Welcome, welcome to the SOULLESS blog tour, book 2 in the Maiden of Time series by Crystal Collier!
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| CAN WE ALL START GUSHING ABOUT THIS NOVEL NOW |
Publisher: Raybourne Publishing
Released: October 13th 2014
Format: eARC
Source: Review copy from author
The Soulless are coming...
Alexia manipulated time to save the man of her dreams, and lost her best friend to red-eyed wraiths. Still grieving, she struggles to reconcile her loss with what was gained: her impending marriage. But when her wedding is destroyed by the Soulless - who then steal the only protection her people have - she’s forced to unleash her true power.
And risk losing everything.
What a sequel. WHAT. A. SEQUEL.
If I had to make a list of books I would kill for to own a physical copy of, Soulless would be one of them. This is a novel you have to judge its cover by!
Soulless packs a punch with plenty of action, romance, time-travel and absolutely amazing characters. Chapter one kicked off with some major action and I am so relieved it didn't turn out to be one of those slow-paced beginnings in other novels. We quickly learn that other Passionate factions exist and are struggling for power amongst themselves. The conflict is established clearly from the start: Amidst the battle for world domination between the Passionate factions, Soulless and human collectors, Alexia and Kiren have to unite the Passionate no matter what and find a way to save those they love before it is too late.
Alexia Dumont is no longer the innocent girl who longs for Kiren, nor is she still oppressed by English society. With the Soulless gatecrashing her wedding, Sarah's fate unknown and a war brewing, we see a different side of the Maiden of Time emerge. Despite Kiren's worries causing him to hold back information from Alexia, she refuses to give in to the confusion and stoically ploughs through crisis after crisis. I was rooting for her all the way. The Kiren in Soulless is pretty different from the one in the first book, Moonless. He came across as flawless to me in Moonless and I have to admit that it was refreshing to see a more vulnerable side of him because it made him feel more real and relatable. So yes… Kiren is as mesmerising as ever, but we see him trying to deal with his insecurities—especially those involving Alexia.
I think that the absolute highlights of this series are the romance and time-travel. Every time Alexia and Kiren are together, it makes for some serious swooning and squealing. The amount of kissing is no less than in Moonless! But that's not to say their relationship is smooth-sailing, either. Collier introduces conflicts in Alexia and Kiren's relationship early in the book and gives them time to grow as a couple. The plot played an immense part in fleshing out their relationship due to the ever-changing events and action. As for time-travelling, I was pleased that Alexia wasn't over-reliant on Dana for advice and instead sought to improve her powers gradually. It was incredibly fascinating to know the extent and limitations of her powers, and even more so when Alexia began using them to her advantage. She actually kicked some butt on occasion and it was way beyond cool! Dana's experiences with manipulating time felt so bittersweet and successfully illustrated the heightened stakes Alexia had to deal with. The consequences of time-travel proved to be harrowing and I never saw any of those coming. It was thrilling yet horrifying all at the same time!
And holy carp, the other characters are AMAZING. Bellezza's jarring backstory gives a glimpse into her complex, wild personality, yet doesn't make her any less predictable. Ethel and Sybil filled me with awe and worry; they wormed their way into my heart despite sharing only a chapter together. And Miles. Poor, sweet, strong Miles! My heart aches so much for that boy. Sarah and John planted so much doubt and tension between the pages that I screamed internally at Alexia countless times to be careful around them. Mae was just… wow. I cannot begin to describe the devastation of her power. Also, we haven't seen the last of Alexia's father, Charles, either. And then there's Nelly, Lester and Edward. These are all characters I have grown to love. The new characters are really cool as well and it was a real treat to see more of the unique, wacky abilities possessed by the other Passionate. Secrets revealed, revelations and epiphanies between characters left me staring into space for more than a few seconds before I could continue reading. Numerous surprises kept me on edge and the mind-blowing ending totally unsettled me!
I truly wasn't expecting Soulless to be this awesome. It completely gripped me and I enjoyed it so much more than Moonless. I feel incredibly privileged to be able to review this novel. For those who've read Moonless but are hesitant to continue the series, I SAY PICK UP SOULLESS AND YOU WON'T REGRET IT. I am extremely anxious for Alexia and Kiren in the next book, Timeless, and I hope to read more about the other Passionate factions and see the war come to a satisfying conclusion!
BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY
Psst! MOONLESS will be FREE on October 13, 20, 27, 31 and Nov 7! That's on every Monday of October, plus Halloween and the last day of the tour. Grab a copy now and start reading this awesome series!
MOONLESS: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | iTunes
SOULLESS: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | LibraryThing
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Crystal Collier is a young adult author who pens dark fantasy, historical, and romance hybrids. She can be found practicing her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, three littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.
Crystal Collier is a young adult author who pens dark fantasy, historical, and romance hybrids. She can be found practicing her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, three littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.Good luck, and thanks for swimmin' by!
Okay, rave about my book, why don't you. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou made me want to read Soulless even more, Sherlyn, and I didn't think that was possible! :D
ReplyDeleteCrystal, you sure have created something great. You get all the cheese you want! ;)
BTW...your blog is beautiful, Sherlyn.
Aw. Thanks so much, Chrys.
DeleteThat's great to know, Chrys! I hope you enjoy Soulless as much as I did when you get around to reading it (: And thank you very much for the compliment :D ♥︎
DeleteWhat an awesome review! Makes me want to read it even more. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christine! That means a lot :D
DeleteFantastic review! I am with you that I found the flawed Kiren a nice change from book one. I am ready for him to buck-up again and quit lamenting that his wife is more powerful.
ReplyDeleteThank you! And I completely agree with you on that—but yay for girl power XD
DeleteGreat review. I keep hearing about these kiss scenes...
ReplyDelete