Review by alisoun - A Soul to Keep

alisoun 's review for:

A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne

4.5

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ok so I knew everyone's been saying this is THE monster fucking book but I didn't really expect how much it would be!

Orpheus is truly inhuman - his body is often described and he is really, truly inhuman. His skull head is a constant reminder. So be warned haha.

Reia is remarkably realistic for a monster fucking heroine. Partway through the book she's dealing with her feeling of starting to like and being attracted to Orpheus but she is somewhat rational - she doesn't want to give him her soul at that point so she doesn't, and I like the way she thinks through it. After being imprisoned by her villiage she has to go through a bit to stop feeling imprisoned by Orpheus.

The world also never softened which I appreciated. It was still horrible and dark and full of monsters even towards the end of the book, where Reia has learnt to deal with the horrible things. Sometimes I find that horrible world's seem to soften with no character change seeming to spearhead that.

A benefit of this book is NO SURPRISE PREGNANCY 🎉🎉 hope everyone happy with that!!

My main critique would be that the conflict felt a bit rushed. Also some grammar issues.

Please see the content warnings too x

I was very glad the conflict wasn't a huge one between Orpheus and Reia though. I do wish that we had had some more build up to the crux of the novel with the demon king and Orpheus' ex. Something that suggested it was coming, like Reia feeling like she was being watched or something. Another spoiler I really liked was the witch owl and her reasoning for helping!!! So sweet of her!

Content Warnings