The Soul Thief" by Majanka Verstraete offers an interesting premise but falls short in its delivery.

Verstraete's imagination shines through in the concept of a world where souls are stolen, but the execution leaves something to be desired. The pacing is uneven, with slow stretches that make it hard to stay engaged.

The characters have potential, but they lack depth and development. I found it difficult to connect with them on a deeper level, which made it hard to invest in their journey.

That being said, there are moments of excitement and intrigue scattered throughout the book. The plot twists kept me guessing, even if they weren't always executed as smoothly as I would have liked.

Overall, "The Soul Thief" is a decent read for fans of paranormal fantasy, but it falls short of its full potential. With tighter pacing and more fleshed-out characters, it could have been a standout in the genre.
I received an arc of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Not a fan, sadly. Riley was immature, annoying and just bothered me that she accsepted it so fast and all.

I would like to thank Firefly Hill Press, LLC and the Netgalley website for allowing me to read this book.

It is about Riley who, at 16, is injured in a car accident and sees a girl take on the soul of a boy. She thinks she is hallucinating. Except that later she falls again on this girl, she knows that it is real. There she will learn that she has a secret heritage, she is part of the halfling, the Angels of Death. She will have to get used to it but girls of her age are dying strangely, she will have to do everything to stop it.

A book read in one go so much I was hooked on the story so gripping, addictive, captivating, filled with suspense and twists with very endearing characters. Can't wait to discover the sequel.

After surviving a car accident, Riley Scott finds out that she is a halfling angel of death. Extremely confused, she stumbles through this newfound world with the help of Leander, her guardian.

Still settling into her new reality, she’s faced with a problem: mysterious deaths of teenage girls that seem to be supernatural. She tries to unravel the mystery of these murders, but she may be in danger herself.

Riley is a complex character. As a seventeen-year-old girl, she is naturally reckless, but at the same time, she considers the safety of her friends and the death of the girls her responsibility.

Personally, I found Riley quite unlikable, as she takes decisions without thinking twice, and often ends up in messes bigger than the ones she was trying to solve. However, this is a very reasonable character arc in the given setting, which I hope is well panned-out in the next book.

The plot itself is interesting, although predictable at times. The way the story progressed, and the cliffhanger ending paved the way for an interesting and enthralling second book!

ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Thank you for letting me review this title.

I actually liked this book, I read it quite fast.

I recommend it.

I loved this very much! The characters, the actions and even the plot itself! Very inspiring for my own book too!

Amazing book, I couldn't stop reading, enjoyed it and everything, but I feel something is missing on it....

The Soul Thief is the first installment in author Majanka Verstraete's Angel of Death series. 17-year old Riley Scott somehow manages to survive a brutal car wreck that claims the lives of a half dozen or more people. But, what's really disconcerting to Riley, is actually seeing a girl pull a soul out of the body of a dead boy. Diane is an Angel of Death. It is her job to collect souls who are fated to go to Heaven. For Riley to be able to see Diane, means that she is too. Riley soon learns that she is a Halfling, half human and half Angel.

After meeting the Council of Angels, Riley is assigned to a Guardian named Leander. Riley learns that Angels of Death collect souls of the dead and bring them to Heaven, while Reapers bring the souls of the damned straight to Hell. While Riley is trying to come to grips with her new reality, she learns that her Grandmother has know about Riley since she was born. The same Grandmother who knows more about the paranormal than you can put in a book. Riley also learns that there is something called the Book of Names.

The Book of Names is more valuable than any diamond in the world. Should it fall into the wrong hands, the balance between good and evil would be shattered. But, the most important part of this story is that (3) different teenagers all die under curious circumstances. All (3) teens names did not show up in the Book of Names. While Riley is turning into love struck teen falling for her much, much, much, much older Guardian, she's being stalked by someone who very much wants to take her soul. But, why is Riley in particular targeted?

