Soulswift by Megan Bannen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summary from GoodReads
A dark, epic fantasy about a girl who must reevaluate everything she believes after she is betrayed and hunted by the religion that raised her—from Megan Bannen, author of The Bird and the Blade. Perfect for fans of The Winner’s Curse and The Girl of Fire and Thorns.
Gelya is a Vessel, a girl who channels the word of the One True God through song. Cloistered with the other Vessels of her faith, she believes—as all Ovinists do—that a saint imprisoned Elath the Great Demon centuries ago, saving humanity from earthly temptation.
When Gelya stumbles into a deadly cover-up by the Ovinists’ military, she reluctantly teams up with Tavik, an enemy soldier, to survive. Tavik believes that Elath is actually a mother goddess who must be set free, but while he succeeds in opening Her prison, he inadvertently turns Gelya into Elath’s unwilling human vessel.
Now the church that raised Gelya considers her a threat. In a race against the clock, she and Tavik must find a way to exorcise Elath’s presence from her body. But will this release stop the countdown to the end of the world, or will it be the cause of the earth’s destruction? And as Tavik and Gelya grow closer, another question lingers between them: What will become of Gelya?
Gelya is a Vessel, a girl who channels the word of the One True God through song. Cloistered with the other Vessels of her faith, she believes—as all Ovinists do—that a saint imprisoned Elath the Great Demon centuries ago, saving humanity from earthly temptation.
When Gelya stumbles into a deadly cover-up by the Ovinists’ military, she reluctantly teams up with Tavik, an enemy soldier, to survive. Tavik believes that Elath is actually a mother goddess who must be set free, but while he succeeds in opening Her prison, he inadvertently turns Gelya into Elath’s unwilling human vessel.
Now the church that raised Gelya considers her a threat. In a race against the clock, she and Tavik must find a way to exorcise Elath’s presence from her body. But will this release stop the countdown to the end of the world, or will it be the cause of the earth’s destruction? And as Tavik and Gelya grow closer, another question lingers between them: What will become of Gelya?
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REVIEW
I received an e-ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
How am I supposed to write this review now? When I am still emotionally compromised and want to curl in a ball and cry? Megan Bannen hows very, very well how to pull her readers strings and make us all root for her characters and also make them stay with us even after the story is done.
Souldswift takes place in a fantasy world where the Northern kingdoms believe in the Ovin religion and there are the Ovinist Knights and in the South, there are those who believe and revere the Mother Elath. The two religions clash together as both have different aspects of who Elath was a demon or a goddess and the Ovinist knights have her soul imprisoned in a mountain.
In the middle of all this tension comes Gelya, a Daughter and a Vessel of the true Father, a kind of a nun if you please. Her heritage puts her at odds with the other Daughters and all Vessels have the power to imbue feelings when they sing the religious anthems.
But when a prisoner, Tavik, is brought in the monastery who is a holy fighter of the Mother, a Two-Swords they will both be forced to face the true religions, the lies, the secrets, and uncover the mystery behind the Goddess. When an event ties them together in a journey to search for the goddess they both will be challenged, but their beliefs and their growing feelings.
What shook me in this book was the relevance to today. Faith can be a very strong thing and fanatism can also be the double-edged sword that cuts people and lives. Through Tavik and Gelya I saw how they saw their world: that the women are the image of Elath thus sinful (bleh), that in the South women and men were equal, and how easily people especially the Knights were so fanatic about the imprisoned goddess that were capable of horrible crimes.
I enjoyed the banter of Tavik and Gelya. They were amazing together in all this trip they undertook and I rooted for them as they fell for each other. The final pages of the ebook gutted me and the epilogue surprised me. Trust me you will not be disappointed.
Totally recommended!
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