"Saving Seymour" by L.N. Loch offers a unique and thought-provoking premise that initially captivates readers. The novel introduces Ivan, an employee at Galaxsea, a corporation known for its exploitation of animals for tourism, and Winston, a passionate painter and activist determined to liberate Seymour, an imprisoned orca. The story unfolds in a world where people see the world in black and white until they experience the rare phenomenon of bonding with a soulmate. This intriguing concept sets the stage for a narrative that combines elements of social commentary, romance, and activism.

The book's strengths lie in its worldbuilding and narrative style. Loch skillfully constructs a world where the concept of bonding and its implications are integral to the plot. The portrayal of Bonded individuals and the activism surrounding their unique abilities adds depth to the story, offering a refreshing perspective on a soulmate trope that is often overused in contemporary literature. The writing style is engaging and complements the characters and their journey effectively.

The characters, Ivan and Winston, create a balanced dynamic that propels the story forward. While they have their respective flaws, their interaction adds an element of authenticity to their relationship. The pacing of the novel is consistent, making it an easy and quick read.

However, the book does have its drawbacks. One notable issue is the characters' reactions to the central conflict. Some of the expectations placed on Ivan, such as quitting his job at Galaxsea after only a few days of acquaintance with Winston, may seem unrealistic to some readers. Additionally, the portrayal of the antagonistic boss at Galaxsea is somewhat one-dimensional, which could have been enriched with more complexity.

The soulmate trope, while not the a favorite, is presented in a neutral and acceptable manner in the story. Some readers may appreciate its inclusion, while others may find it less impactful.

In conclusion, "Saving Seymour" is a book that offers a unique and imaginative concept that blends various elements into its narrative. While it may not appeal to all readers, those who enjoy the soulmate trope and are open to a fresh take on it may find this novel engaging. Its strengths in worldbuilding and narrative style are complemented by well-balanced characters. The book, although not without its flaws, is a worthwhile read, especially for those interested in exploring themes of activism and unique relationships.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I’m usually a big fan of the soulmate trope, but this one didn’t really hit the spot for me. I was a little annoyed at the characters for most of the books and felt like the conflict wasn’t very organic. I love books about orcas though, so it gets a little bit of a bonus for that.

My heart!!! This was amazing, honestly. The main character is so unique. Well the premise is so unique! This was super well written for the tone of the book. I think it's definitely one story that will tug at your heartstrings... I would love to get a physical copy of this and reread it! Honestly, this surprised me quite a bit and I would recommend to check it out if the story sounds promising to you :)

At parts this was a little slow and I was unsure if I would continue liking the story the farther I got into it. But it was so adorable and read like a hallmark movie.

DNF at 48%. The premise of this book drew me in, but I just could not get myself to pick this book up. I felt like the characters fell flat, and I wish there was more explanation of the lore behind the Seers and why non-Seers despise them so much. I also felt like the writing was really hard to understand at times. I'd find myself rereading sentences a few times to figure out what was going on. Which, for a contemporary romance, isn't at all what I was expecting. Overall, I just felt disappointed with this book because I wanted to like it, but had an underwhelming reading experience.

𝗜𝘃𝗮𝗻 is a worker at Galaxsea, a corporation that abuses animals and takes them away from their homes for tourists to see. 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻 is a painter and activist who just wants to free Seymour, an orca who is currently stuck at Galaxsea.

This novel started out well enough but the further on I read, the more I found myself not enjoying it. It first caught my eye because of it's cute concept and cover. Needless to say I was quite disappointed.

Let's get the good parts out of the way.

The worldbuilding is very interesting, in this world everyone sees black and white until Bonded. Only a small fraction of people Bond in their lifetime. It was interesting to see how the Bonded people were treated and how the activism played along with that.

I really enjoyed the writing style and how it fit with the story and characters. The characters themselves aren't my favorite though I liked how Ivan and Winston balanced each other out. It's also pretty easy to fly through this book.

My main problem with Saving Seymour was everyone's reactions to the main conflict. It wasn't a huge deal that Ivan worked at Galaxsea in my opinion. Winston's friends expected him to quit his job over someone who he'd known for about three days which is just unrealistic. The boss there was of course a horrible person but they shouldn't have made him feel bad about not losing his main source of income for Winston.

The soulmate trope isn't one of my favorites but if done well it's pretty enjoyable, I was quite neutral about it in this novel.

The characters have their flaws which I can appreciate but overall think could've been dealt with better.

Overall, this wasn't a bad read and I'd probably still recommend this to fans of the soulmate trope, although hesitantly.

3 stars.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙓𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙏𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.

