Wow. This was an extremely powerful, attention grabbing book. I think we need a book like this in this day and age here in the US, though I fear it's words would be in danger of being banned, but that's what makes it all the more useful and powerful of a book. It was impossible to put down, and flowed smoothly from one point to another. I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers aspect; it really felt like they were true enemies to lovers, and I loved that they didn't immediately love one another. In fact, they were fated to hate one another, and they fell in love anyways. The characters were loveable and diverse and I enjoyed all the side characters that were meant to be enjoyed. My only qualm with the entire book is that in the blurb, it says that they end up falling in love, but that sort of ruins the twist villain in my eyes. If the it was left ambiguous, it would seem that much more surprising when the twist villain was revealed. Instead I sat there hating one of the side characters because I just knew. I could tell. And that really took away my enjoyment of the villain plot.

This book was a 3.75 for me. I read it super quickly, but I feel like it was extremely predictable which I do not really enjoy. I feel like I am really easy to please as a reader, I always give 4-5 stars and hardly rate books lower than a 4. But this one I could see the ending from a mile away. I really enjoyed the concept of everyone having a soulhate and a soulmate but I felt like there could have been a better twist likkkke Idris is the soulhate and soulmate, that would have been something I did not expect coming. I liked all the characters and felt that they were all very likable, I did have issues with the character arc of the FMC, Renza. I feel like she was supposed to be this super smart bad *ss politician who got elected to the government at 16 but was so easily tricked by the villain. I felt for how smart she was supposed to be she should have caught all the red flags. There were moments where things were blatantly obvious, and she did not see it until she overheard the entire evil plan. Even when she was being tricked, she was so naive and easy to control it drove me insane. But I feel like even with her grief the way her character was supposed to be that her sense of justice would be amplified with her grief. Instead, she allowed someone to make decisions for her and enact their evil whims. The love stories that began to bloom towards the end made the book more bearable and I felt that Renza was starting to get her fire back and stopped acting so impulsively.
I am not sure Kingsley's writing style is my thing; she spent way too long in every moment describing the building or area they were in, and it was paragraphs worth. I find that annoying and boring. I do not need you to spend 3 paragraphs describing plants and windows. I cannot tell if this was a standalone or first book as it ends open ended but I would read the next book, but I definitely won't be rushing to read it.

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I hoped to like it but I couldn't seem to get into. I enjoyed the world building but not so much the story and characters.

I loved the concept of this with a Soul Hate (the flip side of a Soul Mate) and that was a really clever way to put it (as it makes perfect sense!). Even better when the book is centred around falling for the one person you are meant to hate / destroy (naturally!), enter Renza and Idris! This was such a unique plot and loved the fantasy and world building and enemies-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes. I found the style of writing easy to follow and loved the descriptions of the places throughout the book that really helped my imagination picture vividly what was going on. I thought it was interesting watching them play out and how Renza's resistant to developing feelings for Idris changed over time and although part of me was a bit disappointed that the ending wasn't more solid in terms of them getting together long term due to Renza's work commitments, it was also good because it shows that she is also able to see past the rose tinted glasses and at that time, regardless of her feelings for Idris, she was able to stand up and say she wanted to focus on her career instead, which is fair enough and actually quite refreshing!!

Soul Hate is a Roman history inspired fantasy about a world where everyone has a Soul Mate and a Soul Hate. One fated love and one fated enemy, but the chances of meeting them are extremely rare. Our FMC is a young politician who finally meets her Soul Hate and is forced to work with him when a tragedy strikes the city and decimates the goverment.
Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for the opportunity to read and review this book which I am giving 2.5⭐️.
This book started strong but once the actual political plot line started things slowed down to the point where I lost all interest in the book. None of the characters were particularly compelling and the by 75% of the book I was ready for it to be over.

This was good. A little slow in parts, but definitely a recommended read if you're into this type of genre.

