Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Soul of a Witch by Harley Laroux

17 reviews

r1vana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was so excited for this series. The moment I heard of it, it immediately went into my tbr. But overall the series weren’t for me. I feel bad rating this lower, but maybe, due to the high expectations I had for the three books… they didn’t stick out to me. 
As the previous ones, the first half of the book was well paced and I actually loved Callum more the the previous mmcs. Much more then Leon. But as the plot goes, the relationship between Callum and Everly seems lacking. With Callum, I was immediately connected with his character. The way his past trauma and the full devotion he has for Evelyn, 200+ years, was well written. But again, it got to long; felt dragging. Evelyn, on the other hand, I wasn’t connect to her at all. Which is unfortunate because she was most likable FMC from the whole series but in her own book, it wasn’t giving. She suddenly got out of character. I would never shame a woman and their sexual fantasy, but whenever she tries to dominant Callum, I find myself cringe. I would have expected Juniper, but definitely not Evelyn. 

Some of my favourite passages:

"What's the harm?" he said. My eyes darted between his face and his offered hand. "If I wanted to kill you, I would do it here and now. The moment you stop fighting fate is the moment you accept death. Take command and choose your path." 

I took his hand. "This is all madness." 

“Then we'll be mad together."

-
"Drenched in blood," he said softly. Like it was a prayer. "You're too beautiful. It's a sin. A curse. It's fucking poison." He inhaled sharply, deeply, such a massive breath it seemed physically impossible. "Dangerous woman, aren't you?"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, and Death of parent

spatterson7's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

the_wistful_word_witch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

If I had my pick, I'd choose Callum - soul of a warrior poet, body of a literal fallen angel. Treating his Lady Witch like she deserves. Setting unrealistic relationship goals with abandon.  😂

I think this was my fave of the series. You can really see Laroux's growth over the span of the different books. 

I especially enjoyed the ending too cuz I'm a slut for a HEA. But don't worry! There's plenty of spice, kink, and god-killing before that! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child abuse and Suicide

writingbugtop's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

swolds's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was the best in the series for me. We follow the same timeline, but it emphasizes more on the magical elements and creatures. We get to see the hell the demons keep talking about. The male main character is so caring and protective, just when you thought it wasn’t possible. The personal growth we see is also very wholesome. This book gave me all the feels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, and Death of parent

Minor: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Later in the series we also get into a

pregnancy

.

marsh_mall0w's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Grief and War

megsssss_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

solaris_wintergale's review

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide and Death of parent

_readobituaries's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

weelasswithabook's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

3.5 🌟 

CW war, violence, torture, suicide, death of a parent, ritual sacrifice, religious/cult fanaticism, murder, gore, graphic sexual content, mutilation, edgeplay (knives, piercing), needles 

🌟 Erotic Horror romance
 🌟 Paranormal romance
 🌟 Dark romance
 🌟 Witch x Demon romance 

🌶 Bondage
 🌶 Switches
 🌶 Pegging 
 🌶 Flogging 
 🌶 Edgeplay 

I'd just like to know how the hell Harlry Laroux managed to write a trilogy following each couples same objective, with all timelines running parallel to each other, yet every story managed to stay unique and not be same-y... What sorcery is this? 

Anyway, back to Soul of a Witch. In comparison to the previous two books in the trilogy, I don't feel like I connected with Everly and Callum in the same way that I did with previous pairings. I feel like SOMETHING lacked but I cannot, for the life of me, put my finger on what it was. 

I have seen people be negative about Callums choice of pet names etc. However, I think it was a superior choice because it really harks back to just how long he's been wandering the earth as a demon. So his dialogue often has the vibe of historical romance type dialogue and I ATE. THAT. UP. 

Spicy wise, it's definitely on par with the previous two books in that it was off the charts and I was as shook as always 🤣 

The connection between Everly and Callum sometimes felt a bit strained and I have to say I felt it more on his part. We felt his yearning, his pining, his absolute adoration and dedication to Everly. I didn't get the same from Everly's POV. This may have been an intentional choice, however, as Callum has basically been looking for Everly for thousands of years whereas Callum is fairly new to her. 

I loved that we got to the point where Everly has that moment in the past where she asks him for help that we saw at the beginning when Callum sees her for the first time. It felt... I can't explain it. Like I loved seeing that interaction from both perspectives even though they were at the beginning and the end. It felt full circle. 

Anyway. If you love dark romance with a touch of horror (which I typically don't so I have no idea why I'm obsessed with this series 🤣), this trilogy is a must read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Grief and Pregnancy