‘Soul Taker’ delivers a compelling mix of horror, intrigue, and just the right amount of sweetness to balance out the darker elements. It’s an engaging read with a fascinating protagonist and an eerie atmosphere that enhances the overall experience. While the setting wasn’t as immersive as I would have liked, the strong character development and striking illustrations made up for it.

Plot: ★★★★☆
The plot unfolds in a way that keeps the reader engaged, blending mystery, supernatural elements, and romance in a well-paced narrative. There’s a solid balance between the dark and tender moments, making it an enjoyable read for those who like a touch of the macabre alongside their intrigue. Some aspects felt a little predictable, but the execution was strong enough to keep me invested.

Character: ★★★★☆
Amarantha is a refreshing protagonist - complex, determined, and distinct from the usual heroines in the genre. She has a depth that makes her feel real, and her interactions with other characters add layers to the story. The supporting cast is also well-developed, though I would have liked to see some of them explored further. The relationships, both tense and tender, add weight to the story and keep the emotional stakes high.

Setting: ★★★☆☆
While the setting contributed to the book’s eerie, supernatural vibe, it didn’t feel quite as immersive as the plot and characters. There were moments where I wanted more from it to truly sink into the world, but overall, it did its job in setting the tone. It provided enough of a foundation for the story’s events, though I felt like it could have been pushed further to truly bring the world to life.

Illustrations: ★★★★☆
The illustrations were truly wonderful, really elevating the horror/fantasy vibes of the book. They added an extra layer of atmosphere, making certain moments even more striking. The art style fit well with the tone of the story and helped bring the characters and supernatural elements to life in a way that words alone wouldn’t have fully captured.

Engagement: ★★★★☆
I found myself drawn into the story fairly quickly, and the mix of tension and emotional depth kept me reading. There were a few moments where the pacing slowed a little too much, but for the most part, the book held my attention well. The combination of supernatural intrigue and character-driven storytelling made it easy to stay invested.

Readability: ★★★★☆
The writing style was smooth and easy to follow, with strong pacing and dialogue that felt natural. There were a few areas where I would have liked more, especially in terms of the illustrations of the setting, but overall, it was a well-written and accessible read. The balance between action, introspection, and dialogue kept things moving at a good pace.

Enjoyment: ★★★★☆
I really enjoyed this book! The mix of dark fantasy, horror, and romance made for a compelling read, and the illustrations were fabulous. While there were areas I would have liked to see expanded upon, the overall experience was satisfying. Fans of supernatural intrigue with a touch of romance will likely find this an enjoyable and engaging read.

‘Soul Taker’ is a well-crafted supernatural story with a strong protagonist, a solid plot, and a great mix of tension and emotion. While the setting could have been more immersive, the illustrations and character depth made up for it. Definitely a worthwhile read for those who enjoy dark fantasy with a touch of romance and eerie vibes.

This comic attempts to answer the question of what would life be like for an immortal? Is immortality a life worth striving to achieve? Amarantha has been hunted down over the centuries by a cult trying to find the secret of her immortality. She thought she had fought off the last of them years ago, but her relative peaceful life is turned upside down by the cult once more.

Over the centuries Amarantha has experienced loss after loss and she is willing to give anything to protect herself from experiencing that level of pain again.

This was an action-packed and interesting comic that held my attention from beginning to end. Amarantha is an interesting and badass character who has experienced multiple lifetimes worth of hardships.

Soul Taker contains beautiful art and a story that switches between the past and present to tell the story of an immortal. I enjoyed my time with it from beginning to end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mad Cave Studios, and Jeannine Acheson for an Advanced Reader's Copy of this title!

It's never a dull day in the retirement community for Amarantha ("Amara"), a centuries-old lost species who siphons life energy from humans between sleeping with one eye open and flirting with her neighbor. Though she's content to plan surprise parties and visit with the other old folk, enemies new and old have a bone to pick with her (her bones, mostly), and Amara must keep her wits and claws sharp if she wants to stay one step ahead of those who would seek to destroy her while also staying under the radar and keeping her sanity (never mind the ghost who pops up to speak with her at inopportune times).

