Teenager Rachel Race wakes up in the middle of the night in incredible pain to find she's missing a pinky finger. Up to this point, she thought the worst thing about her life was her best friend's upcoming move, but she soon discovers she's become a courier for evil. In other areas of the world, there are forces of good fighting the evil Samyaza, and Caleb, a man with powers of his own, is guiding Rachel's actions from afar.

By the end of this book, things start to come together a bit, but most of it just felt disjointed and I kept trying to figure out what the point of it all was. Also, Rachel's reactions to things were just odd. Even she kept wondering how she could be so calm about waking up covered in blood, missing a finger, or having a panther crash through a hospital window.

Don't Tell a Soul by Joshua Raven was nearly a DNF for me, but, since it was a short read, I plowed through. I will not, however, be continuing the series. Neither the characters, nor the storyline and its pacing, were developed enough to keep me interested.

"Take the bag on the counter. Do not open it. Keep hold of it until you hear from us. Follow these orders or lose another finger. Remember, don’t tell a soul.”



⚠️ Rachel Race is being stalked and pursued by dark forces. Waking up from one of her many strange dreams one night with a stabbing, burning pain from her bleeding hand, only to realize that she's missing a finger. ☝️ Things started to get weirder and dangerous as she starts being attacked and chased by a black panther she thinks is responsible for her hacked finger. Then there are the hooded figures wearing black cloaks, moaning and chanting on top of Griffton Cliff. Mentions of fallen angels and one in particular named Samyaza, also known as Shemyazaz, Semjaza, Shemyaza , Shemhazai, and Amezarak, a fallen angel – a demon – of Hebrew and Christian tradition. He ranked in the heavenly hierarchy as one of the Grigori – meaning ‘Watchers’ in Greek.’ Samyaza will often appear as a friendly spirit guide to trick his chosen one to manipulate and do his bidding by showing a world behind imagining full of power, adventure and hidden knowledge. He lures with teachings of incantations, spell casting, shape-shifting and sorcery in exchange for your loyalty and soul, to which Daniel Harcourt fell prey. Samyaza's bidding varied from casting spells to carrying out theft and actual physical harm. This continued for several years but now Daniel wants out. As if it is going to be that easy. 👿
Back to Rachel, it's down to her to find out the answers to all of her questions: why they had taken her finger, why they had involved her in all of these assignments, and why they had chosen her at all.
💭 Not bad at all. Another evil Vs good kind of story. I've seen mixed reviews but decided to give this one a go and I surprisingly liked it. I have no issues with the writing style, format, pacing and I don't think it has 'too many characters' which makes a story disorienting. My only complaint is that I wish I had the rest of the 5fingers series to finally know the conclusion.

3.5✨

I’m incredibly grateful to have received an ARC of *Don’t Tell A Soul* by Joshua Raven, the first in what promises to be an exciting five-book series. The premise of the book is intriguing, and it’s clear that there’s potential for the series to grow and develop over time.

While this first installment didn’t completely capture my attention as I had hoped, I can see how it lays a foundation for future installments. The story had its moments, though the pacing overall felt uneven to me, with some sections feeling a bit stretched out while others moved too quickly.

I had mixed feelings about the main character, Rachel. While I wanted to root for her, I found her a bit difficult to connect with, and I think her development could have benefited from more depth. That said, *Don’t Tell A Soul* is a relatively quick read, and the potential for the series gives me hope that Rachel and the world around her will become more engaging as the story progresses.

Joshua Raven undeniably has a great author name, and I’ll be keeping an eye on his future works. This book wasn’t entirely my cup of tea, but I admire the ambition of the series.

I may be outside the target audience for this book, which is perhaps better suited for younger readers. It has some interesting ideas but swiftly turns to basic tropes to get its point across.

A story about good and evil. Captivating in certain areas and then lacking in others. Seemed slightly repetitive at times. I feel like I should have connected with the main characters more. The FMC Rachel needs to be a stronger, more forward character. I enjoyed the supernatural aspect of it though and the anticipation. It definitely has that YA feel! I did enjoy the book. Good world building.

I received an ARC of this book and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

I really wanted to like this one.

I read the description, and thought maybe it would be like a bridge between the YA Supernatural books of my youth, with the social commentary and religious humor of Good Omens. The adult version of City of Bones, like how Discovery of Witches feels like adult Twilight.

Perhaps my disappointment is my own fault, as those are somewhat high standard to have.

