A Soul to Keep: Duskwalker Brides: Book One

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e. was very likely to die if she tried to escape and given no other choices) to live with someone she thought was a monster.

I also thought that some of the language that was used didn't fit the world that the author was creating. Just because Reia likes Orpheus and doesn't see him as a monster doesn't mean Katerinas trauma and revulsion to him isn't valid. But there's a lot he doesn't know, so Reia has to patiently explain and teach things to him- like boundaries and what's normal human behavior. Thanks to dual-POV because I got to know more about his background, it makes me want to hug him so badly! There's 4 more books and it's just like a Christmas miracle to me- this is the best gem ever I have stumbled upon to.I also like that there is a skull (or a head) of Orpheus between paragraphs in each chapter, because it tells me that the next POV will switch to either Reia or Orpheus in each chapter. There was a lot of clunky language, awkward sentence construction, repetitive phrasing, and inconsistencies.

In A Soul to Keep, there are two main characters in the book: Reia - a human girl and the FMC, and Orpheus - a Duskwalker (or a Mavka) and the MMC. But as someone who's not into the hardware and mechanics of all that, once they started actually having sex, I lost interest. She thrives to produce a plot driven, character developing book while sprinkling in enchanting imagery. The list of icks only continued as I read; gut rearranging sex magic, victim blaming, the overuse of the word "squelch", sex as a metric of love and care.The brief companionship does little to ease his loneliness, and their lives were always, unfortunately, cut short. He is both every horrible thing Reia has ever imagined him to be, but funnily enough is also one of the sweetest and the most thoughtful creatures she’s ever known, showing her more kindness than her own people ever had. He makes her stuff and is super happy to show her, he preciously keeps the things she makes him even if its insignificant, he teaches her stuff, he grows a garden even if he doesn’t eat those things… etc etc etc. It's about a girl who gets sacrificed to a Duskwalker monster who can't help himself when humans bleed or run from him. This doesn't have mindnumbing world building, or multiple family units with names you can't pronounce, a confusing magic system or generic bad guys.

And so, we have a villain who is portrayed as a snobbish, selfish woman (who, out of fear, didn’t say “no” to a horrifying monster she saw kill many people), coming across as sympathetic in a way I do not think the author intended. Thank you to all the readers who enjoyed the series, and Opal may look into revising them in the future. So yes, I would highly recommend this book if you're in the mood for something slow burn, monster-virgin sacrifice trope, cinnamon roll (with a zest). I also want to mention that I was disappointed (and a little befuddled) by the author's approach to the first intimate scene. But he tries to fight his nature for his sacrifices/companions even if they don’t give him the same.In one of the first physical scenes between Reia and Orpheus the author includes misinformation about what a hymen is, as well as the harmful purity stereotype that revolves around it. I have missed many humans that have left, but I like you more than any of the others that have come here. Reia seemed to care only for Orpheus after they had sex and Orpheus only seemed to care that she wanted him, not about Reia herself. Her tears finally fell, dripping from the corners of her eyes to run over her temples and into her hair.