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A review by little_miss_darkness
A Soul to Embrace by Opal Reyne
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There's also a Novella at the end - you don't want to miss it!
I am biased, but I love a good villain story. As we all know, evil isn't born, it's made. I knew immediately there had to have been a reason behind Jabez's behaviour and attitude. I am very glad we get to see more of him and learn more about his past. And honestly, considering what the Elysians did to him, I am firmly on his side. In fact, they are lucky he didn't turn out to be worse. He may be a monster, but he never harmed children or truly innocent, and he cared for the demons in his own way, even creating the Spiral Haven for them to live in peace.
Zylah is the first female Mavka and surely just as unique as Nathair and Merikh had to have been when they were created. She is definitely not as aggressive and confrontational as her male counterparts. I don't know if it's her or simply because she is female and they tend to be less aggressive unless challenged or attacked.
We see Zylah learning at the speed of light and has obvious interest in Jabez, while he's purposefully trying to keep her at an arm's length, fully knowing what kind of a pri*k he was. That's actually a big part of the reason why I love him as a character. He's completely unique as part Elf and part Demon, but he doesn't try to justify what he's done or make himself to be some kind of deranged saviour of the Demon race, but is completely aware of how he's behaved and how he treated others. It's a nice change, to be honest, and a refreshing kind of character.
This was almost a new kind of love story, as even when she finds out all he did, Zylah doesn't want to let him go (minor spoiler, but kind of obvious one considering this is basically a romance story regardless of other non-human elements). Not many would be willing to forgive this many or this serious transgressions, no matter how far in the past they were. But, Zylah isn't human, and neither is Jabez.
I'm admitting freely that I cried very hard when Jabez finally broke down his defences and started to cry when he remembered what happened to him when he was so young. No child should ever have to go through that, no matter what species they were. When I got to that part it was 4 am and really had to go to bed so forced myself to stop immediately after that scene and having a good cry, but it was SO HARD to calm down and fall asleep. I know, I should have stopped reading before that, but I was on a roll and didn't even realize how late, or early it is.
The Novella at the end, I swear it circles the series in such a way we get closure with all the characters. AND, we also get a little message from the author saying there will be a prequel with Weldir and Lindiwe, and give us all the answers we're still missing. I screamed, I was so excited! Apparently, it's coming this year. Still nothing online, no blurb, but I'm excited and I hope I don't miss it, as I'd really love to learn more about these two, how they met and how it all got started.
I am biased, but I love a good villain story. As we all know, evil isn't born, it's made. I knew immediately there had to have been a reason behind Jabez's behaviour and attitude. I am very glad we get to see more of him and learn more about his past. And honestly, considering what the Elysians did to him, I am firmly on his side. In fact, they are lucky he didn't turn out to be worse. He may be a monster, but he never harmed children or truly innocent, and he cared for the demons in his own way, even creating the Spiral Haven for them to live in peace.
Zylah is the first female Mavka and surely just as unique as Nathair and Merikh had to have been when they were created. She is definitely not as aggressive and confrontational as her male counterparts. I don't know if it's her or simply because she is female and they tend to be less aggressive unless challenged or attacked.
We see Zylah learning at the speed of light and has obvious interest in Jabez, while he's purposefully trying to keep her at an arm's length, fully knowing what kind of a pri*k he was. That's actually a big part of the reason why I love him as a character. He's completely unique as part Elf and part Demon, but he doesn't try to justify what he's done or make himself to be some kind of deranged saviour of the Demon race, but is completely aware of how he's behaved and how he treated others. It's a nice change, to be honest, and a refreshing kind of character.
This was almost a new kind of love story, as even when she finds out all he did, Zylah doesn't want to let him go (minor spoiler, but kind of obvious one considering this is basically a romance story regardless of other non-human elements). Not many would be willing to forgive this many or this serious transgressions, no matter how far in the past they were. But, Zylah isn't human, and neither is Jabez.
I'm admitting freely that I cried very hard when Jabez finally broke down his defences and started to cry when he remembered what happened to him when he was so young. No child should ever have to go through that, no matter what species they were. When I got to that part it was 4 am and really had to go to bed so forced myself to stop immediately after that scene and having a good cry, but it was SO HARD to calm down and fall asleep. I know, I should have stopped reading before that, but I was on a roll and didn't even realize how late, or early it is.
The Novella at the end, I swear it circles the series in such a way we get closure with all the characters. AND, we also get a little message from the author saying there will be a prequel with Weldir and Lindiwe, and give us all the answers we're still missing. I screamed, I was so excited! Apparently, it's coming this year. Still nothing online, no blurb, but I'm excited and I hope I don't miss it, as I'd really love to learn more about these two, how they met and how it all got started.