WARNING: This is CORA’S story: This book may be considered NA (new adult) because it contains some swearing, violence and sex scenes: Suitable for ages 17 and up. A Clean Version will also be available on Amazon.
Eighteen-year-old Cora Jemison knows what it’s like to date a soul reaper. There are no Friday night movies, no school dances, and no stolen kisses between classes. It totally sucks! What makes it even worse, souls pop up when she least expects it. The last one is not her fault, but it all adds up to zero quality time with her super hot, scythe-carrying boyfriend, Echo.
Since Cora was etched with special runes by an evil Immortal, she understands why souls are drawn to her. She makes the best of it by helping souls find closure while Echo escorts them to the realm of the dead. Perfect partners, until a dark soul visits Cora in the dead of the night and Echo decides her soul-helping days are over.
Cora can either listen to Echo or follow her instincts. To make matters worse, other reapers start stalking her, demanding she hand over the soul. Even her Valkyrie friends think she’s gone too far. But something sinister is coming their way, and the soul is the key to saving her town, her friends, and her relationship with Echo. Can she convince Echo to see things her way before it’s too late?
I am a HUGE Ednah Walters fan. Ever since I listened to Runes, book one in the Runes series and universe, I was hooked. Norse mythology isn’t often used in young adult books. Usually you see a lot of Greek or Roman myths, but to have a world centered on Norse mythos just gets my Dane going.
And yes . . . I am Danish. Well . . . a quarter. But, I don’t remember a Christmas where we didn’t have Scandinavian food. That said, Norse and Celtic mythology are my favorites in the Western world.
Souls, Cora’s second book, kind of meshes the two mythos together. In Grimnirs, we learn that the reaper Echo was a druid in his living days. We learn how he became a reaper for Hel (the Goddess). Souls is not only the continuation of Echo and Cora’s story, but also a continuation into the backstory that is Echo.
We learn more about the world of Hel and Souls. Apparently, there are some pretty dark ones out there. The kind that take over living people and devour their essence. Add Cora’s uncanny ability for seeing the dead and you can see an issue is going to arise.
What is great is that this book is set in tandem with Witches. It’s interesting to see the relationship between Torin and Raine through Cora’s eyes and the impact Raine’s own issues seem to hit Cora. I find joining the two in time period to be very difficult. I’m currently reading Raine’s book so I will be telling you if it is as difficult as I envision.
That said, Souls is filled with information in the Runes universe. There was quite a bit of action and Cora still has that amazing spunk. I found myself laughing and yelling at certain times. So far, this is the best Walters has written. The overall story and characters seem like old friends and are just that much more well rounded in this book.
When I finished this book, I was scared that Witches was the final book in the Runes universe. That said, not only does Cora have another book, but a bunch of great authors are adding into the world Walters has given birth to. Needless to say, I’ll most likely be reading those in the future.
Casia's Corner 