Do you remember how horrified you were about the idea of attending high school? I remember ticking off those last miserable days of my summer vacation following my eighth grade year. Maybe you don’t, maybe you were one of 'those people.' You know who I’m talking about, people like Melissa Small, the distinguished District Attorney, Larry Small’s daughter, popular, gorgeous... and absolutely terrifying to someone like me, Liv Glyn. No, I am far from measuring up to the standards required to make Melissa’s crowd. I’m not even close. I’m just a simple man’s daughter, mostly tolerated by my peers with average looks. If this isn’t depressing enough for you, stay tuned, it gets worse. I was commanded with Spirit at birth by the Great Spirit, Hala. I know, it sounds crazy but it’s true. If you think it's difficult being a teenager, try being a teenager who was born destined to save the world from soul sucking Daevas and their mutant progeny Aengels. There are four of us. My companions of Spirit are Laith, Brayan and Meena. Melissa Small is Laith’s step sister and she is always meddling where she doesn’t belong, further complicating our lives. To make matters even worse, my best friend Jedd is apparently aware of things that are typically undetectable to ordinary humans. So, I have to lie to Jedd, the boy who has been my constant standby since the third grade, to shield him from the horrible and very dangerous truth. Did I mention that I think I’m falling in love with him? The term awkward doesn’t even begin to cover it, trust me. Welcome to the mess that is my life. ~ From GoodReads
This is going to be short and to the point. Soulquest just wasn't the book for me. I think I get what the author was going for with the story. But sometimes, a story just doesn't sit well or resonate with a reader and that is the case here.
For me, there was just too much going on. The story jumped back and forth between 2001 and 2014 (there may have been a few other years in there, as well). And it was indicated at the opening of each chapter, but I had a hard time keeping my bearings. To be perfectly honest, I'm still not sure what happened in Soulquest.
The amount of characters was a bit overwhelming, too. As far as the "otherworldly beings", there were Oracles, Guardians, Nature Spirits, Elders, Aengels, Daeva. That's not to mention the actual characters: Liv, Melissa, Laith, Brayan, Meena, Hala, Paul.... I felt as if I needed to compile a list to keep up with who/what everyone was, not to mention what was going on.
I will say that the main character, Liv, has a cute teen voice and there were some parts to her story that I did like. The rest, though, simply overwhelmed me.
Again, I'm not saying that Soulquest isn't enjoyable for some, or many, readers. It has a 4-star rating average on GoodReads, so obviously many readers do like it. I have included a link to a positive review and a sample below.
For an alternate point of view, here is a very positive review of Soulquest.
You can purchase SOULQUEST at:
Barnes & Noble | Amazon
You can read a sample at Amazon.
Source: Received from author for review.
Kindle ebook and print
Published February 19th 2011
I haven't heard of this before but too bad it wasn't that great. I'm not sure t would be for me either with too many characters I keep forgetting who's who.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have heard of it. It's too bad that it wasn't very enjoyable for you. It sounds like there's a lot going on and tons of different people to keep track of. I don't know if it would be a book for me either.
ReplyDeleteFunny how the same novel can hit people totally differently. I had a reviewer say similar things about my book, whilst others had no problem keeping track with the world's "vocabulary" and number of characters. *Shrugs* Sounds like you summed this one up perfectly. It wasn't the book for you. :-)
ReplyDeleteI definitely have problems with following a story if there's too many characters, or if a character is introduced suddenly from left field. But I'd still give the book a shot, it sounds like it could be interesting!
ReplyDeleteSome books just have too many characters for their own good. As much as we love characters, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I hate being confused while reading. Very nice review, and kind, considering.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say this, but the cover alone would probably keep me from reading this one. Sometimes, you really can judge a book by its cover, ya know? Also, I don't like it when I can't keep track of the characters, but even worse is when there are too many POV's. Thanks for the honest review!
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