A Soul to Take

by Emily Taylor

[chymerra]

I have been on the fence about New Adult books. I have read some that could have been classed as a true Young Adult and then others that made me wonder why it was classed as New Adult. Not that I didn’t like reading those books, I did, but I thought that they were miscategorized. Luckily, A Soul To Take definitely fits into this category.

I really liked Elixia. She just didn’t stop….even when she was told too. She was determined to find Shellie (Sarafina) after Shellie was abducted from their shared apartment by demons. During that same abduction, Elixia was basically killed but brought back and Marked by an unknown demon. Her being Marked had unexpected ramifications. She was put on leave at her job and had to cover the Mark up. She was also reckless and took unnecessary risks. But that is what made the book, in my eyes. She also had a bad temper and was basically persona non grata at any of the events that the noble’s had.

The whole demon aspect fascinated me. To me, the demons acted like vampires. They needed blood to survive, like vamps, but unlike vampires, they could go out in the sun. Actually, according to the book, they loved the sun and had a whole nation in the sunny part of the world (where Elixia lived was kinda like Seattle….always raining and gloomy). They had saved humankind during a war and all they asked was to be fully integrated into human society. Not that they weren’t bad, I mean they are demons after all, but some weren’t as bad as others….if that made sense. The evil demons, called The Network, ran human trafficking rings where children and adults were sold to the highest bidder. All for their blood. These same demons were the same ones who kidnapped Shellie and when Elixia found out, I could totally understand why she was frantic to get her back. See, those adults and children were only used for their blood. They were drained, or Kissed, and discarded. So totally understand Elixia’s fear.

Sebastian/Damien was such a tease during the book and I loved it. I loved how the author kinda strung you along with him. I mean, you know nothing about him except he was a very powerful demon and he worked for Elixia’s Maker. It took until about 40% into the book or so for the author to drop a couple of big bombshells about him (read the book if you want to find out what). I also couldn’t figure out if he had feelings for Elixia or not. I thought I had it figured out when he fed on her but he wiped her memory and the next chapter picked up after she blacked out. Drove me absolutely bonkers but again, I loved it.

The sub-storylines in the book (all of them) were all wrapped up by the end of the book except the one with Angelica and the humanoids. That should make things interesting in the second book because of what the humanoids contain (again read the book if you want to find out what). Angelica was also very interesting and kinda creepy. I am going to go out on a limb and say she will be in book 2, along with the humanoids.

The last part of the book, notice I didn’t say ending, had a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming. A couple of them are huge and I am wondering about those (don’t want to spoil the book!!) and how they will play out in the trilogy.

How many stars will I give A Soul To Take: 4

Why: This was a great, action packed book with an awesome take on demons. While some people might think that it’s too long, its 418 pages, I thought that it was the perfect length. The characters are intriguing (notice I didn’t say likable because some of them weren’t) and the storylines were compelling. Definitely looking forward to reading the next two books!!

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Older Teen

Why: Violence, some mild language, and one sexual situation

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**