Review by amberg031 - Her Soul to Take

amberg031 's review for:

Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux

3.5

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!

Plot hole: We learn Kent Hadleigh never lets the grimoire out of his sight, because this gives him the power to control, summon, and torture Leon.
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