A review by mrtvavrana
Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen

adventurous inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

2.0

 

After reading Skin of the Sea and my initial disappointment, my hope for Soul of the Deep was not that high. But, I am afraid, it did not make a difference. 

 

While the worldbuilding remained impressive and immersive, it was at the expense of characters and the story itself. I am almost certain this duology would have been much better if it was twice as long and the characters had more space for growth. I think it would help the story too—spacing out the events and not rushing from one big thing to another. 

 

Again, the story was dragging until like halfway through the book, and then we had a train of very significant events happening in a very short span of time. The plot was predictable, and I cannot say that a single thing has surprised me. The plot twists were quite clever and fit with the story; unfortunately, the foreshadowing was obvious and the big reveals lacked surprise. 

 

Another thing I did not like were the characters Ara and Folasade.

Ara´s whole story felt only like a filler; she did not seem important to the plot up until she suddenly was. And (unsurprisingly), she was a villain. On the other hand, Folasade was introduced as a character that will be SO important, but unfortunately, her only job was to die to further move Adekola´s really weird storyline. Even the death was poorly executed.

I did not really understand why introduce more characters when the ones that were already a part of the story were still very flat and underdeveloped. 

 

If you hope to see more of Kola and Simi´s blossoming romance, you will be gravely disappointed. Simi had a much better romantic dynamic with

. Esu (yes, that one),

and her relationship with Kola only progress in the last few chapters.

And that is solely because he magically became Orisa! Nothing is properly explained, but he is not fully human anymore, so they can finally be together, right? Right??

 

 

The book ends on a cliffhanger, with Simi leaving (again), this time because she simply has to go on this big journey all by herself. Once again, we are left with a very open ending, hinting towards another adventure. 

 

I can't deny that Soul of the Deep, similarly to Skin of the Sea, was a very entertaining and quick read. I liked so many aspects of the stories, but unfortunately my expectations were too high, and I ended up very disappointed.