Soulswift

By: Megan Bannen

Narrated by: Hayden Bishop

A dark epic fantasy about a girl who must rethink everything she believes after she is betrayed and hunted by the religion that raised her - from Megan Bannen, author of The Bird and the Blade. Perfect for fans of The Winner’s Curse and The Girl of Fire and Thorns.

Gelya is a Vessel, a girl who channels the word of the One True God through song. Cloistered with the other Vessels of her faith, she believes - as all Ovinists do - that a saint imprisoned Elath the Great Demon centuries ago, saving humanity from earthly temptation. When Gelya stumbles into a deadly cover-up by the Ovinists’ military, she reluctantly teams up with Tavik, an enemy soldier, to survive. Tavik believes that Elath is actually a mother goddess who must be set free, but while he succeeds in opening her prison, he inadvertently turns Gelya into Elath’s unwilling human vessel.

Now the church that raised Gelya considers her a threat. In a race against the clock, she and Tavik must find a way to exorcise Elath’s presence from her body. But will this release stop the countdown to the end of the world, or will it be the cause of the earth’s destruction?

And as Tavik and Gelya grow closer, another question lingers between them: What will become of Gelya?

©2020 Megan Bannen (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Depressing

What a depressing book. The audio was fine although it might have been nice to have more than one voice. A large part of the story is 2 people fleeing from "the bad guys." The good parts of the book show how people demonize other people's beliefs when the don't match their own. There's some cute banter between the male and female protagonists.

Good but sad ending

Gelya is a devout servant of the Father, but her faith is challenged when a Kantari prisoner is brought before the council and she is tasked with translating his answers. When he reveals that the demon, Elath, is not in the vault they all believed caged her, a bloodbath ensues, devout men of the Father killing everyone present to keep Elath’s location a secret. Gelya, however, manages to escape the massacre with the Kantari, Tavik, and becomes the unwilling vessel of Elath. Now, her only hope for survival is the heretical Tavik, who believes that Elath is a goddess, not a demon, and the source of life for the world. They argue their beliefs throughout their journey, Tavik wanting to release Elath, Gelya terrified that her release will bring the end of the world. But neither of their beliefs encompass the whole truth, and no one can hold the soul of a goddess or demon for long.

Deconstruction fantasies are a hit or miss for me, since some of the points they bring up can be quite triggering. However, I really liked this one. Tavik and Gelya are a sweet couple, despite how they disagree, and they both manage to befriend and love each other. I also really liked how they discover the flaws in each of their religions, and they adjust to them, and their faith grows stronger even as it changes. The underground Ovinist religion calling their secret network “the milk road” was a little awkward, but Tavik was so comfortable about common anatomy, the fact that it felt awkward to me was a little embarrassing. The ending was sad. I kept waiting for it to not be sad, for the sadness to fix itself, but it didn’t. I still can’t quite believe that it didn’t correct itself at the very end, but I’m impressed that it stuck the landing. It wasn’t a happy ending, but it was good.

Great story

Soulswift got my attention as soon as it started and keep wanting more. I loved it so much. The characters are very relatable and I love how the main characters interacted. The performance was perfect by the narrator.

Reminded Me of Blood and Ash

The overall religion theme reminded me of the Blood and Ash series. Truths and lies unfolding with a boy and a girl from opposite sides falling in love. There plot twists were decent but easy to see coming.