What beautiful writing! It's not hard to make me cry, but for me to cry and then still think about the heartbreak a year later... you know you wrote an emotional and lasting story.

I completely adored this book! One of my favorite YA fantasies in a long while. I'll be looking forward to the next title from this author.

The Winner's Curse and The Girl of Fire and Thorns? Sign me up!! When I started this story I was die hard excited for this tale that was supposed to be perfect for fans of those other two stories. Sadly that was just not the case. I did enjoy parts of it but the ending and parts of the story itself just didn't work for me. I understand that just because a story ends doesn't mean that it will be happy but it can still be good. One of my main issues with this one was that it was overly religious. I think just in the first few chapters a character would say One True God this and One True God that. It was just very over baring.

Overall, I think that this title will find the right readers. But for me I just wasn't it.

This is one of the rare books that doesn't provide a happy ending--and even rarer, does it incredibly well.

Bannen crafted the weaknesses and inner convictions of the two main characters so well that the strange world they were in didn't seem far-fetched, which is a common flaw I see in many YA fantasy or sci-fi books.

The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because the worldbuilding fell a bit flat. The story was so centered on the conflict and characterization that even though these elements were vivid and riveting, the rest of the society kind of faded away. There were SO many opportunities for really bringing the setting and history and culture into the foreground that would have propelled this book into a masterpiece.

This has similar vibes as Girl of Fire and Thorns and is by a writer who has received praise for her previous book. I have already purchased it for the library and highly recommend it.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

I really enjoy the author's writing. It just invokes so many emotional reactions from me, and I end up feeling so much for the characters. The reason I am not rating this higher is that I was just not very invested in the worldbuilding/setting. It focuses very heavily on a religious aspect-- everything from character development to plot. I personally am not a huge fan of religion encompassing the entirety of the book.

I have read the authors previous book, which I loved wholeheartedly, and I look forward to her future works.

This was the first book by Megan Bannen I've read, and wow, what a tale. This one demolished my heart and left me longing for more of the story, more of the lore, more of the world. If you're looking for a standalone fantasy that will smash your heart to pieces, look no further--Bannen will make you cry, several times. I loved the worldbuilding and remain hopeful for any kind of continuation in this world, it was that fascinating.

This was one of my anticipated reads of 2020, and it did not disappoint. The plot is amazing, the characers are memorable. Everyone should read Soulswift.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The character development was subtle in a myriad of ways, and the plot moves along quickly enough to keep interest. I could have used a little more expansion around the ending of the book, but on the whole found the experience very enjoyable.

This was interesting and different. It is easy to see this as an opera or ballet. it has the same movement and pacing. The right build-up and release of tensions and emotions. and the ending is poetic, completely renaissance. Bannen is a wonderful author.

While this book had such a promising premise, there were aspects of it that caused me to have a falling out. Despite reading further and further, I had troubles grasping onto the characters and feeling invested in their relationship. Certain aspects of their dynamic fell flat and unbelievable and, over time, I just wanted something dangerous to happen. I felt the world building, magic systems, and languages were well developed and added so much depth to this novel, but something with the characters threw me off and made me not want to finish the book several times. On average, I read a book within 2 days and I've sat waiting on this book for well over two weeks and am barely 30% in. I might reread it at a later time, but with so many other books able to grasp me from the beginning, I'm unsure if it was me overthinking this book or if really isn't connecting. I'm positive I'm receiving it in a book box next month and will try it again once I have the physical copy.

This book's ending is just as devastating as The Bird & the Blade, but completely different just the same. I loved the world building and the overarching ideas regarding religion and interpretation of stories and texts over time. While I was a bit confused at some points, overall it was an immersive and quick read.

Yes, I am always influenced by the cover and this cover doesn't let you down! This book has everything I want in a YA fantasy - a strong but struggling female protagonist, a simmering romance, a world I haven't been in before but can visualize by the middle of the book. This book also has a compelling moral dilemma - how do you reconcile the truths you learned as a child with an expanding view of the world? It's hard and not trivialized in this story. And the ending had my adrenaline pumping like very few other books.

Excruciatingly beautiful. Well written with beautiful details. You can’t tear your eyes off the page as your heart breaks for the heroes.