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A review by bluebirdreader
A Soul to Heal by Opal Reyne
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first, but it was still fairly good.
Praises:
Many aspects of the book were realistic in a way that was compelling and sad. I found Delora’s character to be very realistic in representing someone with depression and postpartum depression.In the beginning it was heartbreaking to see her struggle in trying to feel connected to her child and how painful that was for everyone involved. Delora was not the most lovable character I have read, but I also know that from having depression it can make you selfish and sometimes mean to others. I found that to be realistic. Delora and Magnar together reminded me of a young, inexperienced couple with few resources who were being pushed into parenthood before they were both emotionally mature enough to provide the support that a child needs. All of these things added a lot of depth to the story that wasn’t present in the first book. Magnar’s devotion to healing Delora’s mental health is endearing.
We learn a bit more about the world in this book. I like that the world is mysterious enough to keep drawing me in to know more without being overly complicated.
Criticisms:
However, now I’m learning more about the world I also have more questions. I want more detailed explanations of things so that it makes more sense. To be honest, the organization of the veil seems kind of backwards to me. Most of the humans are closer to the edges of the veil and the demons living on the edges have the most exposure to humans. I understand that they are the ones eating the humans. Yet the most human-like of the demons live closer to the center. Shouldn’t the human-like demons be living closer to the human part of the world and the more monster-like demons be deeper into the veil and have less contact with humans? It doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe there will be more explanation later.
The main reason I didn’t rate it as good as the first was because I found parts of it to be boring and actually skimmed portions of it towards the end.The chase with the demon king went on for too long for me. I just wanted to move on so I skipped to the end of that part. It didn’t feel like there was much momentum to the story to push it forward. I guess I wanted a bit more plot outside of Delora and Magnar’s relationship.
My other lesser criticism is about word choice. It's related to world building and also character. I think that if I had a better idea of the world’s timeline and background info. I think certain words wouldn’t take me out of the world the way they do now. For example, “burritoed” as in being rolled up like a burrito. The world here is supposed to be earth, but I don’t know enough about the world to know if this is a word Delora would be likely to know or use. Are they busy making burritos in her home village? Do they like Mexican food there? Does knowledge of Mexico exist in this world? I don’t know.
Magnar was also using words that he shouldn’t have been using in his POV. For example he was using the word “phallic” before he discovered what his own genitals were. (Apart from other things possibly being wrong with this) He’s either seen an erect penis and understands what it is, or he can’t know what that word means. But it can’t be both. It would just take some simple editing to fix these things.
Overall, I liked the book enough to continue reading the series.
Praises:
Many aspects of the book were realistic in a way that was compelling and sad. I found Delora’s character to be very realistic in representing someone with depression and postpartum depression.
We learn a bit more about the world in this book. I like that the world is mysterious enough to keep drawing me in to know more without being overly complicated.
Criticisms:
However, now I’m learning more about the world I also have more questions. I want more detailed explanations of things so that it makes more sense. To be honest, the organization of the veil seems kind of backwards to me. Most of the humans are closer to the edges of the veil and the demons living on the edges have the most exposure to humans. I understand that they are the ones eating the humans. Yet the most human-like of the demons live closer to the center. Shouldn’t the human-like demons be living closer to the human part of the world and the more monster-like demons be deeper into the veil and have less contact with humans? It doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe there will be more explanation later.
The main reason I didn’t rate it as good as the first was because I found parts of it to be boring and actually skimmed portions of it towards the end.
My other lesser criticism is about word choice. It's related to world building and also character. I think that if I had a better idea of the world’s timeline and background info. I think certain words wouldn’t take me out of the world the way they do now. For example, “burritoed” as in being rolled up like a burrito. The world here is supposed to be earth, but I don’t know enough about the world to know if this is a word Delora would be likely to know or use. Are they busy making burritos in her home village? Do they like Mexican food there? Does knowledge of Mexico exist in this world? I don’t know.
Magnar was also using words that he shouldn’t have been using in his POV. For example he was using the word “phallic” before he discovered what his own genitals were. (Apart from other things possibly being wrong with this) He’s either seen an erect penis and understands what it is, or he can’t know what that word means. But it can’t be both. It would just take some simple editing to fix these things.
Overall, I liked the book enough to continue reading the series.