Cloud atlas meets urban fantasy. Enjoyable read. Wish there was a 'where are they now' thing at the end. I have a few unanswered questions but hopefully will be answered in the next book.

TL;DR at the very bottom.

This book seemed like it would be a perfect fit, and was recommened in a facebook group some months ago (I think possibly by the author?) and I made myself finish it so I could review it fairly, so I want to start out with all the things that were great because there is plenty to praise.

This book really was a recipe for perfection, the exact thing I'd been looking for-rich history, reincarnation, the fantasy, violence and fights, soulmates searching for eachother.
The diversity of the characters and the time periods were particularly lovely, the worldbuilding was thorough but never tiresome, just enough for you to see the character and how their life is, where they come from. I feel like I genuinely learnt some history with this book because I spent so much time checking word meanings, the added accuracy of the worldbuilding just making it that much better.

They asked and answered questions about the problems with soulmates wonderfully: What if you find eachother and one is too old, and one too young? How long it takes for them to find eachother when battling ginormous distances? Or a language barrier? Economic differences? Mental trauma? Examples next:
< spoiler > Like having the nordic warrior battle and claim any slave she likes as her prize to rescue her soulmate. The fact that the Mongolian had travelled a great distance through war before searching for the pull on his heart. The maid that was much older than her soulmate so spent years hidden besides her, caring from the background < /spoiler >.

And then the problem for me with this book

I hated the antagonist. I found them to be really, really flat, with no reason for their cruelty other than this boring obsession with "power", even though the people the antagonists hunt do not want that. The lack of background on the antagonists part made the end of each iteration of soulmates feel dull, even though the rest of the content itself (the soulmates, side characters, worldbuilding etc.) were all good.

Spoiler

I honest to god don't get what this guys problem is, or why he's so obsessed with two soulmates who just want to hang out together and live their lives in peace. They find eachother, he kills them, goes on the same monologue about how their lives will end in pain. Soulmates are reborn, find eachother, antagonist kills them again, goes on his little monologue, again. Sometimes the soulmates just die, but eventually theyre reborn, and they discover eachother, and the antagonist comes back-And so on and so forth

Around half-way through I decided instead of putting it down I'd see where it goes, because I was *sure* the plot must wrap up somewhere. There would be a moment where everything clicks and it suddenly becomes super interesting, and I'd finish the rest of it in one obsessive sitting because I couldn't put it down.
However, this never came.

Due to this general flatness caused by the antagonist, the things in the book that should make your hair stand on end with nervous anticipation, also fell flat and became boring, like epic final fights for characters, or the worry that the bad guy could come back, or the feeling you've walked into a trap. But it didn't, there was a predictability that just made everything so meh.
It was hard to finish this, I had to genuinely task myself with sticking to it to find out what happens.

Also, if I had a shot every time " x's depression and anxiety" came up, I think I'd die of alcohol poisoning.

Spoiler

I get it, they're insecure, a lot of the point is they have miserable lives, but the repetetive phrasing got tiring quickly, especially when we spend so much time with those two characters.

Everything felt similarly grey for me with this read, and I was determined to finish it in hopes I'd suddenly have that "click". I'm not sure what to think about the ending. It wrapped up in the same way it started; as one long note. No peaks or troughs. I really, really wanted to love this book but it fell so short.

TL;DR Recipe for perfection, but dangerouslty undercooked.

I loved the characters. Theo turned out to be such a spunky, genuine soul and I loved her. Strangely I also really loved Tony even though he was a small part of the story.

I loved the love story and the the fact that they kept finding each other in the new lives they had.

I enjoyed the concept of this story and I found it very intriguing and fascinating.

The vilian was definitely unlikable and the roles were set out really well.

This book was incredibly well written. From beginning to end and I really found it easy to read and follow.

That being said I did have some drawbacks.
I felt the backstory became too much and too long. It was a lot of information to take in.
This was an absolute beast of a book and I feel some things could have been dramatically shortened.

If you are a slow burn lover then this would be perfect for you.

I liked this book, it wasn't a bad read at all. The plot was good, I just wish there was more character development on the main two characters. I love how the authors touched base on mental health and how to help your partner when they are going through it. I wanted more on the relationship between them than the past lives.

I got this book on kindle first as the Author had commented on a video where I had stated I loved things set way back in time. Then, only after a little bit of reading did I realize I would need the physical copy, so I purchased that as well.

This book spans multiple historical points and is done so in a fabulous manner!

It's a supernatural thriller that follows the journey of a couple that shares multiple life times of love.

The historical references, the journeys and even down to the settings during those particular times was vivid and spot on.

I loved traveling to Transylvania, London, Egypt, Siberia and more in the epic journey.

I highly recommend you grab this book, snuggle in and enjoy the journey

5 stars

I really didn’t know what to expect when I started this book, other than that it looked epic. Epic is an understatement… it is beyond anything I could have imagined. The storytelling is phenomenal, with so many beautiful details you fall in love with every single character. It leaves you wanting more and I cannot wait for book 2!

The story is from the POV of Theo & Auryn living in Australia. The storyline concentrates on their past lives and reincarnation of being basically soulmates finding and losing each other each lifetime (not be confused with romance troupes this just a dark fantasy). In each life they fight a dark enemy only to be killed only to do it again. There is a timeline of weaving through the past and present to explain more and more about the characters as well as their enemy. Theo was very realistic and the writing spoke of dealing with depression. Auryn a very amazing character because though he was a male he didn't have the toxic masculinity as you see in a lot male fantasy characters... he was able to talk about and embrace his insecurities without overly trying to compensate. There's a few mental health issues brought up in the story that makes this book relatable though it's fantasy from depression, eating disorders, and anxiety. There's very detailed history aspects to this book and as you read you can see the research and effort that was put into the writing this amazing story.

The flow of the story was smooth and as a reader who reads somewhat faster I appreciated the length of the book being longer. This is a dark fantasy and I actually enjoyed reading it. The chapters had so much details that really enthralled you and it was very much appreciated with all the historical research to write this book. As a person not big on fantasy I was definitely impressed by this book...from the artwork of the cover, to the plot, to the ending. An amazing start to a series if you ask me.