Reaper of Souls

by Rena Barron

3 out of 5

Synopsis

After so many years yearning for the gift of magic, Arrah has the one thing she’s always wanted—at a terrible price. Now the last surviving witchdoctor, she’s been left to pick up the shattered pieces of a family that betrayed her, a kingdom in shambles, and long-buried secrets about who she is.

Desperate not to repeat her mother’s mistakes, Arrah must return to the tribal lands to search for help from the remnants of her parents’ people. But the Demon King’s shadow looms closer than she thinks. And as Arrah struggles to unravel her connection to him, defeating him begins to seem more and more impossible—if it’s something she can bring herself to do at all.

Set in a richly imagined world inspired by spine-tingling tales of voodoo and folk magic, Kingdom of Souls was lauded as “masterful” by School Library Journal in a starred review. This explosively epic sequel will have readers racing to the can’t-miss conclusion.

Review

Stopping her mother and sister from releasing the demon king was only the start. Arrah and Rudjek have to act fast to stop a war.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Arrah returns from saving the Kingdom from her mother and sister's demon army, but no one sees her as a hero. People are scared of her, terrified of what her limitless power will do.

Arrah doesn't have time to dwell on this. She discovers that one of the other tribes may have survived the slaughter, and she sets herself a mission to track them down and help them.

Rudjek is the Crown Prince, now that his father has taken the throne. He is also part-Craven, and one of the few people that can kill demons easily. With the help of the other cravens, Rudjek plans to track down where the demon king plans to attack next, and take an army to stop him.

I think my favourite storyline in this book was Dimma (Arrah's past life) and Daho (the Demon King). Dimma is an immortal who falls in love with a mortal man. Despite being a god, Dimma has a naivety about her, and she seems so much more ignorant to the rules and expectations of existence than her brothers and sisters.

Only when she falls in love with Daho, does she being to question the rules that surround them.

It shows a much softer and more caring side to the goddess of death and the demon king. They weren't always the villains.

The not-so-good.

I really struggled to stay connected to the narrative. For a long book - nothing really happened for a good chunk of it. And I didn't feel like the characters were evolving, or we were learning anything new.

I mean, seriously, there is one big battle in Rudjek's storyline, but we don't get to witness any of it because he was unconscious. He wakes up two days later, and finds everyone injured.

Arrah just... travels; tests her new magic; fears her new magic... travels some more.

The ending picks up a bit, but I'd already lost interest, to be really invested in it.

I kinda want to see how the trilogy ends, but I'm not in any rush.

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