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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Couldn’t get into the story. It just felt cringy and no matter if I read it or listened to the audiobook, I just had no interest in it. Gave “Twilight” vibes.
Loved it! The characters were fleshed out and I felt like I got to know the two main characters so well. The story was creepy and wild. And the consensual possessiveness was to die for.
dark
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4 🌶️
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers and Touch her and die
To be honest Her Soul to take by Harley Laroux was a different type of dark romance than I was familiar with. I read it for a book club and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. We have a young paranormal investigator FMC (Raelynn) who encounters a not so friendly demon (Leon).
The plot has a couple of twist and turns that keep you guessing. I rated this 3.5 stars because I felt there was a fairly big plot hole in the story. I also felt we needed more closure.
STOP HERE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ ANY SPOILERS!
The grimoire contains Leon’s true name/sigil, Leon will do anything to get it back so he can destroy it once and for all. During Rae’s POV early on we learn the same grimoire somehow comes into her best friend’s possession. The grimoire mysteriously shows up in a bookstore that Inaya and Raelynn are working. If this grimoire is so precious to Kent how did it end up in this bookstore and into the hands of Raelynn?
We also learn that the grimoire originally belonged to the coven of witches from which Everly belongs to. She only acquires the grimoire after Raelynn, when she broke into Rae’s house and stole it. Everly is the daughter of Kent and lived with him. Wouldn’t have been easier for her to get the grimoire then? I kept reading, hoping we might get an answer or back story but we never do.
Needed Closure:
The Hadleighs: Throughout the story there is so much animosity built around Kent and Jeremiah. We learn Jeremiah killed Kent and framed it as a suicide. This big bad cult leader is killed by his son, no details. As the story progresses, we learn Jeremiah is killed by Juniper. There is no revenge for Leon, no closure for him after all the years the Hadleighs tortured him. Overall, it felt like their deaths were rushed and a complete let down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Suicide, Abandonment
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoyed it, but:
- I felt the FL had more of an aesthetic than a personality. She felt very flat to me and I didn't connect with her strongly.
- I didn't see much motivation for the FL keeping her soul. She never asks about what would happen if she signed it over. She never expresses commitment issues. It's just "I dont think I should".
- The FL does some things to the ML that are triggering for him and that isn't given a conversation, just a sex scene.
- It reads pretty beat for beat like twilight.
- The plot is all over the place. There aren't really breadcrumbs, it's more like "and then this happened".
- "She talked back to me" seems to be Leon's only reason he's interested in Rae.
Okay now for things I liked:
- The secondary characters that have books are interesting, lovable, and well-developed. I think secondary characters are usually pretty flat, but these ones had unique personalities and goals outside the main couple. They were each on their own journey.
- Zane and Leon's relationship. It's tender, loving, sexy and they're equals. I'd read the fuck out of books about these two in love.
- The smut is very good. Some of the scenes are a bit short tho. Like, sorry the master of pleasure is stopping at one o now?
- Leon is a fully fleshed out character with clear motives and a past. I finished this book because I loved him.
- The monsters and lore is very cool.
I feel like they teased polyam and I would have LOVED if they followed up.
Remember being kids trying to play our hand at bravery by summoning Bloody Mary in the bathroom mirror? Imagine trying it again as an adult, but you summon a sexy forked-tongue demon.
Her Soul to Keep was the perfect way to start off spooky season: demons and monsters, dark creepy gothic small town vibes, some pretty tense and scary scenes, and (naturally) some deliciously filthy sexy time with aforementioned forked-tongue demon. The creepy paranormal undertones were excellent, the smut was yummy, and Leon was a very likable MMC; though for being a demon, he really didn’t do anything... evil. Shockingly enough, I can’t even say I’d really classify him as “morally gray”, which you’d think would be a given when describing a literal incarnate from hell.
One of the main reasons for a lower overall rating was the dumb-as-shit FMC. She’s in her 20s and vlogs ghost encounters on YouTube, so she isn’t exactly an expert in the realities of the paranormal. When you have an actual effing demon telling you to stay away or go away or go inside or LITERALLY ANYTHING when there are monsters coming, YOU FUCKING LISTEN. By the end I wasn’t even all that glad she survived because if it wasn’t for Leon’s sweet demonic soul giving up life and limb to keep her from killing herself, the laws of Darwinism would have taken her out by page 20. I couldn’t really buy into their love story by the end either, because aside from Leon saving Rae’s life over and over and over, and them engaging in some high kink (where Leon obsesses over her consent and understanding their safe word, which I freaking love but also... like how is he a demon again?), they have one or two actual conversations.
Overall, a fun, spooky time for the upcoming Halloween season, but Leon and his wicked snake tongue deserve better.
3.5 ⭐ 3
Her Soul to Keep was the perfect way to start off spooky season: demons and monsters, dark creepy gothic small town vibes, some pretty tense and scary scenes, and (naturally) some deliciously filthy sexy time with aforementioned forked-tongue demon. The creepy paranormal undertones were excellent, the smut was yummy, and Leon was a very likable MMC; though for being a demon, he really didn’t do anything... evil. Shockingly enough, I can’t even say I’d really classify him as “morally gray”, which you’d think would be a given when describing a literal incarnate from hell.
One of the main reasons for a lower overall rating was the dumb-as-shit FMC. She’s in her 20s and vlogs ghost encounters on YouTube, so she isn’t exactly an expert in the realities of the paranormal. When you have an actual effing demon telling you to stay away or go away or go inside or LITERALLY ANYTHING when there are monsters coming, YOU FUCKING LISTEN. By the end I wasn’t even all that glad she survived because if it wasn’t for Leon’s sweet demonic soul giving up life and limb to keep her from killing herself, the laws of Darwinism would have taken her out by page 20. I couldn’t really buy into their love story by the end either, because aside from Leon saving Rae’s life over and over and over, and them engaging in some high kink (where Leon obsesses over her consent and understanding their safe word, which I freaking love but also... like how is he a demon again?), they have one or two actual conversations.
Overall, a fun, spooky time for the upcoming Halloween season, but Leon and his wicked snake tongue deserve better.
3.5 ⭐ 3
it was the letting her hit her vape directly after her cumming for me
No…just no. This was not for me at all. Idk what I was thinking when I added this to my tbr! I remember buying the book because it was the special edition and was pretty, but the story itself was just so pointless! What a waste…