The worst part of the book is the main character. Rachel is so passive, so monotonous, so boring. There is not a lot of pages to this story, and so much happens, and none of it seems to phase the main character in any meaningful way. She just does what she's told, and the story is never given the space for the reader to see how the character feels or even interacts with what she is doing, what she is going through. So much happens, and none of it matters because we are never shown that it does. It's kind of like reading a religious inspired, supernatural fantasy checklist. The potential is there, but there is nothing to invest in. We are given characters in situations we should care about, but nothing to actually resonate. Main character whose father has a substances abuse issue? We know we should care. We're never shown why it matters.

I don't mind religious undertones in fantasy, mainly as religion doesn't play a large part in my life. To me, it is all fantastical, no matter if others choose to live their life by it or not. The vibes here feel...off, regardless. There is some definite racist-feeling undertones. Why is your rising evil, fallen arch-angel character from Nepal, corrupting people in England. Presumably corrupting white characters. I cannot tell if this was the intention or not, but once you notice it, it's hard to ignore it. I was thinking about it since about 25% of the way into it, all the way to the end.

Mostly. this just reads as a middling novella.

A decent, voodoo style, good versus evil narrative. The pages are filled with mystery, strange happenings, manipulation,  kidnap and magic. I received an ARC copy from Book Whisperer for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Don't Tell A Soul is, at its base, a novel about good and evil. The storyline moves between multiple characters, most of whom do not encounter each other until the very end of the novel, which made it hard to follow. The actions of the characters are guided by Samyaza, a demon, and the Dunamis, a force for good. Samyaza is currently imprisoned in the mountains of Nepal, and is trying very hard to free himself, through the actions of his followers, whom he cajoles, then bribes, and then coerces, ultimately choosing one to possess. The Dunamis is a force of good, whose only known follower travels the world reversing Samyaza's actions as dictated by the Dunamis. I wouldn't mind the good and evil theme as much if it didn't become so clearly religious toward the end of the volume, when one character describes himself as a "slave to the Dunamis", and made it ever clearer that his actions were not truly his own; his will is as subjugated to the Dunamis as that of the person Samyaza possesses. This theme of total subjugation to a deity, good or evil, is extremely objectionable, and caused my opinion of the volume to drop from so-so to unacceptable. I'm sure there are people out there who will find this book appealing, but I am not one of them.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Don’t Tell A Soul has an intriguing premise, but sadly rather poor execution.

I really didn’t like the writing style with large sections of info dumping and a lot of repetition. I also found the dialogue stunted and the relationships/dynamics weren’t believable. I appreciate this is mostly from the POV of a teenage girl, but there’s drama and then there’s whatever was going on here. My biggest grievance is the incredibly odd choice of including a slur about three quarters of the way through the book.

This book could really benefit from a further round of edits as there is something interesting with Samyaza and Dunamis. I hope this series will improve as it progresses,

Overall, I would not recommend this book in its current state.

this was a strong start to the 5fingers series, it had that young adult element that I was looking for and enjoyed the feel of this, it uses the supernatural mystery element that I was looking for. It introduced the characters in a way that felt like they were supposed to in this. Joshua Raven has a strong writing style and am excited for more in this series.

Don't Tell A Soul by Joshua Raven is a dark and suspenseful YA novel with an intriguing premise. The story follows Rachel Race, who wakes up missing a finger and is thrust into a world of ancient evil and supernatural forces. The eerie tone and mystery surrounding the seaside city of Griffton are captivating, drawing readers into a web of secrets, demons, and the Nephilim. However, the writing style often feels repetitive, relying too heavily on rhetorical framing and overly detailed descriptions that can disrupt the flow. While Rachel's relationship with Lake and the mysterious Caleb adds depth to the narrative, the emotional connection could have been stronger. Despite its flaws, Don't Tell A Soul will appeal to readers who enjoy supernatural mysteries and dark adventures.

The plot seemed perfect for the time of the year. The description alone has me looking forward to a dark, mysterious retelling from the perspective of a teenager ( so I was in for a dramatic narrative)
For a good chunk of the book the anticipation held my attention, as the book begins with short scenes flickering back and forth between the narrator's thoughts and past events.
However, the writing style leaves much to be desired. I wish the descriptions delved deeper . The constant sentence framing in terms of rhetorics or overly explained obvious actions get repetitive quite early on.. However, the underlying tone of eerieness would be interesting for the target demographic