The Tethered Soul of Easton Green by Laura C. Reden is a compelling and imaginative debut novel that transports readers to a world where magic and mystery collide. Set in a small town filled with secrets, the story follows Everly Beck, a young woman who just received a cancer diagnosis, and Easton Green, a young man grappling with extraordinary abilities that torment him.

I really loved Reden’s atmospheric writing style; they painted a vivid eerie yet enchanting setting. The descriptions were really immersive and I got a bit lost in this book!

One thing that made the book standout to me was its complex and layered characters, with complicated backstories, secrets, and motivations. I was really rooting for Easton. And the supporting cast? So good! I loved Clara and the mysterious Elders, they added more intrigue and depth I didn’t know I needed.

The pacing of the novel is pretty fast, with plenty of twists and turns. Reden expertly balances moments of heart-pounding action with more introspective scenes for a debut author.

I did wish for more exploration of the world and a few plot threads. Certain elements of the story feel underdeveloped, which may be intentional for Book 2.

I also do not think YA books should have mature themes, so I think some branding was off there.

Overall, I was enchanted with this story and would recommend!

The premise of the book was more promising than the reality. I ended up DNF'ing the book as much as I wanted to push through and finish as an ARC reader. But I just couldn't care about these characters.

What an amazing book! I loved it! Beck was wonderful. Easton was wonderful. Rich, full of life, an amazing tale of someone learning to live life to the fullest only when they learn that life in finite. I can't wait to read the sequel.

i really enjoyed reading this book, it was a great start to the series and was a great young adult novel. I thought the book was really well done.

I thought the premise of this story was cute, but the actual book didn't quite meet my expectations. I found Beck's character frustrating at times and Easton just seemed a little too perfect. There were some really sweet moments between the two of them, but most of the characters seemed underdeveloped and I was never really worried about her death because it seemed like such an intangible concept in the story. The ending was really bittersweet and there were definitely times I teared up a bit, but overall the writing felt a bit juvenile at times, and sometimes the jokes in the book seemed kind of inadvertently mean. The romance was really lovely, but this book just wasn't my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and Laura Reden for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is book 1 in a great new series, The Tethered Soul. Emily has just been handed a terminal cancer diagnosis and sees a man about to jump off a bridge. She stops and talks him down. He seems to understand her and accepts her upcoming death. Emily falls in love and discovers that Ethan is a Tethered Soul, he never dies for good, he keeps returning to help others. A cool concept and a good story. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm sorry but Easton Green and the romance aspect was actually my least favorite part of this book. The writing style was not perfectly my style but it was close enough that I was invested in the story about Everly but then the romance would keep taking me out of it.

This was such a heartfelt story. It kept me interested the whole way through, and even had a bit of mystery in it. The romance between the main characters was sweet and flowed beautifully. I truly enjoyed this book, and I’m definitely going to read the second.

Wow, I am so glad I got to read this book!

I love to discover new authors and books and this book right here is one that I will remember for a long time. It's one of those stories that makes you think differently, look at different perspectives and understand them and just constantly wonder about the story and it's characters.

I am so so glad that there is going to be a second book, I hope there will be more afterwards! I want to see Beck and Easton's love and how it grows and changes with each life they have.

I'd love to see others read this book, and I'm so excited to see the story continue!

Thank you to NetGalley and Laura C. Reden for the earc in return for an honest review!

2/5 ⭐️s

“The first time I died was the hardest.”

When I read the first sentence of this book, I knew I wanted to read it! It simultaneously instilled in me a sense of gravity and whimsy, and the premise sounded really promising as well. Unfortunately, while the potential for a quality story is there, the execution is lacking.

Everly Beck and Easton Green meet in strange circumstances and immediately alter the course of each other’s lives. I wanted to love it, but neither character is remotely fleshed out. They’re both extremely flat and one-dimensional, and Everly is downright unlikeable at times. I flagged so many instances where she was judgmental, catty, or bitchy towards other female characters without justification. It felt more like the author’s internal mixed misogyny than a character trait. Easton had no such flaws...but he also had no personality. If bland could be packaged into one character, it would be him.

The plot had promise, but it was rushed and often skipped necessary details or transitions, leaving me with a feeling of whiplash while reading. I couldn’t fall into the story because of that (and because of the clunky dialogue). It’s easy to forgive character flaws when the story can pull you in, but this felt like rudimentary storytelling. It needed to be polished more.

Thank you to Laura Reden and NetGalley for this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Tethered Soul of Easton Green is about a young woman named Everly Beck who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. On her way home from the doctor, she spots a young man about to jump from a bridge and attempts to save him. The young man, Easton seems to be hiding something but he turns out to be the only person Everly can trust with her cancer secret and help her through her remaining days.

I liked the concept of this book, however it is a rather short read. It left me wanting more. The chemistry between Everly and Easton didn't feel natural. It happened much too quickly, regardless of the circumstances of death and an illness. Easton being a tethered soul... I guess I would have rather been shown his oddities slowly rather than being told. There was some hinting that Easton was different but not enough to draw attention to him being an extraordinary being of sorts. Perhaps because it was a shorter book, the events didn't seem to unfold naturally. The supernatural element could have easily been left out and the plot would have been just fine.
The best part was the author's ability of writing about Everly's cancer. Her internal struggles, the increasing symptoms and still trying to live normally for her family was very believable. I am curious to see where this series goes, but I'm not overly excited about it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book and am still thinking about it, days after finishing. It left me with a lot of questions, but good books usually do. Beck and Easton were a beautiful pair and I enjoyed seeing the personal evolution of Beck during the story. A definite read for anyone interested in the mystery of the hereafter.

The Tethered Soul of Easton Green had me in tears from chapter 1. A story of life, death, love, and loss that will give you all the feels. I haven’t cried this much in a while. If you love books like a Walk to Remember and enjoy a paranormal twist this is a must read.

