Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Soul Eater

This book is like the perfect mix of Things Clare Likes: dystopian hellscape, road-trip, absolutely swoony love story, scorching hot spice, quirky idiots doing Real Stuff™️, HIGH STAKES outside the relationship, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, hurt/comfort, realistic and emotionally charged conflict…ugh so good.

Dystopian monster romance? Yes this genre exists. I know, I was surprised too. The thing I enjoyed the most about Wyn and Danny’s story was that even though it was outrageous and totally fantastical, the situation they were in together allowed their relationship to develop slowly and realistically. I mean, there’s “forced proximity” and then there’s “a mass-murdering monster* saved me from the military and now we are on the run together through a deserted United States crawling with raiders, monsters and other dangers.” Like I said: STAKES ARE HIGH.

*there’s more than meets the eye here, but I’ll let you read it to find out.

👍🏻RECOMMENDED. Check the CW - this is a romance but there are a lot of horror elements in it that were familiar to me as a plague novel/dystopian horror enthusiast that might be hard to take if you’re not expecting them.

Content Warnings

r1vana's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

When I saw him, I recognised him straight away. Even if his face wasn't yet familiar to me.

He was mine.

He was everything.

A Monster X Human romance with apocalyptic subplot that I really enjoyed.

The story is set when monsters were unleashed in the human world and are causing chaos. Due to monsters invading many cities, villages, et cetera, human life has decreased dramatically and are only present in restricted crowded places.

In this story, Danny Sullivan is an “orphan” aged 23 that is part of the military. He has no where else to go and the only way he could ever survive in this hell-hole of a world is being in the military. But what he never expected is to be forced to kill monsters that are killing many humans. His first assignment is Wyn.

Wyn is also known as the Soul Eater. For the past few years, he has been going through many areas/territories and ruthlessly killing humans.

One day, Danny will become the sole survivor of a killing rampage by Wyn(killing his fellow soldiers-mates-that he is not close with).

The higher ups are curious on why Danny survived and will make him investigate Wyn and why he is killing people… et cetera…but something will happen that will make Danny want and need to be by Wyn’s side:

I was choosing a monster over the military. A monster who routinely murdered hundreds of humans and was generally terrifying and had a voice that sounded like a million screaming souls.

The attraction between them was there but barely noticeable: one had a cap that hides his face and the other was terrified of the monster… we get to see Wyn’s true reason for killin humans:

You spend your time ensuring humanity isn't destroyed by fucking.… monster parasites and you don't care that they all hate you?" // Wyn's head slowly turned back to face me. "They? Not you, then?" // I felt a flush creep up my neck, opening and closing my mouth wordlessly. "I mean n-no," I finally said. "I don't hate you. I don't hate anyone. But I especially couldn't hate you now.”

Their relationship will bloom real fast(depending on the reader) and I enjoy it a lot.

In a way, I relate to Danny a lot. His way of thinking, his solitude, his overthinking thoughts , his fear of loneliness… He is a ray of sunshine.

Whereas, Wyn was a total mystery through over half of the story, since the only from Danny’s pov. I love love love how protective Wyn is for Danny. He is so soft:

"I want you all the time, Danny Sullihan.

His nose nudged mine. "My sweet human," he murmured.

He is exactly the character that fits with “I hate everyone but you”. Or even “I would die for you. I would kill for you.” even though he is immortal…

Another thing I like is Edin. He is Wyn’s “brother”/friend? Maybe? Because thankfully because of him, I was able to see how much of a softy Wyn is for Danny.

And I love Danny’s and Edin interaction.

This story does have angst and severe descriptive torture scenes that may not be suitable for some. So beware.

TW: sexual content; confinement; homophobia; slurs uses; torture; violence; death of a parent; grief; panic attacks; use of knife for torture; terror nightmares

Content Warnings

sammirosewater's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

Content Warnings

moonlina's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

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