Where is The Sign-Up Sheet for a Book Boyfriend? (Her Soul for Revenge)

In this episode we visit a similar storyline but with new characters and point of view. This week I read Her Soul for Revenge by Harley Laroux. 

This one was not very original, but it offered a lot of action and spice. Maybe too much spice for my taste...but I finished it anyway!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey everyone, it's Zadie here, and welcome to Did We Read the Same Book? Okay, first of all, before I get into the book, I want to say thank you for everybody that has tuned in and listened to my podcast. Um, I know it's still like a newer podcast. I just started it the beginning of this year, but I've reached over a hundred listeners and I'm so, so, so excited about that. So thank you so much. This week I am continuing on the soul trilogy. I don't remember what it's actually called. But, anyways, I am reading the second book. It is Her Soul for Revenge by Harley LaRue. And yeah, I'm loving it so far. Anyways, uh, I'm already halfway through the book, so I'm doing my first like record and you know, everything like that, already 50% through. So this one is told from a different point of view. It's told from Juniper's point of view. She was mentioned in the first book, but she was the girl who was like the first sacrifice, but she escaped, and she's been on the run ever since. But like the rest of the town just thinks that she had like a manic episode or something that she's crazy and she's hospitalized, and this whole thing, right? But then she did end up disappearing. So it is her point of view. I think I actually like Juniper way better than I liked Ray. I think the story is a little bit more interesting to me, and I don't know. I like the I just like the character. She's not as I wouldn't say innocent because Ray is not a super sweet innocent girl, but she's not as like naive, you know? She's gone through some shit, and she's not super soft and like feminine and you know, girly. She wants to take care of herself, and she's really hesitant to kind of trust people, which makes sense because she was literally almost sacrificed and murdered, you know? So yeah, I don't know. I like this one better. I like Zane. I feel like the chemistry was maybe a little bit better in the first book, though. Besides like Juniper and her personality, you know, like her and Zane together, it's alright. I'm halfway through. It's not love, so it's not a love story. In I don't think so, not in my opinion. It's more like a lust, a yeah, lust story. Maybe they will find softness in love like later, but right now it's just kind of you know, like he wants her soul, he likes fighters, all that stuff. She is fighting for her life. They make a deal together because she's like, I really want to like kill everybody that's a part of that cult that tried to sacrifice me. She's like, I want all of them gone, right? So Zayn's like, okay, sure, give me your soul, then let's let's do this. So she's like, okay, I give you my soul and my body and everything else, right? In return for your help. He agrees, he takes her soul. Now they're like soul bonded or whatever. And things are spicy, super spicy. So, okay, I am reading through, right? Like, I'm not really skipping through a whole lot here, but this the spicy scenes are just kind of not my thing. I don't mind a little bit of like, you know, like kink, and and I know that these that's what this series is known for, is like they're really kinky spicy stuff. So I didn't go in super blind on this one, especially the second one, and I kind of anticipated this, so it's my fault for going in knowing you know what I'm going in for, and then being a little bit like eh, kind of not into it. So, anyways, besides that, like it's not bad, it isn't bad, but it's not like it's not doing it for me, per se. Like, I'm just kind of like, huh, okay, yeah, not my cup of tea, but you get it, girl. I'm I'm happy for you. I'm happy you're happy, and that you two found each other to push each other's limits in that kind of way. Uh, nothing too absolutely startling. There is kind of like a gunplay scene, and it reminds me very much of like the Haunting Adeline scene, except for this one. It was definitely more consensual, you know, like so not as I don't know, not as gray, I guess, as as Haunting Adeline, if we're gonna compare something. Let's see what is going on with the plot though, right? Lots of spice, got it. But what is there actually story? There is a little bit of story happening, but it's not, I don't feel like it's as much background and into the world or what's happening as we got in the first book, mostly because the second book is it's coinciding with the first book. So the timeline is the same pretty much, you know, it's just told from other people's perspectives and what they're doing behind the scenes, you know. So we're not, I don't know, I'm not getting anything new really, not yet. We do learn that Juniper made her great escape because one of the witches. I don't know if any of you guys remember, but from the first book, there are two witches in the Headley family. There's the mom and then there's the daughter. And the I think it was the mom that ended up helping her out, helping Juniper out. So she blocked her from being seen from the you know, the god, the vengeful god that is trying to awaken, come back to full power, right? So, yeah, she blocked her from being seen, and then she also like helped her escape and run and get out and not be chased or sensed. So she just told her, like, as long as you keep running and keep moving, like you will be okay, no one will find you. That's I think that's the only thing that we really learned that's new right now. Anyways, I will be back. I'm gonna probably finish the book and then I'll let you guys know what I thought. Okay, so I just finished the book and I did like it, I enjoyed it. I