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A review by imtashamonet
Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This book is very different from other things I've read and reviewed. I wasn't sure what I expected, but I am glad I went on this journey. I will say there are numerous content warnings for this book, so if you are considering it, please do your research before reading it.
This book started off slow for me. Not necessarily for the heat and spice, but for me getting invested in the story. For the first 10-20 chapters, I was not sure I was invested in the FMC because I didn't understand her wants, desires, or the stakes for her clearly enough. They were absolutely mentioned, but they didn't seem real enough. The looming deadline of just one more year of college and having to have things figured out didn't seem like it was coming soon enough, even though a year is not that long. Raelynn's struggle just didn't seem much like a struggle until later, and the struggle was something completely different.
Additionally, Raelynn sometimes read like a high schooler rather than someone with one year of college left, and she was borderline annoying for the majority of the book. Granted, that's not a huge age gap, it's definitely a drastic enough experience gap where I expected something a little bit different. I will admit that she was more annoying during the MMC's, Leon, point-of-view, which likely colored the way she was portrayed. Still, I expected something a little different.
I was invested in Leon from the beginning and I wish we got more POV chapters from him. The book is dominated by Raelynn's POV, especially in the beginning, and that sometimes felt like a disservice to the story. Both character's viewpoints are integral to understanding what is going on. Leon's POV was likely easier to invest in because right away you can tell what's at stake for him and, while his motives change, his stakes are costly from the start.
The only other thing I'll say so as to avoid spoilers for anyone who has not read this yet is that I had a hard time believing the love between the FMC and MMC for a very long time (and I still don't completely know yet) because outside of kinky, hot, spicy sex, any other kinds of relationship development felt a little shallow and far and few inbetween. Perhaps the hot, kinky sex was all they needed, but it seems a lot of development between them was left off the page.
Having said all this, I enjoyed this read, especially once I got to about 40-50% of the way in. If you're a pearl clutcher, this book is not for you.
This book started off slow for me. Not necessarily for the heat and spice, but for me getting invested in the story. For the first 10-20 chapters, I was not sure I was invested in the FMC because I didn't understand her wants, desires, or the stakes for her clearly enough. They were absolutely mentioned, but they didn't seem real enough. The looming deadline of just one more year of college and having to have things figured out didn't seem like it was coming soon enough, even though a year is not that long. Raelynn's struggle just didn't seem much like a struggle until later, and the struggle was something completely different.
Additionally, Raelynn sometimes read like a high schooler rather than someone with one year of college left, and she was borderline annoying for the majority of the book. Granted, that's not a huge age gap, it's definitely a drastic enough experience gap where I expected something a little bit different. I will admit that she was more annoying during the MMC's, Leon, point-of-view, which likely colored the way she was portrayed. Still, I expected something a little different.
I was invested in Leon from the beginning and I wish we got more POV chapters from him. The book is dominated by Raelynn's POV, especially in the beginning, and that sometimes felt like a disservice to the story. Both character's viewpoints are integral to understanding what is going on. Leon's POV was likely easier to invest in because right away you can tell what's at stake for him and, while his motives change, his stakes are costly from the start.
The only other thing I'll say so as to avoid spoilers for anyone who has not read this yet is that I had a hard time believing the love between the FMC and MMC for a very long time (and I still don't completely know yet) because outside of kinky, hot, spicy sex, any other kinds of relationship development felt a little shallow and far and few inbetween. Perhaps the hot, kinky sex was all they needed, but it seems a lot of development between them was left off the page.
Having said all this, I enjoyed this read, especially once I got to about 40-50% of the way in. If you're a pearl clutcher, this book is not for you.