Everly Beck has just finds out that at 22 she only has months to live when she gets a terminal cancer diagnosis. She goes through the stages of grief throughout the book and its so raw and real. What scares her more than dying is the pity and heartbreak when her family and friends find out. On her way home from receiving her untimely death sentence she comes across a boy about to jump from a bridge in town and finds that talking with him not only saves him but they save each other. Easton has secrets and Everly is determined to find out more about this mysterious boy that she finds herself able to confide in when she can’t anyone else.

Everly’s journey with her grief is so authentic. It’s clear the author understands the fear, pain, and anger that comes with it. The helplessness and feelings of loss of control. The instinct to push those you love away to protect them. Easton was absolutely perfect. He was there to support her when she needed it but didn’t push when she needed space. A pure soul through and through.

I wish the tethered should concept was explained and explored more. Everly’s lack of questions about the whole concept was a bit frustrating and I wish there would have been some things explained such as how and why a soul becomes tethered. I’m guessing the second book will answer these questions and more.

There is no HEA at the end. It is absolutely a tragedy that ends with a cliffhanger so be ready. Make sure you have tissues and are ok waiting till June to get the next book if cliffhangers are not your thing

This was such a good book! And it was so well written! It was captivating and touched my soul!
Laura is an amazing author and has a way to drawing you in, making you feel the characters.

Both of these characters are so in touch with each other and what they are going through. Beck is dying, Easton is about to end his life.... both are drawn together trying to heal the broken parts of one another.

I cannot wait to see how this story goes in the second book.

Imagine you’ve just received the most devastating news. Your world is ending. Everything looks dark. Then... a glimmer of light. I loved this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the cleverly written characters. The romance between Easton and Beck is authentic and believable. Well done, Laura C. Reden. Can’t wait to read more of your novels.

Will she let herself enjoy life for the time she has left ...

Phew, I had a sudden heart stop!
I thought this was the end but then I remembered the opening sentence and that book being the first in a series, so it could not end like this.

« 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡 ...
𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 ... 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡’/ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝐸𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛 »

I must say Everly is not the easiest character to like, yet I have never been in her position, so she has every right to be a bit mean, selfish or jealous. Only at the beginning of her life, and already robbed of it.
Why she explores all the sides of a untreatable diagnosis announcement. Anger, despair, fear ...
She is only human, and experience the unfairness of life. Yet in its magnitude, fate offers her one last gift, Easton Green.
He is a mystery, an enigma. A young man full of empathy, one who seems to understand her and sees past the mask she presents to others.

Difficult to say more without throwing away the deliciousness of this sweet story.
Just know this book is the moving tale of two souls who have finally found one another despite fate’s meddling and cynical ways
4.5 stars

Now to wait for the sequel, The Second Life of Everly Beck, releasing next June, and to see how they will find their way back to the other.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 non descriptive lovemaking scenes.

I have been granted an advance copy by the author, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

This book was incredible...I was so worried about the cliffhanger ending until I realized there was a second book! It reads like contemporary romance but is really fantasy and I liked how grounded it was with the emotions of the main character expressed perfectly. I highly recommend this book and will definitely look forward to the sequel!!

Tw/// attempted suicide

I did not enjoy this book at all. A lot of that has to do with my own preferences but the writing itself was not that good and i also had a particular issue with how one aspect was handled.

I’ll start with the good things; the beginning. The first line itself was a great opener and the tone of the writing felt like it was leading up to a great plot.

Unfortunately the plot was a copy and paste of MULTIPLE other books from the ya romance genre and had a lot more focus on how besotted the main characters were after just ONE meeting. Yes there was a terrible case of insta love and thats one sure way to make me lose interest in a book in one go. The particular nuance in that trope just had me laughing, someone who’s lived MULTIPLE lives for centuries, meets this person for A WEEK AND SUDDENLY “in all my lives, ive never loved someone like you.” I STARTED LAUGHING INSTANTLY. LIKE HOW????? love doesnt occur in such a small amount of time😭. As for the dialogue, it was downright cringey, and the banter was worse. One of the reasons i felt this way probably is because there was no depth to the characters. If characters had depth, no matter how cringey their dialogue is, I’d appreciate it as part of their personality, but due to the lack of actual depth, the dialogue and banter just felt forced and honestly irrelevant. The scifi element too was barely explored. The concept; while a very frequently used trope, is something i still enjoy to read a lot and I wish we got more backstory with it.

Now with the issue. One of the characters attempted suicide and yes he was talked out of it, but the thought process of the mc regarding this situation was “i thought you were crazy” and “deranged”. And the author actually made it a laughing gig???? It urks me that something so serious was dealt this particular way. Not only did it feel forced, but also it was used for comedic effect?? I don’t think it should have been handled that way.

Overall, i think the author had the potential to make this a truly great story, but execution of the idea was too generic and for me, simply boring.

Note: i Got an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

‘𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩.‘

Wow. I don’t think I have the words to explain exactly what I just read. The storyline was brilliant, something that I’ve definitely never read before.
The love story was both sweet and quick. I liked all of the characters, embraced the lessons along the way, and enjoyed seeing the eye opening experiences for them all.
The writing was a bit juvenile in some places, some of the things the characters thought or said were done in such a way that it pulled me out of the scene a bit.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed this one and am interested in seeing what else this author has to come.

I very much enjoyed this writers writing style. Though the story is told over a short period of time, I could have done with at least another 75 pages of story. Everything happened so quickly that it felt left. The explanation for Easton being the way he is happens so quickly and then the book ends. I feel like the author should have beefed up exploring his background more. I do think this was a cute love story with an interesting sci-fi twist. I look forward to reading more from this author.