A review by mxbluet18
Sixteen Souls by Rosie Talbot

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

Trigger warnings for Sixteen Souls include: death, PTSD (depictions of past events/flashbacks); torture (remembered); suicide (hanging); child abuse (remembered); blood and blood magic (implied); body horror/occult horror; kidnapping; decomposition of a corpse; violence and murder; parental death (on page); anxiety and panic attacks; use of a firearm; transphobia and homophobia (off page)


First impressions, amazing. It has chapter titles and a map. Both good features for books to have. As well as the very English colloquialisms and northern words and phrases.
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This is a really well written book, with some amazing representation, and lovely characters. It was interesting reading a book that so heavily featured spirits and magic (the two things aren't always included together).
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I found a couple of the friendships surprising and unlikely but they really worked. And I was mostly unsurprised to find a healthy dose of pining (as with many queer YA stories).
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I also really liked that the trans and gay representation was really subtle. In the sense that the fact that there was a trans and gay characters wasn't front and centre, and wasn't a particularly large part of the overarching plotline.
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The guilt aspect, and the reason both Sam and Charlie are seers took me by surprise, but it also makes a weird sort of sense. I thoroughly loved this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone.

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