The Re-Read Challenge: Vessel

First re-read completed for The Re-Read Challenge! Which I missed the link-up for in January, because I'm like that with my  2015 challenges post.

WHEN I First Read

I actually reviewed this two years ago.(I really hope my reviewing style has improved since then...) 

WHAT I Remember

I remember being drawn to the world of the story more than anything. I picked it up from my local library, back when I was still working my way though their collection (now I've read just about all the YA that they have which sounds remotely appealing to me). Vessel is set in a desert, and its about a girl who is to be a sacrifice- giving her body to a god so that she may help the people of the desert survive the hostile environment. Except, of course, there's a complication- when the ceremony is conducted, the goddess doesn't come, leaving the vessel, Liyanna to be abandoned by her clan. It follows Liyanna's quest to find out what has become of her goddess.

WHY I Wanted to Re-Read

I really like the world and story the first time I read it, but by now couldn't remember the finer points of the story. 

HOW I Felt After Re-Reading

I like it just as much as the first time. I didn't remember everything, though I remembered the general shape of the story.

I focused more on Liyanna's character arc this time through, and I found her an enjoyable lead. She's brave,  very determined, which I like, and also very comfortable rising to what a situation demands, especially toward the end of the book. She's just great at rising to the occasion. Someone to use a knife? While she's not super-good at it, she'll be there. Need someone to work magic? She's working on it. Even if it is against the rules, someone has to do it or they'll all die in the desert. Someone to negotiate? She walks right into the enemy camp and demands an audience with the emperor. 

“You do realize that you are addressing the emperor of the Crescent Empire."
"And you are addressing a free woman of the desert. You are not my emperor. Therefore, I am your equal.”

I love books with an emphasis on stories, it gives such a great background to the cultures in the book. In this book, storytelling is often used to communicate another idea or to tell the reader (or other characters) something about a character.

I realised, when I got to it, that I had sort of forgotten the climax of the story and how exactly that came about, so that was enjoyable to rediscover.

For me one of the weaker points of the story was, both times, the romance. I didn't particularly feel much of anything for the romantic aspect of the story... it definitely wasn't my favourite aspect of the story. It was just sort of strangely told, I suppose? I liked how the other vessels grew on Liyanna, when she, in the beginning didn't like them much, and I wish that there was more of that.

This book very much feels like a story. Its something that I often find I like- books that read like stories. I don't know how to explain that. There's just a certain feel to some books that makes it feel like a story being told to you, and I often find that I really enjoy that.

WOULD I Re-Read Again

Probably at some point. I don't know when, but it is a book that I feel like I could read multiple times and still get something out of.