Saving Seymour is a case of over ambitious. At first, I was really into the concept and overall tone. I appreciate all of the elements going on individually, but there were way too many for one book and none of them really explored properly. For example, I think the sci fi element of certain people being able to see color versus those who can't was interesting and could make for some good social commentary, I like the idea of two people who are opposites and not fond of each other suddenly becoming soulmates and reshaping their ideas, and I like the activism and animal rights part of it. But ultimately, it was a bit much. This book is a book I'd be willing to revisit later when it's fully published and check out again when the mood strikes.

Thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

It was a bit slow at first but it wasn't as hard to read through as you go on with the book. It definitely wasn't a favorite of mine. It all seemed like there was too much going all at once and I often got confused which added on to the fact that it was a bit difficult to sit through. In fact, I had to put it down a few times before reading on again. I also wish it went a little deeper with more of the main plots of the novel and it mostly fell flat because of it.

Its definitely got a charming side to it though. The book has an interesting take on soulmates and I found it quite refreshing. The dynamic between the main pair didn't seem forced and there were quite a few sweet moments between them throughout the story.

I would say if you've got a soft spot for soulmate stories, check this out if you want to. I didn't like it a lot, but I didn't hate it either.

3/5 stars.

There are a lot of overlapping plots here. In my opinion, too many. There's seeing black and white until you touch a fated person, activism to rescue a whale, discrimination against people who can see color, an abusive relationship... but it's mostly just barely touched on. You start out thinking the colors thing will be important, but it's not really... then maybe the activism... but only kind of? It's very confusing. I feel like if the number of side plots was cut down and the remainers were fleshed out more this could be a pretty decent book, but there was just too many plot points to the point they all got short story level of attention despite the length of this novel.

The world is all in tones of grey until you meet your soulmate, like not only see but bump into them. That's what happens to Winston and Ivan. This has so much potential but, I can't pinpoint exactly why, there was something lacking. I liked both characters and I liked the "down to the evil animal abuser sort of seaworld company" together with the free willy, here free Seymour of the cover. The way they start seeing colours was fascinating and I enjoyed watching two very different people become a great mix after they found each other. Ivan'd chapters could be hard to read but he had so much going on and by the end I just wanted to hug him a lot.
I found the writing a little bit confusing at times. It was hard sometimes to follow what was happening with random parenthesis in the middle of sentences. But it wasn't that bad so in the end I enjoyed the story all the same.

This book is adorable and totally satisfying for someone who has loved whales since I was a little kid. It was a little more serious than I expected from the cover and premise but all handled very well. It was sweet and charming and I really enjoyed it.

The fantastical parts of this are really interesting. I loved the seeing color when you meet your soulmate idea and found it really intriguing that because most people can't see color, it was mostly considered a bad thing. Bigots in this world weren't upset about race (they can't see color), they weren't upset that the main couple is gay, they discriminated against those who could see color. It was an interesting twist and I enjoyed watching it play out.

Ivan and Winston were adorable, I really liked their relationship. It's the enemy to lovers trope with a corporate type and a tree hugger. The relationship was done well for the most part. However, I didn't particularly like Winston's friends. They're overly protective and never even attempt to give Ivan a chance. Their protectiveness is never really explained and just made me dislike these two characters who otherwise had potential.

The Seymour storyline was interesting and I liked how it eventually played out. About halfway through, I was frustrated that it hadn't been explored more and I hadn't even "seen" the whale but it happened eventually and when it did, I was happy with how it unfolded.

This is a debut novel and in a few spots it really read like one. A couple times I found myself getting a little confused about the way characters were acting or even which character's POV I was reading. It just needed a little more polish and rounding out of the characters and I think I could have gotten close to that 5th star.

Overall, this is a very solid LGBT+ contemporary romance with some animal rights and fantastical elements thrown in.

**I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

this book is everything i needed. i am a huge lover of whales and was immediately obsessed with this book. it is such a unique fwist on an oracle that has been told so many times. reading this felt like watching a hallmark movie i could visualise the scenes so vividly. incredibly written and truly captivating.

Thank you NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the eARC for review!

Winston and Ivan are polar opposites - Ivan works for Galaxsea, a marine theme park that has come under fire due to a recent Black Fish type documentary, and Winston is one of those protesting for the release of Galaxsea’s main attraction, Seymour the orca. When the two bump into each other, they are shocked to see that their once black-and-white world is starting to gain colour, which can only mean one thing: Ivan and Winston are Soulmates.

This was a fun book! I especially enjoyed Ivan’s arc, how we see him shift from small-minded, cold, and corporate to the softie Winston brings out in him. He makes mistakes. He has a lot of self-doubt. He doesn’t know how to be worthy of Winston. But through a lot of trial and error, he figures it out.

