A review by redhairedashreads
City of Souls by Mel Harding-Shaw

3.0

 

3 stars - I liked it

Bounty Hunter Hel’s life depends on staying below the radar and passing as human. But when the Lord of the City of Souls discovers she can help him locate someone, he reclaims her bond-debt and brings her into the spotlight. And when dark magic starts infecting the city, they find they only have each other to rely on. 

While I found this to be a very interesting story and world, it did take me a while to get into it. Harding-Shaw has created a very interesting world that is partially modern but also apocalyptic with its abandoned structures and monsters. It has elementals, angel-like people, who rule over the humans and have elemental abilities like fire, air, etc. I found the whole concept of this world to be fascinating and really captivating, even if I struggled a bit with the characters.

While I liked both Hel and Bast, I found their relationship to be a bit rough for me to believe. There is a power imbalance between them because Bast owns Hel’s debt and has basically enslaved her to work for him. This debt becomes a main discussion point throughout the whole book and Hel frequently brings up the imbalance. This is an enemy to lovers story and I think the tension between them was good and made sense because of the situation.  But, I just struggled with actually seeing these two as successful couple until almost the end of the book, and even then I am not sure how great they will be. They come across as a good working team more than a couple for me in this first book. 

I will say, I really liked Hel and how badass she was. She took no shit from Bast and it made me like her a whole lot. I do still want to know more about her heritage and why specifically she is on the run. Bast was a character that I liked more as the book progressed. I didn’t love him for the first 50% or so but by the end I found myself liking him. I am interested in seeing how their relationship goes and if they start feeling like a solid couple to me. 

Overall, this was an interesting world and characters. While I didn’t love the romance, I am interested in seeing where it goes and what will happen next after that cliffhanger. 

TW: indentured servant; past death of a loved one;