Fantasy and enemies to lovers? Yes, please! This was such a great read! I thoroughly enjoyed Renza and Idris and their contemptuous relationship. So much fun!

I got this book for an honest opinion from netgalley.

I loved the concept of the book and would recommend it to everyone who loves Illona Andrews. It has a very similar vibe. I loved Renza and Idris's abiding hate through the book and it was kept till the end instead of magically disappearing.
I personally loved the political subplot, but my only gripe would be that Renza and Idris didn't get a lot of on page +tve. I would have loved it even in the end. My assumption is there is a book2 coming and it was needed to keep their chemistry under wraps.

I would definitely pick up book2. I loved the author's writing style.

I wanted to like this more than I actually did, but overall this was not a bad book. I feel very torn about it however, so I'll break down what I loved and what...not so much.
What I liked:
-The original concept of SoulHate. The idea makes for a rather sticky situation altogether when we have political enemies.
-The writing. Overall, Kingsley shows a lot of promise as a writer and her descriptions of the world she built were quite vivid.
-Idris. The chemistry between Idris and Renza was quite off the charts at times, and some of the best written scenes were the ones he was in.
What I was meh over...
-The political subplot. I felt that the political subplot overshadowed how much Idris and Renza shone, and I found myself wishing there was more time with them.
-The other characters. They were all one big fat MEH. Give me Idris with Renza...please.
-Not digging deep enough into the SoulHate lore. There was opportunity for gold here, as Renza and Idris were defying fate and working together for the greater good. But...once again, the political plot took over everything like a great big ink stain.
Bottom Line:
Good idea and structure, but it could have been executed better. Some elements were woefully underused, while Kingsley concentrated too much on things I really didn't care about.

Enjoyable and likeable but i didn't really enjoy the plot. It was quite slow sometimes and was hard to get into at first. Overall, i might recommend!

Enemies to… Enemies?

In a world where one might find their soulmate, they are just as likely to find their soulhate.

Soul Hate follows Renza Di Maineri, a young official, as she navigates the frigid waters of politics… and the impulsive urge to murder Idris Patricelli. The Di Maineri and Patricelli families are prominent members of the Electi, Halice’s governing body, and have long found themselves on opposing sides. Unfortunately for them, Fate enjoys a good laugh. When Idris returns to Halice and triggers the soulhate bond, Renza must decide if the urge to claw his eyes out is stronger than her devotion to Halice.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3.5/5

I would rate Soul Hate a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed this read and the delightful twist Hannah Kingsley put on the “fated-mates” trope! Why have a lover when you can have an enemy? Or both??

Throughout most of the story the romance remains a subplot, drawing readers’ focus to the political rivalry. However for me, this only further emphasized the connection between our main characters Renza and Idris. Hannah’s writing is also very immersive, making it easy to imagine Halice and all of its beauty. The Garden quickly became my favorite place with its emphasis on art and science within communities! I also appreciated the diversity and LGBTQ+ representation among both the main and supporting characters in this story. The story itself was well-paced and came to a nice conclusion that I can accept as being the end. But, it does leave me wondering if we’ll be seeing Renza and Idris again? Overall, I found Soul Hate to be a fun, quick read. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy a good rivalry!

(Thank you NetGalley, Harper Collins, & Hannah Kingsley for this opportunity!)

“Violence is the mark of a weak man’s truth.”
~~
This book has a slower pace to it, but a really cool storyline. Love the idea of a SoulMate and a SoulHate. It was very interesting. Characters were interesting and likable. Overall a very cool storyline, honestly could put it down. It had me intrigued the whole time.
Thank you @netgalley hannahkingsleyauthor @onemorechapterhc for allowing me to read an EARC.

Absolutely could not put this down! The whole concept of a "soulhate" turns the more familiar trope of "soulmate" on its head. Great characters and fast-paced story.

Good characters and plot.
I needed more explanation on some things gs but I really a great read.
I likw to see what is next.

3.5 rounded down to 3

Renza serves her city as an Electi while striving to remove herself from her father's long shadow. But her ability to serve on the council is in question with the emergence of Idris, a political rival and her fated soul hate. When her beloved city is threated, can Renza and Idris work together?

Read if you like:
-Fate
-A world the feels like ancient Rome or Greece
-Political Intrigue
-Secrets & Lies
-Betrayal
-A new twist on a favorite trope
-Rivals to...

While I ultimately ended up enjoying Soul Hate, I did almost DNF it. It got off to a very, very slow start. I felt like the blurb promised more than the book could deliver. So much time was given to setting everything up that the soul hate/reverse soul mate trope (the very reason I picked up this book) was barely even a plot point. It did eventually come into play and while I loved what the author did with it, I'm also hesitant to recommend this book because of how long it took me to connect with the story.

I was intrigued by the idea of everybody having a soul hate - a person destined to destroy them - and the possibilities when the main character found herself falling for hers. And this book was fine, it just didn't grip me like I was hoping. There isn't very much romance OR fantasy, to be honest its mostly focused on the political intrigue of an ancient Roman-esque society. I was interested enough to finish it, but I don't think I'd revisit it.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was really fun to read! I loved the concept that as well as having one fated soulmate, you have a soulhate.

I thought Renza was a great FMC and loved how she was firm in her beliefs.
I do think me and the author must have similar brains because I felt like I guessed how it would play out but it was still enjoyable to read.

The ending did leave me wanting though. It all felt like it wrapped up way too quickly and there were bits that felt skipped over.

Just a short review for this book. It was a fun read, but I wasn't able to see the significance of their world and the purpose of soul hates, unless I missed that part. The book was easy to read, and the back and forth was great, but not knowing the reason behind how the world is made it hard to connect with the characters. Overall, not bad but not as fleshed out as I expected.

📚Soul Hate by Hannah Kingsley📚

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating:🌶️

✨Tropes✨
🔥Political Intrigue
🔥Fated Mates
🔥LGBTQIA+ Rep
🔥Hidden Motives

✨Initial Thoughts✨
I feel torn about this book because I thought it started off strong and then fizzled out. The initial premise of the plot really excited me, but as the story moved along, I found that the whole execution was lacking. It makes me sad because I do think this book had potential. I loved the diversity and political intrigue of the first 1/3 of the book, but as things changed I found myself losing interest. This could just be a me thing, and I would consider rereading it another time just to make sure, but it just didn’t hit the way I wanted it to. My main complaint is that the characters felt flat. I didn’t particularly like the FMC and while I still rooted for her, I didn’t feel emotionally connected with her or any of the other characters. So when the author tried to make the stakes high, I didn’t feel invested enough


Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the gifted copy and the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc!

The premise of this book is what initially intrigued me and as I began to read it I realized whoever marketed it needs to be taught how to market books to their actual plot.

Marketed as an enemies-to-lovers romantasy, Soulhate is filled with 99% politics and 1% romance.
The book was frankly boring in the first 60%. The world building was off and too much modern slang was used. I often couldn’t tell if I was in the modern day or Ancient Greece. The romance aspect was lackluster at best with underdeveloped characters and absolutely no chemistry.

The whole idea of a Soulhate is genuinely ingenious it’s just unfortunate that the author couldn’t do more with it or execute it in a way that actually had me intrigued. It dragged on and the plot fell flat in many areas, it felt like a second draft that still needed a lot of work. The characters had no development and Renza unfortunately fell into the ‘I’m so smart I’m actually naive’ category and it was truly sad considering she had so much potential. The plot twist was evident from the beginning and it just made it feel cheap since it’s a twist that’s done often in ‘romantasy’ novels nowadays.

Overall, it was a lot of edits and plot revising away from being absolutely brilliant and it’s sad to see a good premise once again be ruined by a subpar plot and crappy character development.