Winston was a great foil for Ivan. The sunshine to his brood. But I loved the way the two almost switch roles; in the beginning, Ivan is the “strong” one, the one who never really expresses himself, and Winston is the bleeding-heart artist. By the end, we see Winston bravely taking charge of their mission to save Seymour, and Ivan to be emotional one as he tries to make up for his mistakes.

All this aside, there were a few things that stood out to me as less than desired. Loch is clearly a very talented writer and has a great vision for their stories, but I found the writing style a bit superfluous. The sentences, as I’ll try to replicate now, have a way of being crafted that, while some may enjoy the stilted flow, I found distracting. Sometimes I’d have to reread a paragraph more than once to follow.

I wish we’d seen a bit more of the reluctance on Ivan’s part in following through with the bond. We have these two polar-opposite characters who, for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t work together, and I would have liked the build-up to the relationship be a bit more tumultuous. As it were, the two run into each other one day, seek each other out (sort of) the next, and by day 3 they are in love. Loch attributes this to the fact that they are Bonded, and things move quickly with your Soulmate, but what endeared me to this relationship was how these two characters could possibly make it work. Ivan gets over his bigotry a bit too quickly for me.

Still, a very cute novel with a great concept and characters!

3.5 stars.

Saving Seymour is a charming adult novel about a universe where people can’t see color until they meet their ‘soulmate’.

As an avid fan fiction reader I was really excited to see a setting like this in a novel for once and I’m glad to although I’ve read the initial concept many times before, it still managed to have an inventive and original spin in this book. The society we see is one that oppresses Seers, instead of embracing them and at the start of the story, the main character Ivan has just as little respect for them as the majority of the people around him.

Though I thought the main characters have interesting personalities and I enjoyed to see how they were developed mostly, I thought the whole plot aspect of naturally bonding that requires little work to be put into falling in love, took away from their relationship dynamic. I thought they had some really sweet moments but it wasn’t enough for it to be ‘love’ right away and I think something from them to not have a little more of a building period.

I appreciate this book for it’s discussion of important subjects such as workplace sexual harassment and toxic relationships, but I feel like some of them were almost brushed over for a short amount of time, and it felt almost blurry in the story.

Another plot point I haven’t seen done in fiction was the whole main storyline of this book about Winston wanting to save Seymour, the orca. I thought it was a great character motivation and it really enlightened me about a topic I hadn’t thought of too much before.

All in all this was an enjoyable read, though I wish there had been better communication between the characters as some of the misunderstandings and fights kept a sense of anxiety within me throughout the entire story, not to say I didn’t enjoy the way some of them were resolved.

I hit up NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book. And now here we have my review.

Saving Seymour has a bunch of stuff going on. Ivan, who is kinda a jerk, and Winston, who is kinda an activist, are Soulmates. Because they bumped into one another they can now see color in a world where most people see only black and white. Ivan is super conservative and hates this. Winston wants to save a whale that is held in captivity by Galaxsea, the company Ivan works for. Plot ensues.

The premise is interesting. I really like the idea of only being able to see color if you meet your soulmate. My favorite parts of the book focused on the two main characters experiencing different colors for the first time. I especially enjoyed that Winston and Ivan start off seeing complementary color palettes. I wish the author had explored this aspect of the book more, to be honest.

The romance of the two main characters and the plot surrounding the whale were good, but neither went deep enough.

I liked the book. I wanted a little bit more, but it was a nice weekend read.

While the world the author built was nice, overall, the novel falls completely flat. There were several tones of microaggressions that took me out of enjoying the book. However, the way the story was written was passable at best. Saving Seymour has a bit of potential, but it barely fits the bill of something I would recommend to read.

This story was definitely an infesting one! I love the black and white world trope and think it was such an interesting story and world.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of Saving Seymour by L.N. Loch. I never read the book blurb, so I always go into a book blind. I started it this book like "what the heck is this book about", to really enjoying the middle of the book, to hating the book and then to liking the book. At one point in the book I considered giving it 5 stars, but then it fell flat for me. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Saving Seymour was one of the books that I was super excited to start reading. The cover was charming and the premise intriguing. But I found myself picking the short end of the stick. The world-building was not my issue with this story. I found the premise of everything being colorless was unique. The discrimination of colored vision was realistic of discrimination that we find in our society. My issue with this book was the characters and their relationship. Ivan was extremely flawed and his overall attitude was frustrating for most of the book. (I know he had a background that lead him to that behavior but it was repetitive in the story). The fact that both characters fall in love with each other after three days also bugged me a lot. Love at first sight soulmate or not isn't my preferred romance trope. I was expecting a slower pace for the romance, especially since they are enemies. Overall, this had a good concept but I was disappointed with the final result.

Thank you, NetGalley and L.N. Loch for the arc.