A Soul to Keep: Duskwalker Brides: Book One

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The first book of a series, especially a fantasy series, always has a tough job of world building, but Opal Reyne was able to get this book off the ground quickly with a simple premise: there are humans, and the demons who hunt them. This ultimately pulled me out of the story one too many times, but what is unworkable for me may not register for someone else. Reia and the Dustwalker named Orpheus are alone on page for most of the book - with the occasional appearance from demons trying to kill her, an ominous Owl Witch, and another Dustwalker who is not as smart as Orpheus. The next book, A Soul to Heal, will feature a plus sized character and the nameless Duskwalker we met in this book.

The Duskwalker Brides series is still ongoing, and I understand that there will be 8-9 books in the series. Opal is a fantastic storyteller with great ideas and a wonderful talent for capturing deep emotions. And since I love a Beauty and the Beast story it really isn’t surprising I loved this one (she even reads him a children’s folktale of Beauty and the Beast… meta). He knew what he was and the dangers his nature as a Duskwalker presented to humans, he didn't try to hide it but also did what he could to warn Reia.

In romance, when a main character is held captive by the other main character, readers know in real life it is not romantic, attractive, or good-hearted. Duskwalker's eyes change colors depending on their emotions, which makes it very hard for them (including Orpheus 🤣) to hide their emotions, like a human can. I think I would try another book from this author but maybe this particular series isn’t going to be exactly what I want.

In A Soul to Keep, there are two main characters in the book: Reia - a human girl and the FMC, and Orpheus - a Duskwalker (or a Mavka) and the MMC. I enjoyed the cute progression of their friendship and their inevitable love story, and I particularly liked that Reia is determined to be self-sufficient.Orpheus is the sweetest monster of all time who just wants to be good and do Reia right, but also is tempted to eat her.

This is just a personal preference, but when I read fantasy, I cannot stand when there are modern words or phrases.

Also, if she was shunned by the community from the age of seven, how exactly did she manage to grow up? Reia is such a strong FMC who, instead of being afraid in this situation, she makes the most of it and embraces the weird. lol What's so adorable is that Orpheus is just so eager to understand and learn what Reia likes/wants. i also didn't like the confrontation between him and the ow at the end, he still seemed hung up on her and only chose the heroine because she wanted to be with him whereas the ow hadn't wanted that (that was her defining quality).