to even just read the difference between American and British languages, it even has it's effect on the humor in the book. Definitely a great mix.

One thing I do wonder is why it's always told from the girl's POV, considering the series are about the Benedicts. So the girls are the new one's, but they get to tell their story. I think it would be very interesting to see the Benedict boys' side of the story, to get a better look at their family dynamic. What do you think?



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