I would recommend it. I just you there's nothing new happens in this book, though. Okay, so it is literally just parallel parallel of what was happening in the first book. It's just told from a different point of view. That's really it, that's the only difference. Um, obviously, new couples and everything. We we hear about the old couples from the first book here and there, and I'm gonna be honest, like this book makes Leon and Ray kind of look like a little bit like amateur, if I'm gonna be honest, you know, like they're just not as badass as this couple. The second book, I feel like both of them are kind of badass, uh, better pairing. I will say I do really like the female character in this book a better. I didn't really like Ray Lane in the first book, so this one was a little bit better. I love Juniper, I think she's such a badass. I still am on the fence, like I know the book is over, but Zayn isn't really my favorite. I don't know why. I like Leon better in the first book. Yeah, Zayn's okay. He's okay, and you know, he he's there for Juniper and blah blah blah and all that stuff, but I really kind of felt like he was like this, like a more of a side character instead of a main character. Even when we get to hear from his point of view, I'm just kind of like, uh, all right, you're not really giving me too much, I guess. Uh overall, it was great, though. There was a lot of action happening in this book. Uh yeah, so there was a lot of like there's a lot of like sex going on, so a lot of spicy stuff happening. I know I touched on that before, but it does still not my cup of tea, still, you know, I still listen to it or read it, whatever. Uh, I like to swap. For anybody that hasn't listened to me before, I usually have my audiobooks and um my Kindle or hard copy with me all the time. So I usually, you know, will swap between both. But anyways, I listened to most of this book because it's kind of a long book, and there's a lot of spicy stuff. I don't really uh there's like voyeurism happening in this, there's a lot of like BDSM, um, like kink play. There, and then what else? This one didn't have as I don't think there was any role-playing going on in this. That was in the first book with Raylan and Leon, I think. Or I can't remember. Anyways, there just check all the kinks in this, you know. I think that there might be like um a trigger warning thing in the beginning. I didn't read it, and I usually don't. But for the people who are not into certain things, and you know, this is not your cup of tea, definitely check those trigger warnings out beforehand because this is a lot. Uh anyways, the plot. I I'm a big, big fan of, you know, like smut with plot. I don't like just smut books. And this one has it does have a storyline, and it does, you know, I like the characters. I do like the storyline and keeps me entertained. However, this one didn't, I don't know, there I didn't get anything new, so to me, I was just kind of like, uh, it's just really smart, and then survival for um Juniper, you know. I would really have liked to see new things happening and like maybe growth or I don't know, something different besides just being like, okay, this is it's literally the same book, just from two different perspectives. I don't know. I didn't like that as much. I I think that if the third book is gonna be the same, like follow the same exact timeline, then I'm probably not gonna continue on with the last book, although I think the witch and the the um is it an archangel or demon? Anyways, the super powerful dude, the super powerful demon. I really want to read their story because they seem super interesting and intriguing. Also, they're both magical demons or demons, both magical like creatures or whatever, and that's kind of cool. So I don't know, maybe I will move forward at some point and read the third one. Let me know, guys, if you've already read the whole trilogy, is the third one worth it or can I skip it? You know, if it's gonna be the same exact thing, then I probably want to skip it. But if it gives me a little bit more or other perspectives um and timelines, like yes, and I am in, I'll pick it up. But back for this book, her soul for revenge. Uh, let's see, what was worth talking about? I don't know. Nothing really stuck out to me that I'm like, oh my god, I have to share that. Uh I guess. Oh, okay, so she kills the dad. So, you know, there's a scene she goes to the Halloween party, she's like, yo, Raylan, why are you trying to take Roofies here? Are you trying to die? Um, so all that happens, and we see it from her perspective. And Raylan really looks so so stupid and childish and immature during that scene. But, you know, so we see it now from Juniper's perspective, and then they leave the party, and then they they are able to like lure the dad that's like the leader of the cult, you know. So they lure him away, and then she just like completely goes like she chooses violence, you guys. It's a little graphic, it is very depraved, I think. But it was like, okay, cool, yes, this is you know, this is what we're here for. She wanted revenge. This is the whole reason she made the deal in the beginning of the book, and now she's able to get it, and she has a partner who's just as depraved as she is, and he's like rooting her on pretty much, and you know, it's I don't know. Anyways, it shouldn't have turned like hot and heavy, but it does because you know, why not? It is a smut book, so there's that, and you know, I know you guys are probably like using your imagination, like, yeah, what how if you haven't read the book and it's I I can't, I'm not gonna say it's not like it's not that bad, because yeah, it it is a like it's it's definitely dirty and depraved, but and it's like a way kind of and after he's been slain. I don't know, uh it's probably not helping, anyways. Just read the book. Don't don't use your imagination in this