Review by mmefish - Half a Soul

mmefish 's review for:

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater

2.5

emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I've been enjoying "Half A Soul" up until the very end—even with all its plotholes, somehow repetitive writing, at times wonky dialogues and a caricatorius villian—but the last sentence spoiled the effect. If I'm not mistaken, This MC's "condition" is an allegory to autism, and if so, then the whole message about being accepted as you are, deserving love even if you're different etc. gets destroyed by the end of the novel.

In the epilogue, after the story already came to it's natural—and satisfying—conclusion, the MC, apparently, somehow gets her soul restored. It's a terrible decision that erases all the character growth and quite literally the whole point of the story.

It could be a nice, heart-warming fantasy romance but ended up being an OK-written underbaked Disney-like adventure with a shaky background instead.

Content Warnings