This story hit upon many of my guilty pleasures. The cherry on top is Danny is functionally demisexual (it’s not an explicit label, but he did assume he was fully asexual before Wyn) and Wyn is fantasy-level intersex (he’s not human so I think he can get a pass for having both a penis and a vagina, both perfectly good for fucking).

The majority of the plot is a meandering road trip with no goal in mind. They’re just taking things a day at a time. But it worked for me. And there was always some sort of stakes or tension, and I felt like there was a decent balance between external threats and interpersonal relationship stuff.

The reason why it’s not a full 5 stars is because I have many lingering unanswered questions…

- How did Wyn discover Daniel’s name? We never find out
- What are the odds that something on Daniel’s military stuff has a secret tracking device? It was nagging at me the entire time
- How come every single place they come across has working hot water? Or just any running water at all. It’s a little too convenient after a while
- Why didn’t Daniel react to the fact that he wakes up in a random bed of someone long forgotten? Just no reaction at all after making such a big deal out of it. And then there’s the casual use of the towels, which are not motel towels. These had to have been used towels from ages ago, but it’s entirely glossed over
- How did the military discover that Daniel was having sex with Wyn? There’s not even an offhand mention of seeing them together in any intimate way, like holding hands, it’s just thrown in like it’s a publicly known fact (there’s demons later on that act the same way, like everyone knows Daniel and Wyn are together somehow without ever mentioning how they know this)
- How did no one at the military base notice that Wyn’s head was growing back? They had Wyn’s body ready to dissect but somehow never noticed such a glaring detail??
- If it took Edin years to grow back an arm, how did it only take days for Wyn to grow back half his head? Is it because they’re different species? I wish the concept was brought up even if it was just a one line hand wave
- How did Wyn even get them out of the military base that second time? Did Wyn have to slaughter his way through while carrying Daniel’s body?

None of these questions ruined the experience for me. It’s just stuff that kind of nags at me.

What *did* bug me more than it should have was

the reveal that Wyn sensed Daniel was meant for him since the beginning. I dunno, I just preferred the idea that Wyn was merely curious about the human who didn’t try to kill him and then feelings grew from there. I’m not against mate-bond stuff, but it does take away some agency from characters.

Content Warnings

haileeraye's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

shelfgremlin's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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? Yes

4.0

2023 reread

still 4 ★’s — i reread soul eater this year because i binged the rest of the series this past week. i had meant to get to the rest of the series last year and then… well… i got distracted by other shiney new books. but at least it gave me a great excuse for a reread!

not even a full year later and this is still a great book. i loved having the chance to go back and revisit danny and wyn and it was all the more special with the perspective of how their relationship progresses past this book. i think i almost forgot about wyn’s cheeky ‘lil dry humor because i was chuckling all the way through. this is such a great series!

original review

4 ★’s — intriguing start to a new series.

i’m not sure what i expected when i started this book. monster romance is still a relatively new subgenre for me so i’m still going into each book with nothing to compare it to. soul eater grabbed my attention from the very beginning, though.

i adored danny and his kind heart. he had joined the military young, hoping to make some money and get a roof over his head, but he had no idea what he was in for. it didn’t take him long to realize he was too soft to be a soldier but once you’re in you have to stay… unless of course a tall, dark, and handsome monster whisks you away.

wyn was the terrifying monster all humans had come to fear. they called him the “soul eater” because wherever he went, death followed. he was one of the oldest species of monster and preferred to spend most of his time alone. he was quite aloof and sometimes even cranky, but around danny he melted like ice cream in july. he was quite literally willing to tear the heads off of an entire army of men but when he saw danny that was it for him. he was a gonner.

their relationship was so warm and cozy despite the harsh and unforgiving post-apocalyptic world they were living in. however, there were times i wished i’d had more information in regards to this new world everyone was living in and i was hoping for a bit more depth into the characters. i wanted more of danny and wyn talking and bonding on-page. sometimes it felt like things were moving a bit too fast.

was an extremely fun book to read and a great take on the grumpy/sunshine trope. i just found out wyn and danny have another book so i’m off to indulge myself some more.

Content Warnings

vania_alex's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

dezzella's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

Re-read this with a friend and loved it just as much the second time! I was just in the mood to re-read the first one, but now I might have to go through the whole series again.

I'm so glad I picked this up after I saw so many people review it. Wyn and Danny are great. There are many laughs, tears, spice, and squeals to be had. Yes, it's a monster romance, but it's also a lot more. I appreciated how real the relationship felt, and the bumps it may encounter. I really loved this book and will definitely continue through the series.

Content Warnings

peppermint_pink's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

The premise was interesting so I gave it a go but the plot is just so lacking and the writing cliche (more of a tell, not show) that it was hard for me to like it. The two characters just spend too much time waxing about how much they love each other which EXHAUSTED ME. Would love a well-executed monster romance if anyone has any other recommendations.

Content Warnings

palm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

4.0

Content Warnings

hariboreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

Fantastic book! The bleak background to this story was a little hard to take at first but the connection and chemistry between the 2mmcs was just mind blowing. Every interaction, every conversation just added more fuel to this smoking hot fire

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