scenario, guys, because yeah, probably be way worse than what it actually was. However, so that scene was kind of crazy, and then I was thinking so the the book ended in the first one with like a house fire, and then everybody dies, and most of the cult members die and stuff too. Um, but I was kind of thinking like it was an intentional fire that happened, but we learn in this second book that it's not really there's like a huge battle between like the the god that's in um like taking over the a body. I don't know. So there's a lot going on, guys. There's a there's a whole lot of hoopla happening, but anyways, there's just a during the battle between um Zane and Jay Juniper and there's like uh oh my goodness, hold on. Anyway, so during the battle they like defeat the god. I don't think they don't kill him at all, they just kind of like put an end to the cult and then the followers, and then they obviously like they don't have the last sacrifice, so he's still he's still stuck and isn't able to come fully to power uh or anything like that. So I have a question because I'm like, if he can't be in like if he's not defeated and sent back to wherever he came from, um, then there's still a threat. But you know, they're just like woof, our work here is done. Let's go live a happy life because we've accomplished what we accomplished. I know they said that they're gonna like trust the witch to defeat the god and everything, and I'm sure that that will be in her book then. But for me, I'm like, how are they just gonna end it there and be like, all right, we've done enough, and then they like literally move on and leave and start a nice happy like future together, you know, or present, whatever. They start like a happy life, and I'm I'm just sitting here like wait a whole well, hold on. What happened to the god though? You know, you got rid of the cult, you got rid of his followers, but I'm sure he has a way to find new followers and to, you know, like I don't know, come still be resurrected somehow. You guys are cool with just leaving it as is, not me. No, thank you. I'd want to make sure, but you know, I guess maybe for the storyline and the the length of the book, that's the ending. You know, I maybe I will read the third book because I need closure here. Anyhow, um they yeah, so they get rid of the family and all that. There's like a boss, a level up moment, you know, where there is a um a reaper that gets summoned by the god, and then this reaper is like super powerful, more powerful than the demons. He's so scary, he doesn't look like the reaper that we imagine or that I imagine with like the black hood and all that. He's like a huge entity with like a lot of teeth and eyes and claws and barbed-wired wings or whatever. I don't know. I think that's how it was described. So I can't fully imagine it in my head, but you know, so scary. Yeah, he's supposed to be scary, and they do defeat him. And then during this battle, the house like the fire starts, you know. So house fire kind of starts, and just crazy things are happening. And the they're like, Well, we have to get out of here. Everybody's dead now that we needed. The Reaper's like, I will remember you guys, I'll remember your face. You're not gonna be safe in hell, and you know, so he leaves and he's like defeated with bullets made out of you know, like uh magical things. Oh gosh, I don't remember what it's called. Anyways, that's that's really it. Yeah, the book ends pretty much the same way as the first one. We just get to see what was happening in the house now from this point of view, and that's it. They were fighting, they're fighting, they win. A house fire starts by accident, kind of, and then they're like, All right, peace. So the house fire didn't even start to cover up any kind of evidence or to get rid of anything, like that's why I thought it started, but no, it was just coincidence. There's an epilogue told from Zayn's perspective, and he's basically just talking about you know, um, Juniper is getting counseling now, and they're happy, and they live near a beach, and they're content, and she is a lot softer now, and she doesn't walk around with weapons, and they love each other. It's like super ooey gooey, okay? It's too much romance for me. That's I thought this was supposed to be a dark book. What's going on? But yeah, it ends super sweet and soft and like lovey dovey and happy. I am all for mental health, and so I'm like, good, I'm glad she's going to counseling. She needs to do that. That's so good for her. But then, you know, like I don't know, it's just too gooey at the end. It's just my opinion. So it shifts. So Zayn going from being like kind of like nonchalant and like really into like lust and power and stuff, and then now he's like lovey and super supportive, and he's saying all the nice things and like all the right stuff. Like, oh, I'll be there for you no matter what. You always have me, you're not alone anymore, Juniper. You're never gonna be alone, you know. Like, we have eternity, and I want you to live out, you know, your life here, however that that looks, and together, you know, we I don't know, we can do that together. Uh it's I don't know. It was cute, but it was like you could tell that this is written by a woman. Like nobody, nobody's talking like that, especially from one extreme to another. It just seemed a little bit, a little bit silly to me. Yeah, all right, but I might be the only one that feels that way. I'm sure a lot of people really loved the ending and thought it was so so good and super sweet. And maybe it was on brand. I don't know. To me, it did not seem that way. It seemed a little bit off brand, like ah, that's not what this book is supposed to be. But, anyways, let me know what you guys thought. Let me know if we read the same book, and thank you guys so much for. Listening to my extremely messy thoughts on this, and I'll see you next week.