A review by raeanne
Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

5.0

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.I am abso-fucking-lutely honored to have been chosen for the Kingdom of Souls tour. My fellow YA Fantasy fans, rejoice in knowing the hype is real AND DESERVED.

Today, you'll find my review, some favorite quotes, and a giveaway to enter. With no spoilers! So, let's get to it!

About the Kingdom of Souls:



IMHO: Kingdom of Souls


Content Warning: Includes bullying, children kidnapping, human sacrificing, rape by deception, toxic mothering, tales of torture, PTSD, and typical violent fighting.

  • DEVOURED IT LIKE NO-FACE AND I NEEDS MOOOOOOORE.

  • Did not feel like the almost 500 pages it is.

  • Arrah is great. Realistic teen, understandable, doing her best for what she thinks is best with her baggage.

  • The romance is super cute, bantering and awkwardness from friends to lovers. 

  • Love how meaning of  words like charlatans and gendars has transformed in this world

  • Love, LOVE the letters between chapters from the orishas. They might be my favorite part.

  • Most fantasies, hell most novels, adhere to unwritten societal conventions and Kingdom of Souls just goes, "hold my beer".

  • Villains are people too. Didn't think I'd be rooting for a *REDACTED*s death or sympathizing with a *REDACTED*.  Or that *REDACTED*

  • More

  • Compliments

  • That

  • Cannot

  • Be

  • Made

  • Without

  • Spoilers

  • Was not expecting much of anything that happened, TBH. No idea where it's going, but Imma be there!

  • Major like woah, cliffhanger ending. But it's a natural and understandable breaking point so I'm not mad at it.


The only unperfect thing about my first reading of Kingdom of Souls, was my adult brain and fatigue re: teen repeatedly lamenting angstily. This was over completely understandable things, while I would probably curl up in a ball and die unlike Arrah. SO, it's not  really fair to complain about it, but dragged they did.



Kingdom of Souls is perfect for every YA fantasy fan, especially those looking for something beyond the typical Eurocentric swords and wands. It’s like Tahir’s A Torch Against The Night series meets Nix's Old Kingdom.

favorite Quotes:


To not only see magic, to tame it, to bend it, to be magical?

 
It's a smell of home, and a smell laced with bad memories.

 
"You look like you've just seen the end of the world."

"Old news," I sigh, waving my hand, "I saw that months ago."

 
--a memory that sputters like torchlight at the first drops of rain, trying desperately to shake itself loose from some unseen chains.

 
But for there to be peace, there must be death.

 

About the Author:



Giveaway:


Prize: Win a Kingdom of Souls VIP swag bag: a copy of Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron + swag (US Only)
Starts: 4th September 2019
Ends: 18th September 2019
Embed Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:




FFBC tours logoThis review was originally posted on The Layaway Dragon