This was an interesting take on a skinwalker-type ghoulie, and I will be keeping my eye out for the next installment in this series for sure. Amara's lore as a parallel species to humans; the element of church persecution, secret societies, and ancient Knights Templar-like societies with really loose morals; the interplay of immortality among all parties, not just Amara; and the idea of a centuries-old being blending in seamlessly with an ever-changing society while also being on the run for hundreds of years of her life were all cool elements to this story. I also like that Amara is a really interesting blend of morally grey monster and also a bit of your average person - she doesn't go out of her way to cause trouble and avoids killing when she can, but she's a survivor so she's not afraid of carnage when it's called for. Couple that with having an elderly (this isn't your mom's 3,000-year-old-diety-in-the-body-of-a-10-year-old story, Amara lives in a retirement community and looks like she belongs there) and queer protagonist and you've got the makings of a series that will one day be a cool movie if picked up by the right producer.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an aRC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

This was a very interesting graphic novel! I love the idea of and older gay women fighting back against the church. I also love the idea of zombie priest warriors. The art for this story was alright, I think I liked some of the cover art more than the actual art for the story but I still enjoyed it regardless. I'm interested in reading more!

A story about an immortal psychic vampire who is hunted by the Venatori, an ancient Catholic sect of warriors. I've seen a variation of this story a lot of times before. It's fine. I hate how it ended in the middle of the story though. With these new titles from smaller publishers you need to have a series of well-defined arcs in case of cancellation so you have a complete story. This ending was pretty frustrating.

4⭐
Amarantha - the last of an ancient, immortal species that thrives on the feeding of the life energies of humanity - thought she had killed the last of her enemies and has been living her best, peaceful life in a retirement home. That was until they started hunting her again!

ATE THIS UP! The art was absolutely vibrant, and loved how the colours corresponded to the time periods. It kept my eyes completely entranced - love!

Need the next one ASAP!

Thank you NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Soul Taker by Jeannine Acheson and Thomas E. Sniegoski.

This fast-paced graphic novel follows an ancient soul-feeder who’s been living in hiding for centuries named Amarantha. This character now lives in a retirement community, trying to set down roots in this phase of her life. Meanwhile, some very old enemies are lurking in the darkness to kill the final "monster" of her kind.

My favourite part of this story is that the main character is NOT an 18/19 year-old styled character, and that the underlying love story brings representation to aging adults. I enjoyed the art style - especially the artwork found at the end, past the cliff hanger ending.

Rating: 3 1/2⭐️, rounded up to 4

This comic is about a woman named Amara who has supernatural abilities to drain people's lifeforce to keep her alive and sustain her own life—able to live for thousands of years—like an energy vampire. Her species is called the Nehmer.

Thousands of years prior, when dead bodies were found drained of their life force, the church sent forth specially trained knights that fought the supernatural, called the Venatori, to hunt and exterminate the Nehmer believing it to have been them killing innocent humans. Now Amara is the last of her kind and on the run.

There is a lot of fighting, bloodshed, and action that happens really quickly at the beginning of the story. With this story only being 162 pages, there was a lot of backstory and information that gets thrown at you so you understand Amara's past and what's happening in the present. Most of the beginning is spent in flashbacks so you learn Amara's history. It was told in such a way that didn't feel rushed, however, and it was an overall okay story if you're into action and fighting.

This book had a good story and a good art style. I would read the next instalment in the series to find out what happens!

First of all I'd like to thank NetGalley for this ARC.

Overall I enjoyed the narrative, is really fast paced and I enjoyed the characters and how they were built.
However, I believe the story can get a bit confusing and hard to understand. Nonetheless, this was very enjoyable, the concept was well created and new. I enjoyed the criticism present and I do believe the second one will bring more clarifications to the plot.
I think a bit more context would've been useful to better understand the story line and understand the characters dynamics, It felt a bit confusing the changes between Amarantha and the characters in Italy. However, almost near the end point this gets clearer.

Final rate: 3,5 stars

Mad Cave Studios provided an early galley for review.

The cover by Michael Sta. Maria first drew me to this release. The internal art works well enough to keep the story moving along (plus its style works for the really intense graphic moments). The elements of supernatural and espionage created an interesting mix that was hard to resist. The story itself, collecting the first six issues of the series, also delivers with some rather unique elements that make for a fresh spin some themes. I found the worldbuilding interesting and exciting.

Even though many questions are answered, there are still more to be explored in the next volume.

