Reviews

Soulkeeper by David Dalglish

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debchan's review against another edition

4.0

i wasn't expecting this to be so good but it really blew my mind away.

the interesting characters, witty dialogue, explicit descriptions (thank you janus), and fast-moving plot sealed the deal for me.

characters

devin: i was so judging the cover and it looked the epitome of everything bad about male fantasy characters. i was so wrong about devin. he is a priest and defender of the people, meaning he can either release the souls of the dead or he can wield both his gun and sword to protect humanity. in this case, devin must take up his weapons to fight against strange and powerful forces beyond the realm of the natural world. devin was such a patient, kind, funny character. he wasn't too perfect, and he retained enough of his kindness to be true delight to read about.

adria: another kind character. adria is the scholar behind the superstar of the church. when tragedy strikes her city, she takes up her basic medical knowledge and devotes her hours to saving people's lives. when bestowed with a magical gift, adria not only has to decide how to use her power for good or evil, but also who she is and what she can physically do. adria was a more quiet character, but i still enjoyed how competent she was. adria got things done.

tommy: total comedy. tommy was the sole survivor of the tragedy that befell his town and he is barely clutching onto sanity when devin comes. he, too, has found that he has a new gift and he dives deep into scholarly learning and ancient books to discover the limits of his magic and how he will be remembered in history. i think tommy's powers were pretty cool, especially when we learning the background of those powers. tommy was just so wholesome.

jacaranda: jacaranda's storyline can't be explored without ruining too much. however, she has had a background of pain and anger. once she becomes herself, jacaranda must decide who she wants to be in society. besides that not-so-spoiler, i enjoyed reading about all her new discoveries and her interactions with devin.

tesmaraie: such an angel. i won't say too much, but after the janue marketplace scene, she shot up to one of my favorite characters.

puffy: again, personified fire (like calcifer from howl's moving castle!) is my weakness. puffy was adorable and i so want more of him in the series, especially with his creator and other firekins like him.

janus: the man, the myth, the legend. literally. janus was my favorite character. sure, the grotesque descriptions of his art made me terrified and want to die inside, but away from his art was the interesting part. also his hair is so cool and his clothes are just edgy overload lol. if he were free, janus would have destroyed the human race with his horrible art and feel nothing. however, there are hierarchies and consequences, meaning that janus has a superior, viciss. viciss doesn't hate the human race like janus does and he makes sure that janus keeps himself in check. it is pointed out by janus in bitterness that viciss despises janus because he represents viciss's own weakness. while viciss shows adoration and respect towards other creatures, he uses janus as a murder tool and yet still hates him for it. maybe i'm overanalyzing, but it sill hit when janus was entrapped under the black water for centuries, let loose to do the thing he was created for, repeatedly tortured and strangled, and then have your creator love everyone except you. such a fascinating character. i do want to see more of janus interacting with non-humans because he evidently cares a multitude much more about them than humans.

anyway, this was a whole setup to book 2, i think, and it was excellently done. the fight scenes was so fun to read and different from typical fantasy. although, i do wonder why devin would think a gun would work against creatures who are incomprehensible to him. very excited to read the next book!

kcrow8516's review against another edition

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4.0

Well, let me first say that this was the fastest I’ve ever read 650 pages. It wasn’t the story that kept me diving in, but rather how absolutely accessible it felt. There are only about 10 characters names you need to know, yet the world felt very lived in and full. That’s a nice departure from what I’ve been reading lately. While it had a decent amount of world building it also felt really tangible and easy to digest. A vast majority of the book is in one city so it’s easy to know your way around. The plot in itself is simple but engaging. I really enjoyed the characters and the world that they live in.

My main critique is one of tone. This book as a whole was very lighthearted. Lots of immature jokes and silly banter. Then peppered in are a lot of references and discussions about sexual abuse. The book felt way too lighthearted to adequately tackle this subject matter. Imagine something accessible like Star Wars graphically describing this horrific abuse. It was a surprising change of tone midway through the book.
Personally, it felt like it was just there to make you hate the bad guys (which it did).

This book felt very similar to Kings of the Wyld and Bloody Rose by Nicolas Eames. Lots of monsters and butt kicking to be had! Overall I really enjoyed this book but hope it sticks with a consistent tone so I don’t get anymore emotional whiplash.

4/5

kitvaria_sarene's review against another edition

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3.0

I liked this one, but overall it was lacking a bit, at least for my taste.

Some parts felt a bit juvenile and at times the dialogue felt a bit stilted. I mostly liked the characters, though they could have been a bit more fleshed out and individual. The plot was quite interesting, but felt like a race at some points to then just trickle for a bit - think it could have been balanced a bit more.

All in all a fun and quick read, but I don't think I'll read on in the series.

sweetmnemosyne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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? No

5.0

Content Warnings

bookish_satty's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

Wow I just loved this a lot. An awesome epic fantasy story which I never would have picked up because of it's size if not for the recommendation of all of my favorite booktubers and book bloggers. This story has it all action, drama, gods, magic, mythical beasts, rag tag group pf heroes trying to fight against evil. I loved the writing style as well as the pacing. The worldbuilding is awesome and easy to follow especially for a newbie for me. For the longest time I was intrigued by adult fantasy but was too scared to pick any up but I think modern fantasy is one of my favorite genre now especially sword and sorcery!
P.S. - The audiobook is awesome and I loved the narration so very much. It is one of the reasons why I actually started reading this book because I fell in love with the narrator's voice so much.
Definitely recommend even to beginners like me who are new to the adult fantasy genre.