Review: Interesting concept and a great beginning to a new PNR series.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 13, 2012
Soul Weaver is the first book in the Wicked Kin series and the first book I've read by Hailey Edwards. The world that Ms. Edwards has created is a very interesting one and I really connected with the main character, Chloe. Soul Weaver sucked me in from the first chapter and I feel that the series has a lot of potential for development.Chloe is a loner who lives above her family's bookstore and has no ties to anyone. She's lived with agoraphobia her whole life and never made friends or attended school. Nathanial is a fallen angel who happens to be a soul weaver. He harvests the souls of people who have done despicable things and uses them to create wings for his fallen brethren. Nathanial doesn't like his job but he'll do what he must to protect Bran, his Nephilim nephew.One night while out reaping souls, Nathanial came across a car accident. He is not allowed to interfere and should keep his distance but he feels drawn to the disaster. He discovers a dying girl whose soul is the brightest he's seen since he fell from grace. He expects his angel brothers to come and take her soul but they don't. The girl has no ties and instead of moving on to heaven, her soul will be lost. Nathanial has seen atrocity after atrocity and can't live with that on his conscience. He decides to save her, knowing that he will be punished for the deed. Little did he know that by saving Chloe's soul from being lost that he ended up binding himself to her and damning her.Though there wasn't a lot of action in Soul Weaver, it was an emotional read. Other than Nathanial's asshat brother, the characters were very likeable and the chemistry between the main characters was very believable and touching. I saw so much of myself in Chloe that at times it was kinda scary. Hailey Edwards really understands (whether from personal experience or from vast amounts of research) what it is like for a person who suffers from panic attacks and agoraphobia. These are issues that I don't recall ever reading about in the paranormal genre and it made for interesting conflict within not only Chloe but for her relationship with Nathanial as well. Living with mental illness, regardless of the type, is beyond difficult so kudos to Ms. Edwards for bringing those issues to light in a positive way and showing the world just how hard simply taking a step out of your comfort zone can be for some people.Soul Weaver was a great beginning to a series I'm looking forward to getting more involved with. These aren't your typical fallen angels and Chloe now has to step way outside of her comfort zone if she and Nathanial want to find out who the big bad is. I look forward to reading book two and am very curious if the series will continue on from Chloe and Nathanial's POV or if it will be about someone else.