Soul Taker reminded me of nostalgic comic books and old cartoons.
I enjoyed the art and the plot. I really like Amara and that this comic is centered around an older queer woman in a retirement home. The art is so reminiscent of other comics like Marvel and DC.
I disliked the long expositions on each page. I would much rather have had the story be a bit longer with dialogue than constant expositions breaking up good dialogue. As a result, I'm not likely to read the second in the series.

Soul Taker es una novela gráfica que nos cuenta la historia de Amarantha, quien es la última de su raza, una especie antigua que ha vivido entre humanos durante milenios, alimentándose de su energía vital. Ahora disfrutando de una existencia pacífica en una comunidad de jubilados, consumiendo solo lo suficiente para sobrevivir. Pero Amarantha se ha ganado enemigos a lo largo de su larga vida y uno de ellos que creía haber derrotado hace mucho ha regresado para cazarla, mientras que una nueva amenaza busca capturarla para sus propios fines.

Me gustaron varios aspectos del cómic que se sintieron refrescantes, como el hecho de que Amarantha es una protagonista que se ve y se siente de su edad. La historia fluye entre el pasado y el presente logrando mantener el interés, aunque a veces se sentía que avanzaba demasiado rápido. Definitivamente me interesa continuar leyendo la historia en volúmenes subsiguientes para descubrir cómo se desarrolla.

Soul Taker by Jeannine Acheson and Thomas E. Sniegoski is a fast-paced graphic novel that follows Amarantha, an ancient soul-feeder who’s been living in hiding for centuries. Now settled in a retirement community, she’s trying to keep a low profile, only taking the energy she needs to survive. But when a secretive religious order and a powerful pharmaceutical company set their sights on her, she’s forced back into a dangerous game of survival. The premise immediately grabbed my attention—I loved the idea of an older female protagonist in a supernatural thriller—but while the book had some great moments, it didn’t fully deliver on its potential.

There’s a lot to like here. Amarantha is an intriguing lead, and I enjoyed seeing a protagonist who looks and feels her age, rather than some immortal who conveniently still acts like a 20-year-old. The action is relentless, which keeps the story moving, and the mix of ancient enemies and modern corporations makes for an interesting dynamic. But at times, it felt like too much was happening at once. With multiple antagonists vying for Amarantha’s life, the plot started to feel overcrowded, and I wished for more time spent fleshing out the world and characters. The pacing is so quick that there’s little room for emotional depth, which made it hard for me to fully connect with the stakes.

Visually, the art style leans heavily into classic American comics, which is fine but not particularly groundbreaking. It gets the job done, but I didn’t find myself wowed by it. The writing also follows a traditional comic-book style, relying a lot on captions to tell rather than show. While that might appeal to fans of old-school storytelling, I prefer a more immersive approach.

Overall, Soul Taker had a solid premise and kept me entertained, but it didn’t quite hook me enough to be a favorite. I give it 3 out of 5 stars—worth a read if you like action-packed supernatural stories with a noir feel, but not a must-read for me. I might check out a sequel if it dives deeper into character development, but for now, I’m on the fence.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for granting me this ARC and reminding me that immortality might be cool - until you get stabbed in the heart by religious fanatics.

Soul Taker introduces readers to Amarantha, an immortal whose species has been living for millennia, navigating a dangerous existence as ancient enemies and new threats converge upon her. This fast-paced narrative, driven by relentless action and intriguing antagonists - particularly a fascinating religious order and its soldiers - sets the stage for what could be a promising series.

However, as someone who recently read Keanu Reeves' BRZRKR, the similarities between the two are hard to overlook. Like BRZRKR, Soul Taker touches on the protagonist’s long life yet falters in immersing readers in the various time periods she’s lived through. While there were attempts, they didn’t fully capture the potential richness of those eras. I’m hoping for future installments to explore this aspect more deeply, perhaps akin to BRZRKR’s spinoff series that finally got it right.

Visually, I must admit that the artwork didn’t entirely win me over. It felt reminiscent of a digital version of old-school US comics, a style I personally don’t connect with. That old-school vibe extended to the writing as well, which leaned heavily on captions that tell rather than show, dramatic dialogues, and other hallmarks of classic Marvel Essentials-type storytelling - modernized yet undeniably nostalgic.

Despite these shortcomings, the core concept was engaging, and the thrill of the hunt as antagonists close in kept me hooked. A slightly slower pacing could have benefited the story, allowing the world and characters to breathe more. Still, the story offers enough intrigue to warrant anticipation for future issues.

