Edward Willett is an author that once you read his books, there’s no going back, you will become a fan. There’s no way around it, and if this book is your first time reading one of his works, just keep that in mind and try to prove us wrong.
Soulworm. A weird word that grabs our attention to the possibilities of this book. Are we reading a scifi story? An horror tale? A thriller? What is it about? What’s the meaning or the intention behind the title? And that is a perfect start by itself for a book because we are already curious to know more about it and we haven’t even read a page!
With a quick, blaring start, and a powerful narrative style, we are buckled in for the ride that will be this book. Pun intended.
As per the genre, you will soon find out – and given that is almost Halloween – that Soulworm by Edward Willett will be a perfect pick for you, in this season. It has themes of exorcism, horror, and it’s uncanny how the plot and the characters go about. Chaotically, one might say, but the perfect word for it is “surprising”.
Imagine being the sharpest when it comes to reading and seeing other people, but being blind. Take a moment to process that. There is a character that can read other people so well, that she doesn’t need eyes to see them. How is that possible? Well, you will read about it and be impressed, or spooked out, because damn, she is too good in her ways.
We get a super interesting, gripping plot due to the mystery involved, the implications, the consequences if things go kaboom, and the wreckage that a car accident made. Is it all connected? To topple that, a silent war is going on and the enemy is a being that feeds over negative emotions, the Soulworm, and has a very strange way of being and of possessing their creators, yes, creators. Weird ugh? We told you that Edward Willett was an awesome writer.
I love the idea behind this soulworm thing. It’s a like a demon-virus-specter-being that everybody has except the pure and lighthearted, and that grows and reproduces the more you feed it with your negative emotions and then infects others. How specifically it does that? You will find out soon as you read it, and it’s an interesting approach to many topics, as you will see. The concept gives the book scifi, horror and fantasy vibes at the same time, which is not something easy to pull off.
Then in the midst of all the narrative induced scenario magic, because even though it isn’t, it reads a bit as fantasy, there are very intriguing personal dilemmas and conflicts, both within the characters and between the characters (and at times, both within and between at the same moment…), in a place where this cannot happen, so the tension grows the more you read about it and the more time passes. The author subtly reminds you of this and keeps the tension going in every other page, so this a high-stake book where in an instant, everything can go wrong, and if it goes wrong, it will be dire indeed.
Once you get into the meat and bone of Soulworm you will be struck by the brilliance of plotting of Edward Willett, as the contradictions are nothing short but brilliant. I will not spoil those to you, but I will give you a hint: The way the main characters must live, and what they must experience to be able to truly detect their enemy once it knows them will be the linchpin of things.
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One incident, three people, two causalities, one death and a lot to fix between realities with the price being destruction, and the stake being annihilation. There are many wrong things, and there’s only one way to put things right, to burn your dearest friends alive. Yeap, you have heard that correctly. How? Well, you will have to read it to believe it.
Ok, there are certain things that can only happen with women, and that, is the lack of common sense in certain dire situations. There are scenes were you just want to slap the MC out of her lack of awareness of things, in a situation that clearly screamed “DANGER, RUUUUUUUNNNN YOU FOOL! ”, but hey, she is in love and people in love do stupid things. Adding to that, the MC has two souls and only one of them is able to face the danger they are all into, but there is a catch, a huge catch that will make this task, and book, even more impossible, one that we unfortunately cannot share without spoiling the fun of it.
The ability of Edward Willett to keep the tension all the way throughout the book and keep cutting to the chase is remarkable, and this is one of the great things that makes this book worth the read.
There is humor, sure, there are light scenes, yes, but the tension is always there in one way or another as the book just keeps pushing, so if you love thrillers, look twice at Soulworm by Edward Willett because it will not disappoint.
There are deeper meanings than we first understand, we discover as reading this book, because halfway through, the author starts to reveal to the characters, the MC in this case, that there is more to the world than just her mission and her vows (and that kisses are not as soul damning as she first thought), but there is a mission to fulfill that she must complete before anything and she has to risk it all, and then some more, to even have a chance to survive, because victory is another matter entirely, hahahha.
She is discovering a new world, she has to spurge a great evil that is bound to destroy everything in sight, without proper training, abilities, and she has what, three weeks to figure it out or die? Well… the odds sure at at odds with her, even before you factor her pessimism.
It might sound strange, but this doom-above-all-no-matter-how-much-you-try approach brought some newness to the plot and the reading experience, because there is no way, nor an instance where you are reading the book and you say or think: “She is going to make it.” Nope. She can barely keep up, so we might fail to admit, but we want to see how she will actually fail and what will happen to the world after she can’t stop that evil spirit/creature/demon/virus/thing . Weird? Yeah, but this is just how this book rolls, and don’t worry, it’s pretty cool, and at times, … spicy? Well, you will have to decide for yourself.
Having that said, and after having read the book, our conclusion is simple: If you like fantasy or thrillers, consider this book as your next read. If you like unpredictable plots, order it now. If you like twists and turns out of nowhere and don’t mind a pessimistic MC that tries her best despite being the weakling, well, this is the book for you!
Would I personally recommend anyone reading this? Oh yes. Soulworm is a book you want to read and chill with. So grab yours now and mind the flames baby, oh mind the flames.
Pros:
- Excellent narrative and pace
- Original and unpredictable plotting
- A mixture of fantasy, romance and horror that works!
- The characters are very well thought out and fleshy
- Surprises at every corner
- The ending was excellent
Cons:
- None
Lesson of the book: Don’t let the title and pride get to you
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