It's obvious that this mystery goes far deeper than the author is willing to explain in this first installment. Which is fine. One can only hope she reveals the reasoning behind why and most importantly, who Riley's father is. The entire story takes place in a town called Fairhaven where paranormals of all sorts coexist with humans. I already explained about Gran, but didn't mention she was a witch. There are also vampires, fairies and of course, demons involved as well. Leander is Riley’s Guardian but he also has a past that I wish the author would explore more.

Especially since one of his past relationships seem to be involved in what is happening to Riley. Whenever I try to put together a view, I think about whether or not the main protagonist grew over the course of the story. Riley did to some degree, but I think we are going to see an unraveling in the sequel. I don't believe she's thinking clearly at all. She's only thinking about revenge for what happened at the end of this book. I also have to question Leander's motives in this book. There is something he's keeping from Riley.

When Riley is in a car crash and sees a young boy die, she witnesses his soul leaving his body. From that moment on her life is changed forever. It turns out she is an Angel of Death, Heaven's equivalent to a Reaper. In a flash shes gone from a normal sixteen year old girl to a paranormal immortal. When local teenage girls start dying of heart attacks she quickly realizes that there is something more going on and is determined to put a stop to it.

A good start to a new series, but the book left some major questions left unanswered. I liked the hierarchy structure of Heaven and am curious to learn more about who and why the events that took place occurred, but I didn't find any of the characters particularly compelling. Also the relationship between Riley and her Guardian Leander feels unnecessary.

Easy and fun read. Things are very well explainee and its so hard to follow everything that is happening. Maybe a little bit to much details sometimes. But overal a good read!

The Soul Thief is a captivating YA Fantasy about a teenage girl who survives a car accident and discovers that she's actually half-angel. An angel of death, to be precise. But just as Riley begins adjusting to her new life and responsibilities as an angel, with the help of her charming new guardian Leander, she and her high school friends realize that not all is well in Fairhaven. Girls their age are dying under mysterious circumstances all around town, and they all have a connection to Riley.

I couldn't put this one down! It starts right in the middle of the action, no meandering introduction, and it doesn't slow down. The main character Riley is written very convincingly, too. Teenage girl angst and desires have been mixed perfectly with the very real mental trauma of her accident and the danger she's in now.

The supporting cast of Riley's teenage friends is excellent. Mich stands out the most to me as a strong young woman and an unshakable loyal friend. Craig is a stereotypical gay friend in the girl group. Katie started out shallow but redeemed herself in my eyes by the end. Stacey is one of those rare pure hearts who lives to help others and has set her sights on making sure Riley is okay.

Riley's guardian and teacher, Leander, has baggage. Lots of baggage. We're teased with the possibility of a budding romance between Riley and Leander throughout, but neither is ready at the same time, for different reasons. If this were a more adult level novel, I would criticize this aspect because a) we've got an older man entertaining the affections of a teenage girl, and b) this centuries-old man is no better at women and relationships than an actual teenager. That said, this is firmly a YA novel, and as such the fast-paced, awkward almost-romance is forgivable. There's also the fact that Riley isn't a mortal soul, so maybe that makes the age thing less important? Something to keep in mind, potential readers, if that's not your cup of tea.

Pretty much every "bad guy reveal" moment was predictable to me, but that didn't spoil the fun, and a less seasoned young reader might not catch it all. It made me feel like I was reading a mystery novel, and I was doing a good job picking up all the author's little breadcrumbs.

The ending was quick, but not too abrupt, and left it open for the next book quite beautifully. We got enough answers in this book to be satisfied with the ending, but a much bigger plotline has been set up. There are so many things we don't know yet! I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for the next book, and I highly recommend this book to YA Fantasy fans everywhere!

For those who are curious: This book contains violence and PDA, but no graphic gore or sex.

The Soul Thief follows the exploits of Riley who discovers that she is part-human and part-angel, but. In the story angels of death are nessasary to separate the soul from the human bodies when they die. This time these kind of angels of death aren’t described as evil, instead they perform an essential service to the public.
A huge part of the book is describing the scene, but when the action starts, it is hard to put the book down.