If you're a fan of action-packed, immortal-led narratives and enjoy a blend of old-school storytelling with a modern twist, Soul Taker might just capture your interest.

This story was incredibly fast-paced, and honestly had such interesting plot concepts! The last surviving member of an ancient species, an ancient Catholic order of crusaders, and an evil pharmacological company. The story has such interesting story concepts, and multiple characterizations I enjoyed. But...something about this story just fell flat for me. There were many individual concepts that were really cool to me, but when brought together, lessened their coolness. I think there was just too much going on at once? Having both the pharmacological company AND the Catholic crusaders trying to hunt her down at the same time made the story a bit hectic. This story also focused much harder on the Crusaders than the pharma company, so the evil company felt a bit like an afterthought. I feel like this story does have room to expand on itself, and maybe with another volume or two the plot will even out. The art was interesting, very American classic. I did really enjoy the fact the main character is an older woman and looks like one! You don't really get to see older women in stories do all kinds of cool adventure stuff like this story has.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

"Soul Taker is a fast paced graphic novel, mysterious and gory, perfect for fans of "Castlevania". One thing I can say for sure is expect the unexpected. I liked the queer elements of the story quite a lot, and I think having a main character that is old as time itself look old was a great choice I havent had a chance of seeing before. Especially when the main character is a woman. Depiction of different time periods and recurring characters that all want something from our lead woman, Amara (cool name btw), was interesting. Amaras survivor guilt manifesting in a form of her dead lovers ghost (hallucination?) makes me wonder if there will be more to that particular story. Her brief romance with her neighbor was cute, I hope it doesnt end here.

It has some kick-ass lines like "Your God is more a monster than I!", and the SPOILER ALERT! the Venatori order doing all that fucked up shit, seeing nothing wrong in "becoming a monster to do Gods bidding", genetically engineering Hounds, thinking "an act of Penance" will make them remain "pure" despite all of their crimes, THE FIRST VENATORI SUFFERING A FATE OF THEIR OWN MAKING AS LIVING DEAD, and last but not least, preserving their soldiers so they can be reawakened to fight their battle again, AGAINST A SINGLE WOMAN. All of that makes for a compelling and cool story.

Theres a carnage at a bday party scene, which was such a vibe. The art is incredible, gory details well appreciated. My only complaint is that the writing feels a little dense and awkward at times.

Thanm you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC!

I’m not sure why this one did not line up for me. It had the makings of a great graphic novel. A woman that has survived for centuries due to her race. An ancient crusade led by the Catholic faith hunting after her for hundreds of years. There was even a robotic cat entwined into the story. However, it fell flat, and I found myself wishing that I cared more for the characters within the story but did not. Hopefully it hits differently for you.

#ThxNetGalley

I’m going to be honest and say that I didn’t really care for the artwork. I did, however, appreciate a character who is older — she’s living in a retirement home at the beginning of the story. The religious order is properly vile, and the hatred they have for Amara (beyond the bigotry and racism) is understandable. I, too, would be pissed off at whoever cursed me to live such a life … after I slaughtered their family, friends, and people leaving them the last of their kind.

There’s quite a bit of gore, violence and body horror, as well as medical augmentation, so if these things bother you, this isn’t the book for you. All in all, it’s an easy read and ends on a suitable cliffhanger; I think, if you enjoy the book, you’ll be motivated to get the next book in the series.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in March. This was a very good queer and brutal comic. I enjoyed it a lot, with one exception. I regularly find myself struggling with the disability narrative in comics and this comic was no exception, luckily it wasn't too prevalent in this case.

Soul Taker is a beautifully illustrated comic about Amara, a woman who has lived for several lifetimes, being able to do so through feeding on life energy. She is just trying to live a normal life, but is being targeted by multiple large threats from her past that come back to haunt her. Amara has to fight to survive and thrive in a world that is out to get her.

I really enjoyed the art style, and especially the cover pages are gorgeously illustrated. The story is easy to follow, with an interesting cast of characters. I am rating it at three stars because the plot wasn't anything mind-blowing, but it was still a worthwhile read.

I'd recommend this comic book to anyone interested in superheroes and action stories and I can't wait to see where this story is heading in future volumes!

Thank you to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.