Hello, reader!

It’s time for another magical mystery blog tour with the wonderful The Write Reads! In today’s post, I’ll be talking about the sequel to a paranormal fantasy I read and reviewed for a previous blog tour. Soul-Strung by Rachel Hobbs picks up right where Shadow-Stained left off and it is quite the whirlwind!

Now, before I jump into my stop and my review, I want to say thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads and the author for providing me with a free e-book in exchange for participation with this tour. It is, as always, much appreciated. All views written here are definitely my own!

Alright, let’s jump in, shall we?

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“The sequel to SHADOW-STAINED, Rachel Hobbs’ pulsating debut.

BATTLEWORN RUBY is putting her darkest days behind her, and where better to start again than the bustling Callien city? Too good to be true, when the demon of her past comes crashing back into her life, the warning he carries with him leaves it in pieces. Where Drayvex goes, chaos and mayhem trail in his wake. And she’s bound to him tighter than ever before.

SCHEMING DRAYVEX has been busy: chasing the demon turned traitor from world to world, keeping furtive tabs on the girl with a piece of his soul; oh, and running a demon empire. Concerned Ruby will be discovered alive, he enlists her on a hunt for the lapis temporis, an object that can quite literally turn back time, to fix old mistakes and kill their mutual enemy in the past. He’s done playing games.

POWER-STARVED SAYDOR is on the run. Converting to his cause one underdog at a time, his eyes and ears are everywhere. You can’t kill what you can’t find, and Saydor’s covert talent is deadly. The bigger you are, the harder you fall. And he’s just getting started.

But when you’re playing for time itself, how do you know when you’ve been here before?”

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Author Links

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Rachel Hobbs lives in South West Wales, where she hibernates with with her bearded dragon and her husband. By day she is a dental nurse at a small local practice. By night, she writes.

Her debut novel SHADOW-STAINED is the first in a dark fantasy series for adults, inspired by her dark and peculiar experiences with narcolepsy and parasomnia. She’s since subjugated her demons, and writes under the tenuous guise that they work for her.

Fuelled by an unhealthy amount of coffee, she writes about hard-boiled monsters with soft centres and things that go bump in the night. The Stones of Power series continues with SOUL-STRUNG, the second in this monstrous series of four.

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Spoiler alert!! Just giving fair warning that this is review is for the second book in a series. If you don’t want to be spoiled for what happens in the first book, Shadow-Stained, you might want to give this a miss. You could check out my review for that book instead to see if this series interests you without getting spoiled. You have been warned!

Now, as far as sequels go, this was a pretty solid book! We pick up the story after the fairly catastrophic happenings after the end of the first book. Ruby has moved back to her precious city and is settling in. She hasn’t seen or heard from the Demon Lord who turned her life upside down and isn’t quite sure where she’s upset about that. She’s gotten into a routine which is quickly disrupted once again by Drayvex, the aforementioned Demon Lord who is one a quest to snuff out a threat to his throne. And, of course, Ruby is thrown right into the middle of it.

I’m happy to say that a lot of what I enjoyed about the first book carried over into this one. Drayvex continues to be the best character in this series, with a bite and sarcastic nature that made me eager to read the parts from his perspective! I feel like he had even more nuance this time around as he struggles with how much he cares for a measly human woman. I feel like Ruby really came into her own in this book, as well! She had felt a little flat to me in the first story, like she was just there as a plot device. This time around, however, she had a lot more depth to her character.

I’m still yearning for more world-building, though! I was especially bummed that we didn’t really get to learn much more about Drayvex’s demon home or Ruby’s mysterious grandmother because these were aspects of the story that had already been established. I was hoping that would mean we would be getting more descriptions/backstory to help enrich the world of this novel, but that didn’t happen. There were a few tidbits thrown our way, but I felt like it wasn’t enough. I did enjoy getting to see the world of the fae and learning more about the devastating war between them and the demons. Even then, though, they were brief flashes that just left me wanting more! Still, Rachel Hobbs has created such a fascinating world that has so much potential to capture your imagination.

The plot of this story will definitely pull you in, as well. Though it has a bit of a slower start, I was immediately drawn in the tale and read this rather quickly. The action definitely picks up near the end and, once again, the fight scenes were one of the best aspects of this book! This author has a way of writing action scenes that keeps you breathless! I feel like the issues I had with the choppy pacing in the first book weren’t as prominent in this one, as well. This a definitely a series for people who like a slow, slow burn, too. The tension! You could legitimately cut it with a knife. And that ending! That is an ending that will absolutely make me read the next book!

Final thoughts: This was a solid sequel in a dark fantasy series that continues to hold my imagination. Though I could use more world-building and it had kind of a slow start, I still enjoyed my time with this book. The characters are easily my favorite aspect of this story, with Drayvex continuing to be an easy fave. He’s terrible and I love him for it. And the action will have you on the edge of your seat! Soul-Strung is a great addition to this series and certainly leaves you excited to read what’s next!

Star rating: