Reviews

Master of Souls by Rena Barron

amybraunauthor's review

5.0

A finale with strong message about love, sacrifice, and forgiveness, MASTER OF SOULS sees the end of Arrah’s story as she tries to save her friends, family, and people from the wrath of her sister and the Demon King.

It was wonderful to reunite with so many characters in this final instalment. Poor Arrah ran herself ragged trying to help everyone, to do the right thing, making her an incredibly selfless hero. The side characters added to her journey, making her an excellent parallel to Eifya. Daho and Shezmu had many of my favourite scenes, their relationship and loyalties a complicated one.

There were plenty of plot lines to wrap up, but Barron did a great job of ensuring everything was tied together neatly and that the story was as exciting as it was emotional. MASTER OF SOULS pulls no punches by the end.

A fantastic YA fantasy series from an author that continues to impress, this series is not to be missed!

brodego's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dragonwriter's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Arrah has released the kas of the five chieftains to save Rudjek’s life, but even though the Demon King has retreated with his army, the danger isn’t over. The orishas want the kingdom and the tribes to unite against the demons, but if they do, the Demon King won’t spare Arrah’s people. Rudjek and Arrah find themselves of opposite sides of the issue, Rudjek wanting to fight, and Arrah wanting nothing but peace. While they argue, the Demon King releases Efiyah, Arrah’s half-sister, and while Daho is content to wait for Dimma to join him, Efiyah is greedy and wants revenge. When the half-demon girl manages to undermine Daho, he is forced to flee, running to Arrah and Rudjek, warning them that Efiyah is coming back.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the other two, though the story was still good. Arrah being resigned to her death throughout the whole story really wore on me, and she and Rudjek never really got a break, which was really frustrating. Efiyah was a proper brat, but I understand why Evelyn was so fascinated by her, since she truly symbolized the future of demon kind, being the first new demon born, and able to bear more children. But Efiyah having the body of a young woman while having the mindset of a young child was eerie, especially with her relationship with Tyrek. I do think the final battle was over-crowded. The additional orisha were a bit much and really did nothing story-wise other than give Efiyah additional numbers. I am glad the epilogue happened, because that really would have made me furious, if everyone got a HEA except them. 

_geminigenres's review

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

An excellent ending to a trilogy. Everything was wrapped up nicely.

claire2305's review

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

joyful24's review

5.0

The ending was amazing. It nicely tied up the trilogy. The heros journey was a steady paced adventure towards the impending end. Nice twists in the second half. Good character development.

lupiebutterfly's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Hoping for a fourth book. It was that good. Glad I Pre-ordered this one

daelly's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.25

florinereads's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

nerdynatreads's review

Welp— this is awkward. 

I can’t believe this series fell so flat in the end. I’d been really enjoying the first book and the second hit a bit of a slump but was still pretty entertaining. This one? I’ve had so many moments where I found issues in how things could possibly unfold with the very small planning the characters seem to do. 

Then the characters themselves were starting to really bug me. Arrah is just making “plans” with no thoughts of how they’ll happen. Then she and Rudjek are trying to be a couple but actively working against each other at the same time? Which was very irritating since they’re best friends and clearly on the same side? So why are they not communicating with each other better? Efiya strangely feels like a child (which she is in terms of age) but is also conniving like an evil genius and throws around the idea of seducing Daho (so uncomfortable with that). Daho also feels like a moody teenager rather than an ancient being fighting against the beings who took his family, which made it difficult to take him seriously. 

I just lost steam with this, unfortunately, so DNF at 33%.