“It’s a very heavy read, in terms of religious responsibility and felt more like a historical, Puritan era story rather than the fantasy I was expecting.”

Review by Rayleigh Setser

Nineteen-year-old Sela is a murderer.

After being sentenced to death for the accidental killing of a wealthy, well-connected man, Sela Meriweather is offered another option—to be stripped of her soul and sentenced to lifetime exile on Azazel, the vast prison-island. There, alongside “dangerous” criminals like herself, firstborn children of the Old Town chosen by the lot are sent to atone for the sins of their families.

As one of the elected Righteous, Caleb Alexander’s path to widespread renown is guaranteed so long as he can endure a year as an overseer on Azazel, preventing the other guards from fraternizing with the prisoners. But as he finds himself drawn to Sela, Caleb wrestles with the implications of his new role and the laws forbidding contact between jailer and prisoner. Could a woman like Sela truly be soulless?

While Caleb tries to resist his growing attraction, Sela struggles with the weight of her sins and the past she has kept from Caleb. But when mutiny against the Old Town brews on Azazel, Sela and Caleb must work together to stay alive…and to uncover the truth behind the very powers that created Azazel in the first place.

While I loved the premise of The Soul Mark and found the characters to have reasonable depth and motivation for their actions, I struggled to get through this. It's a very heavy read, in terms of religious responsibility and felt more like a historical, Puritan era story rather than the fantasy I was expecting.

Overall, if you enjoy overtly Christian/religious themed fantasy with a heavy emphasis on navigating the rights and wrongs of religious law, you should give this book a chance. It didn't quite tick all of my fantasy boxes, though.

Content Ratings:

5. Action present (frequent and mildly detailed battle sequences and/or fights).

2. Romance with mild content (holding hands and mild kissing).

0. None.

Other Trigger/Content Notices:

Heavy topics such as sin and religious injustice. Violence and death are also prevalent topics.

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