TASTE

A teen harnesses her sensory power to battle an evil cult’s takeover of the afterlife in this second installment of a YA fantasy series.

As Kahn’s novel opens, bald, thin, 18-year-old Ellis Zephyrus is floating in a water tank in a government lab. After a security breach and fire, handsome soldier Jackson Hunter checks that she isn’t drowning. Ellis discovers, as Jackson resuscitates her, that she is nourished by the taste of his blood. She is part of a family of “alternates”: These are people who have special powers (mind control, for example) and are able to throw fireballs at will. The government captures alternates, including Ellis’ uncle Alec. Ellis seeks out Alec, but he tells her to flee alone to retrieve the guidestone that will lead to an all-important, potentially lifesaving relic. Each of her sisters has such a relic, which will conjure the ancient power that had been stolen by an evil cult called Summum Malum, now controlling the afterlife. Jackson soon joins Ellis on her mission. Their journey takes them to Central America and a series of showdowns with supernatural forces. In the end, Ellis must return to the lab’s water tank to try and free her uncle and reunite with her sisters so they can continue their quest. Kahn continues the fantasy saga that she launched with Cyn/Cassie’s story in Touch (2022), the debut novel in a planned five-book series. Kahn’s assigning of a heightened sensory power to each sister is a compelling high-concept character trait, and the novel’s alternates are, of course, reminiscent of X-Men. There’s plenty of Twilight-like appeal in this narrative, too, with an array of nifty shape-shifting entities (bears, sea turtles, a bobcat) and the romance between Ellis and Jackson. The complexities of the plot and backstory can be overwhelming at times, but Kahn manages to explain these well enough, such as the origin of Ellis’ need for blood. Best of all, Ellis is an appealing hero who mourns the effect that the lab had on her looks but also learns to embrace being a badass.

An intricate paranormal tale anchored by teen female empowerment.