Title: Hinder
Author: Kristin Ping
Publisher: Fire Quill Publishing
Release Date: May 15, 2018
Ethan Sutcliff seems like a normal seventeen-year-old—at least that’s what he’s trying to portray. In a secret society run by the Supernaturals, Ethan is what witches call a Bender. Benders are Witches’ Guardians, who are able to control a witches’ ability, bend it, or move it away from harming humans. In Ethan’s case, he is able to bend the Earth element. But at the age of fifteen, he lost all connection to it, and the reasons behind it could only mean one of two things: His Wielder is either dead, or hiding out somewhere.
Alex Burgendorf has been living in her aunt’s locket for the past sixteen years with her mother—a Fire Wielder, and her father—a Water Wielder. For sixteen years, her parents vowed to protect her, and they have, as she is the last Earth wielding witch. However, time is running out. Alex must find her Bender, or the fate of the Supernaturals might be at stake.
This book looked really interesting based off the description on Netgalley. And I have to say, the premise is really cool. The world is not quite like anything I've read about before, either. And while I did enjoy the story, there were some things about it I cannot ignore.
The story starts off a bit slow and is prone to some info-dumping, mostly in the early chapters. But once I got through that, I really enjoyed the story. I liked watching Ethan with Alex, even though Ethan is clearly a very problematic character. He thinks of girls in terms of animals. For example, the first time he sees Alex, he calls her a fox (-rolls eyes-). At least at one point he does realize this is a bad thing and attempts to stop.
Alex is forced to disguise herself for her own protection. So everyone is surprised to find out the girl with white-blond hair, big glasses, and a definite skin problem is the earth wielder. Especially since earth wielders and benders are supposed to be among the most beautiful. And yet, Ethan cannot help but find himself attracted to her. It's his fate. This definitely helps give him a reality check, because even though he's generally a nice guy, he's vain as can be.
The ending is not quite a cliffhanger, but it definitely leads to more. I'm curious to know what's going to happen next and if Alex and Ethan will be able to be together.
The one thing I never truly understood was what actually are a bender's and wielder's powers. It almost seemed like a wielder could do everything a bender could do, so what was the need for them? And a bender could only manipulate what a wielder made. I am still kind of confused. I'm hoping for a better explanation in the next book, because I definitely liked this one and will probably continue.
Overall
I enjoyed this one despite its flaws. I could see a lot of people not liking it, but if you like new adult paranormal, I'd say at least give it a shot.
3 stars
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