Welcome to my stop on the Soulswift book tour! Thank you to the author, Megan Bannen, for organizing the tour and allowing me to participate as a tour host!

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Soulswift
Author: Megan Bannen
Release: November 17, 2020
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: YA Fantasy

Gelya is a Vessel, a girl who channels the word of the One True God through song. Cloistered with the other Vessels of her faith, she believes—as all Ovinists do—that a saint imprisoned Elath the Great Demon centuries ago, saving humanity from earthly temptation.

When Gelya stumbles into a deadly cover-up by the Ovinists’ military, she reluctantly teams up with Tavik, an enemy soldier, to survive. Tavik believes that Elath is actually a mother goddess who must be set free, but while he succeeds in opening Her prison, he inadvertently turns Gelya into Elath’s unwilling human vessel.

Now the church that raised Gelya considers her a threat. In a race against the clock, she and Tavik must find a way to exorcise Elath’s presence from her body. But will this release stop the countdown to the end of the world, or will it be the cause of the earth’s destruction? And as Tavik and Gelya grow closer, another question lingers between them: What will become of Gelya?

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository

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REVIEW

ARC provided by the author for the blog tour!

Megan Bannen continues to impress me with her masterful storytelling and beautiful characters. Soulswift was a story full of intriguing world-building, opposing religions, and self-discovery.

The heart of Soulswift revolves around spirituality and beliefs. The story follows two characters, Tavik and Gelya, who are from opposing sides of a religion-based war. Circumstances force the two of them to reluctantly work together and attempt to save their world. I really loved the presence of mythology/religion here. Tavik and Gelya are both forced to examine their faith and question their beliefs. The book heavily focuses on self-discovery and the uniting of different ideas was perfectly executed and added depth to the characters’ development.

I absolutely loved the relationship that developed between Tavik and Gelya. They start out as enemies, but they way they change their opinions about each other during their journey and grow together was beautiful. Without spoiling too much, their relationship follows another one of my favorite tropes (other than the enemies-to-lovers) and I was completely on board! The romance aspect of the book was perfectly incorporated into the story; it had importance to the characters and yet wasn’t the focus of the story.

The ending was heartbreakingly, achingly beautiful and I would have expected nothing less from Bannen after The Bird and the Blade. Soulswift was a wonderful story with engaging writing, wholesome characters, and important themes about faith and self-discovery.

★ ★ ★ ★ ½

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Megan Bannen is the author of SOULSWIFT and THE BIRD AND THE BLADE, a Kirkus Best Young Adult Book of 2018 and an Indies Introduce selection. An avid coffee drinker and mediocre ukulele player, Megan lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and their two children. She’s a full-time writer, but her librarian heart will always belong to the reference desk.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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