Review: Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo

This was a book that I badly wanted to love, just because of how amazing it sounded. And I am happy to say that I did love it. Not as much as I wanted to, but enough. It was such a great story. A four star for me, as I had a few small problems, but nothing big. I loved the writing, mostly. And these characters were pretty great.

This book tells the story of Selestra and Nox. Two very different people who end up meeting, trying to change the world together. I liked getting to know both of them. I loved them, but I did not fully care about everything, which hurt my heart a little. I do wish I had loved it all more. Hmph. But oh, their story was still very exciting.

Selestra have been locked up in her tower her whole life, pretty much. Only allowed to walk through the castle she lives in, never allowed to leave. Never allowed to have contact with people. Only with her mother and their king. She had some small rebellions, a little sneaking out and getting to know a couple of people. But this was not enough. I felt truly sad for her, because she did not know much, at age sixteen. And she wanted so badly to be a part of the world too. But Selestra was not a normal girl. She was a witch. And not a good kind. I so loved getting to know her family history, with her mom being the witch of the king, forced to do so many bad things. It was such a great storyline. And so dark. But only in the beginning. Sigh. I so wanted more darkness, honestly.

Nox is a soldier in the king's army, surviving his days. I honestly wanted to know more about him, now that I think about it. His life was pretty boring, haha. All he wanted was revenge for how his father died two years before. He had one friend, Micah. I suppose we were meant to care for him, but I did not, as I felt like I did not know him at all. Oops. Wish he had been written a little better too, same with Selestra's friend, Ilenya. Got to know her a little more, but also not enough. Didn't really care for the side characters.

I shall not write that much about the plot of this book. And so I will try my best to not write such a long review either. The story of this world is that the king has lived for ages, eating the souls of the people in his kingdom, with the help of his witch. One hundred souls a year. This will be the life of Selestra as well, when she turns eighteen. She does not want it, but there isn't any choice. Until Nox shows up. There is a festival, where people give their souls to the king if they are unable to escape their deaths for two weeks.

Nox signs up for this, as there is a different version too. Survive four weeks and you can kill the king. No one has ever tried this. But Nox would do anything to revenge his father. Selestra can see how people will die, if she touches them. And so she has gone her whole life pretty much never touching anyone. It was sad to read about, and one of the things I liked most about this. I wish this had been written about more later on, though. But it was a great story. How Selestra and Nox meet, with her the one to see his death.

Okay, I have missed out on describing a whole lot of this story. But I'm not going to write more either. Nox is trying to escape death. And Selestra is trying to help him, as they are connected in a special and weird way. They end up fleeing the kingdom, with their two friends as well. I did like reading about them up in their air balloon. And the small adventures that they had. I did not really love the story when they arrived at the island they were looking for, though. Was some drama I did not like. And just a little bit boring too.

But overall, this story was exciting. And I loved reading about Selestra and her witchy powers. Only wish there had been even more about it all. And I must mention what I did not like about this book. The writing was a bit much at times. Nox was always smirking and I could not stand it. Oops. There was a bit much with the goddess things at the end of the book, felt a little weird to me. Yet I liked it too. There was a small romance as well. It was pretty great and I did love them together. Wish there had been more kissing, ha.

I may have already written too much about this book. Oh. And yet I haven't really written much about it at all. My thoughts are a little messy right now. The book was good. I loved parts of it. But other parts I did not like that much. I wanted more of the magic of this world. Yet I did love getting to know what we could about this place. The story was mostly about Selestra and Nox. Which I loved, as I honestly only cared about them. The king was the bad guy, yet I was never scared. Should have been scarier, honestly, haha.

Princess of Souls was an excellent story. I so enjoyed getting to know these characters and this world. I may have wanted more of everything, but I still liked this book a whole lot. I did want a little more from the ending, as I felt like it was a bit rushed with the final battle. But it was a good ending too, and I am happy with it. I can't wait to read more books from Alexandra. I have now read her first and latest book, hoping to read the other two soon as well. I think you should all read this book too. This is a story worth reading.

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