Kingdom of Souls started out with promise.
The premise and world are well thought out with beautiful descriptions and amazing characters. I loved the concept of people obtaining magic from the gods at a certain age, and the rituals that the people in the book undertook in order to maintain it. The main story is about children that are going missing in the town and the fear that the Demon King might be returning. There’s a slow build up of the main character, Arrah, not having any magic and how people are freaking out because young children are going missing. It’s beautifully done. There’s a point; however, where that well-thought out story and building tension gets thrown out of the window.
Roughly a third into the book everything changes and craziness ensues. Everything just speeds up. I was disoriented as a reader and often found myself confusing characters because they were only mentioned once or twice and weren’t developed enough for them to stand out. Arrah’s motivations as a character seemed haphazardly developed. I feel like I needed more time for her to set up her relationship with her sister and deal with her anger at not having magic.
By the end of the book I was exhausted with trying to keep up with everything that was happening. This is a series, and the second book with definitely have a love triangle in it, which is frustrating.

This was surprisingly good read.
I had no expectations going in to it, and knew almost nothing about the plot.

The plot was rich and suspenseful in all of the best ways and the magic system was incredibly well done.

I really enjoyed this.

Rena Barron launches us into this rich, complex, magical and thrilling story. I couldn’t put the book down and I am desperate to read more of this wonderful world.

Magic has a price - if you’re willing to pay.

The story centres around a young woman called Arrah, who was born from two powerful bloodlines of witchdoctors. Each year she is tested to call forth her own ancestral magic, her heritage, and each year it escapes her grasp. She yearns for the magic that comes so easily to others to impress her ever-disappointed mother and supportive, loving father.

There is another way to reach magic, scraps of it, but it comes at a cost, that cost being the years of your life.

Back in Kingdom after coming home from the Tribal lands, children begin to go missing, Arrah is desperate to find out where they have gone and is willing to trade her years, for a scrap of magic to find the culprit.

What she finds leads her on a rollercoaster journey of desperation, betrayal, loss and discovery for a demon king is rising with a hunger for souls and Arrah may be the only one who can stop him.

Utterly compelling and complex. I was hooked from the start and my heart breaks for the struggles of these characters against gods and demons from the dawn of time. Arrah is a fierce, heroic character who I fell in love with.

A brilliant novel which surprised and excited me. I cannot wait to read it again and for the story to continue.