I absolutely love the Touched series by Nancy Straight. Centaur Redemption is the fourth book in the series and it comes close to being my favorite book of them all. (Just being slightly edged out by the first book because that was the start of all this awesome-ness.) The Touched series is still the only young adult or new adult book that I have found centering on centaurs. I love the unique-ness of the story, as well as all of the mythology woven in. In Centaur Redemption we even get to see some of the big gods come out and "play".

I think Centaur Redemption and the Touched series as a whole is excellent. There are so many reasons why you should read these books, but here are a few of them.

First, Cami is kick ass. From the very first book, when she was plopped down into the strange world of centaurs and age old traditions, she had no problem causing a scene. Cami is not a girl that is going to do what someone told her to do, just because they told her to do it. I love that about her. She will question everything until she is blue in the face, and then if she still doesn't agree with something, she will take a stand. A lot of that comes to play in this installment. There are action, plotting and fighting galore, so you will get to see plenty of Cami kicking butt and taking names.

Second, I just love how Nancy has portrayed their society. There are 5 male centaurs for each centauride. And the centaurides, the women, are the ones with the real power here. Not only are they the ones that get the cool magical abilities like mind reading, seeing the future, moving objects, etc., but they are the true heads of the family. The men are still powerful and they are warriors and fighters, but the women are revered above all else. How many books have that in them?

Third, the mythology is so interesting. I love how the centaur history is interwoven with the gods. I eat this stuff up! It was really cool to see all the bits and pieces we were learning about the Lost Heard and Zeus come to light in this book. It is all so well written and thought out.

Fourth, the title of this one really says it all. I loved the redemption in the story line. I'm not saying which characters, but your opinion of certain people will change. And while I was a bit skepticle at first, I ended up really really loving what Nancy Straight did with her characters in Centaur Redemption. The ending is nicely wrapped up and left off at a good place. There will be at least one more book in the series though, which makes me very happy. I am not ready to say goodbye to Camille and Drake. Not by a long shot.