The Soul City Salvation is about an aspiring actor who moved to Soul City, California. His struggles with mental health issues (anxiety, OCD) are so relatable that I had to pause with some reading. I myself have struggled with both things and this hard topic was so well conveyed. I feel like we've all told ourselves some situations are temporary only to be stuck there for so much longer. Being stuck, lost, needing to be whole and healed again--spiritually and creatively. Please pick up this book.

Wow, I loved this book way more than I anticipated. I knew I would enjoy it because I love a book that gives an honest depiction of mental health and the struggles that come along with it, but LaPoma knocked this one out of the park.

The main character’s struggle with his mental health was written with such passion and felt so heartfelt that it almost felt at times that I was just having a conversation with a friend about our struggles. It was a deeply honest and compassion depiction of OCD and mental health struggles, and is one I’ll definitely be recommending to everyone.

this was an enjoyable read, the characters were great and I really enjoyed reading this book. i'd look forward to more from the author.

My first DNF of 2020, unfortunately. And I’m really disappointed, because I so desperately wanted to like this book.

The premise is interesting and one I feel a lot of people could relate to - finding yourself as a mid-20s person while dredging away at a job you’re resigned to but don’t particularly care about and trying to deal with mental health issues.

This book let me down in so many ways, and I tried to keep coming back to it and finish it, but I’ve finally resigned myself to the fact that I just don’t care enough.

The plot seemed to meander along pointlessly, and no matter how many characters were introduced, none of them ever felt fully fleshed out. He’d meet a fellow teacher and have chemistry and I’d get excited only for that relationship to go literally nowhere.

I’m not sure what the point of this book was, but the publisher seems to be pushing the OCD perspective and it barely felt present in the book. The entire first portion of the book you don’t get a single glimpse of his compulsions, he just comes across as a total asshole. But when he’s finally diagnosed, suddenly his compulsions are obvious and intrusive enough to warrant becoming a viral video laughingstock.

I don’t know, this book just felt pointless and flat to me. I never cared about any of the characters, especially the main character. None of them felt real, and everything from the other characters to the mental illness symptoms felt like nothing more than plot devices.

I’m kind of sad writing this review, but it is what it is. I tried to like this book, wanted to so badly fall in love with someone’s story and triumph. But ultimately, I just couldn’t get through it.

*I was provided with an ARC from the publisher for an unbiased review.*

I tried really hard to like this book but didn't find it to be incredibly genuine or interesting. It comes across as manipulating the truth to fit a desired story and that's a no go for me.

It took me a long time to finish this book (sorry...)
I started reading amidst the covid19 outbreak, and as a healthcare worker I was suddenly working overtime every single week. and this is simply not the book I would settle down and relax with after work. So I read a few other books in between, but kept picking this up every now and then to read a couple of chapters.
But I still really liked the book! It is a little slow, but once you get to know the main character and get invested in his life, you want to keep reading to find out what happens to him. I love that this is a book about mental health and not knowing what to do with your life, even when you're not a teenager anymore. it is so real for so many people, and I could really relate to that.

Wow this was exhilarating. A real voyage of discovery. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read it.

This was such an emotional read, as Jay was an extremely relatable character. So many of us are not where we want to be in life when we want to be. The author conveyed this struggle with Jay and his journey, along with how people come into your life just when you need them to. Jay's journey was an interesting read and I found it to be realistic.

Nope. This one wasn't for me. I tried. to like it and I only made it about 1/4 of the way through. Sometimes a book doesn't mesh with you, and this was the case for me.

Wow. What a ride. Writer and aspiring actor Jay Sakovsky, aka Johnny Sacrum, moves to Soul City, CA to teach while he works out his anxiety and OCD. He was only supposed to be there for 10 months; but ten months turns into 5 years, and he is weathered and bitter about his teaching job. He feels like everyone is out to get him, they don't understand his disease, and worst of all, he hasn't made it to Hollywood.

This book really is about Jay trying to find his niche and shows how much love can help you find and believe in yourself. This was an awesome read, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the privilege to read and review LaPoma's book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This book just wasn't for me. I found it slow and couldn't focus on the plot or characters. I'm very sad, that I had to DNF it. I hope to try and read it again in the future and if I do, I will come back and update my review.

This book reminded me of two things; one- we are all on different journeys and two- we don't get there at the same time worse off the same way. I love how easy it was to relate to Jay, because he was human- he was imperfect, difficult, weary, sweet, hopeful, creative, loving, scared- everything in one and on top of this he did not know how to find his way to the inner peace that he was looking for, because what he saw on the surface as anxiety turned out to be much more.
There's a part in the book where he asks "How long will it take to fix me?" and it tore at my heartstrings.
So, honestly speaking, this is not one of those books you can say will make you feel a certain type of way, and that's refreshing. It will however make you feel different things at different times and you may or may not fancy it.
Major shout out to the cover designer!
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.