This story took a little while to fully draw me in. At first, I was hooked, but then I started to lose interest at times, only to get pulled back in later. I was expecting more of a Vampire Diaries vibe, as mentioned in the premise, but it didn’t quite hit that mark for me. What I did appreciate, though, was the morally grey MMC and Charlie’s strong friendships and the sibling bond with her brother.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advanced audio copy.

1 Star ⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced audio copy of Soul of Shadows in exchange for an honest review.

Narrator: Emily Pike Stewart
🎧 Narration 4/5 ✨ stars

Soul of Shadows is labeled YA and marketed to teens, while I know most could care less- I do not think this book is appropriate for teens. Unfortunately had to DNF this at 13%. I give a ton of grace for adult books - but when it comes to children/teens I don’t. The content warning bells started going off immediately. The book started off at a party, lots of talk of drugs, alcohol, smoking and under aged drinking. Multiple uses of “Jesus” and other explicit language. The mother gives her teen daughter a “sex book” full of smut and tells her - “it’s really good, I think you’ll like it.” There is death of a boy in school and death of FMC sisters twin. That’s in the first seven chapters and I have no desire to finish it. The narration is ok , the girls voice is a bit annoying in my opinion. Unfortunately, I feel like this book (so far) is trying so hard to tick all the boxes and be “cool” rather than tell me a story. I don’t like giving out bad reviews, but this was just way too juvenile and trying too hard to be “relevant”. Do not recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook arc. The story follows a girl navigating high school but starts being followed by a demon who she ends up teaming up with and she get pulled into help the demon after he threatens her. If you love Norse mythology then this is for you. While it’s wonderfully written this book wasn’t for me. I still enjoyed the audiobook and the narrators did a great job.

Thank you to NetGalley, Emma Noyles, and St. Martin's Press for allowing access to the e-arc audiobook!

I want to start by I devoured this in one sitting. The book gave me a cozy nostalgic 90s feel, from Twilight, Vampire Diaries, and The Mortal Instruments. I loved exploration of friendship and grief in this books, and was extremely well done. It felt important to see Charlie try to live without her twin sister.

The juicy stuff, the enemies-to-lovers romance was a TOTAL vibe. I automatically fell in love with the FMC, Charlie, and do not even get me started about the MMC Elias, he is the definition of a complex and ambiguity character.

The Norse mythology embedded in a romantasy was unique, The uniqueness (to me) of the Norse Mythology was so compelling & described the Nordic creatures so beautifully well!

SOUL OF SHADOW is out on 7/29. Add it to your Goodreads, and I can n