The Fall of Souls

4.5⭐ It was a close 5⭐, not gonna lie.

This book had my heart from the start. I am a sucker for mythology. I don't care where it comes from, I don't even care if I've never heard of it or if you twist the lore to mesh it better to the story.

In this case it was Nubian myths come to life with a dash of enemies to lovers, a healthy amount of slow burn with fated soul mates and chosen one trope. All of this tied by Ra's sexiest thoughts about the woman of her life. Like come on, it's *chef's kiss*.

STOP! You might want to skip this part if you are going to read the book. Possible spoilers 🙆🏼‍♀️.

The world building was beautifully described and I actually loved the fight scenes. (view spoiler). That scene will live rent free in my mind for the rest of my days.

The fact that it didn't make it to 5⭐ is, because as the story starts developing itself at the Hall (the main location), the feeling of emotion, surprise and adventure kinda fell through. I'm not gonna lie, I was expecting a big ass cliffhanger at the end, but unfortunately my wishes didn't come true 🥲.

But, let us talk a bit about our MCs, shall we?

Onia was such a fearless and strong character from the first moment she appeared on the page. We LOVE a determined woman in this household, and the fact that we also see that even when she appears strong, she also has a vulnerable side to her... had me in pieces and crying of happiness. I feel it is rarely shown in fiction that the strongest characters can also break down. That weight on someone's shoulders has to tear you apart at some point.

And Ra, my love, my life. I was pinning for him with Onia throughout all the damned book. Compared to Onia, I feel we got to see so little of his story, despite the most important bits, which were heart-wrenching. He is protective of what he loves, a born leader to their house and a lover. Because as Keanu Reeves said once, to be a lover you have to fight for what you love. And I feel that describes Ra perfectly.

Still, it's worth mentioning his protective demeanour never came across as alphahole to me. He was respectful, sweet, and knew exactly what Onia needed at her side. Which is what made their relationship so wholesome. (I'm gonna turn a blind eye to the fact that he lied by omission to her... but it was for the sake of the story, so I won't complain 👀)

The chemistry between them both was awesome. Basically what a good slow burn needs to be: endless pinning and a bunch of "I want to touch you, but I can't"s.

To narrow it down, this book got me out of a reading slump that was killing me. And I feel like, books that can get you out of that headspace, are the ones worth giving a chance! Now I'm gonna go back to meddling my friends with this book so that they read it too 😂

I want to thank RA Moreau for opening the ARC up to everyone who wanted to give it a go! As a first timer in NetGalley, getting ARCs is hard enough and the fact that I could start with this awesome book has been priceless 🙈