Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Soul Collector

Rate this book
Break the curse, or lose your soul.
A family curse.
A crumbling kingdom.
A soul binding debt only one can pay...
and the cost may just be her soul.

Within a poverty stricken kingdom where legends of the war between the angels and demons haunt the land, Esme Loutari is imprisoned by the king for rumors of witchcraft. It's through a twist of fate, which leaves many bodies behind, Esme discovers she inherited her family's curse - to siphon souls for the god of Death.

While the king orders her return to his dungeons, and a rogue demon seeks to bring her to Death's realm, Esme must place her life in the hands of immortal warriors duty-bound to keep her safe. Their mysterious leader, Aiden, promises to be on Esme's side as they assist her in breaking this curse. But when it comes to immortals, nothing is as it seems....

The Soul Collector is a compelling, action-packed, young adult fantasy where secrets kill, and duty and desire can tear you apart. Perfect for fans of Kerri Maniscalco and Sabaa Tahir.

357 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 7, 2023

28 people are currently reading
866 people want to read

About the author

Audrey Steves

3 books21 followers
Audrey is the author of the YA fantasy novel The Soul Collector. Although fantasy is her preferred genre she will read anything with a swoon-worthy romance, cool sword fights, or anything where the pets survive.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
37 (36%)
4 stars
34 (33%)
3 stars
17 (16%)
2 stars
10 (9%)
1 star
4 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Audrey Steves.
Author 3 books21 followers
December 30, 2022
Had to toot my own horn a little because this was hard work. But I love the characters and I love the story they tell. I hope you can find something in it to enjoy as well!
Profile Image for Karla Miller.
20 reviews
March 20, 2023
I enjoyed the storyline and am excited to see Esme grow. She has gone through a lot and the way it ended makes me want to know when the 2nd book comes out.

There are a few things that bothered me, but I think they are just me pet peeves. I personally don’t like when a character says they winked at someone because I’ve never seen it done in real life. I also noticed her say “mask” a lot when it came to describing some people’s expressions. That for me seemed very repetitive. The last thing, is her constantly tearing up and crying. It makes me wonder what her sign is because baby girl was in tears a lot. I understand she’s going through a lot so I get her crying a lot.

With that said, I’m holding on to hope that she is going to be a strong woman who no longer has tears in her eyes that burn her throat. A lot happened to her so she needs to be strong!

Definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy and demon stories!

Can’t wait for the next book!
Profile Image for David Peck.
57 reviews56 followers
April 14, 2023
Considering how this is Audrey Steves’ debut novel she really hit the nail on the head with this fantasy book. Not only can you see the influences of other works in the genre come to light but Steves does a masterful job of crafting a unique and interesting story that captivated me throughout every chapter. However my few gripes were the pacing and dramatic set up towards the end. Things lost their stable pacing as we whisked to the finish line and, with out spoiling, certain dramatic twists felt unnecessary because they were then undone by another twist. That being said I still greatly found myself enjoying this sorry. There’s magic, love triangles, drama, demons, and much more. If you want a solid fantasy book I highly recommend this.
Profile Image for kathryn vinson.
32 reviews1 follower
February 7, 2023
ARC READER COPY

Magical, Thrilling, and a beautiful debut novel, Audrey Steves expertly creates a new world of magic unlike any I’ve read before.

The novel follows Esme as she tries to break her family’s curse of stealing souls. And although the novel starts with Esme as a prisoner at court the book quickly escalates and finds it’s footing as you continue.

Overall the characters (but especially Esme) were layered and full and rarely fell trap to cliches. While reading The Soul Collector you’re always rooting for Esme and her character is a joy to read in all her interactions.

Thank you Audrey for letting me read this beautiful story!
Profile Image for Emily  | EMVZ.woodandbooks.
170 reviews16 followers
January 5, 2023
**ARC review**
NO spoilers. Honest review for ebook copy.

Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Summary:
Esme Loutari battles to stay alive and free from a life in chains while trying to break her family's curse of stealing souls. Through a twist of fate, she places her life in the hands of immortal warriors. The mysterious immortal leader, Aiden and her seem to have some kind of bond which pulls them together, but the true question is 'can she trust these immortals to help keep her and her family out of danger?' Secrets are revealed about her family, the curse and the immortals throughout the book. Ultimately, will Esme find a way to keep her family safe? Stay out of captivity? Curb or release her feelings with Aiden? Break the curse?

My review:
"𝗠𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝗜 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀, 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝘆. 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁..."

The characters were will written. There are characters that you will love and others you will not. The side characters added depth to the story with their own relationships to each other and the main characters. What really makes the book is that the author did a great job by capturing my attention and emotions with the female main character, Esme from the start. I was invested in her, rode the roller-coaster with her and cheered her on the whole time. POV from her only.

“𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲. 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗜 𝘀𝗽𝘂𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲.”

Esme and Aiden relationship was a slow burn romance. There were some intense moments between them and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for one of them to finally make a move!

There was one plot twist/point towards the end that I saw coming because of the hints from the previous chapter. Although, the very end was something I didn't expect until it was happening. I thought it was going to go a different route... unexpected, but great ending nonetheless. Overall, the characters, writing and plot were outstanding. A little more world building around the characters would be nice. You can tell the time put into this book with each word and sentence in there for a reason. No nonsense or fluff. It's a clean read, but still best for upper YA Fantasy readers due to warnings below.

Some of many tropes:
Slow Burn
Force proximity
Body guard romance
Tough her and die
Forbidden love
Chosen one
Found Family

Some trigger warnings:
Violence
Assault
Death/Murder
Forced captivity

I would definitely recommend this book to fans of these tropes and upper YA Fantasy. I look forward to hopefully reading more books from this author in the future!
Profile Image for Neena Laskowski.
Author 9 books143 followers
March 5, 2023
I read this as ARC and wow, this was so well done.

I don’t think I have read a first chapter that immediately thrusts you into the tension and action in such a captivating way. I was hooked! The slow-burn romance is *chef’s kiss.* I really enjoyed the characters and the main character’s love for her family. I loved the idea of Esme’s ability and the curse, and I’m eager to see how that develops in the second book.

The last few chapters also had me so frustrated and eager to see how it ended. I cannot wait for book two to come out!

Well done!!
Profile Image for ThatBookishWriter.
389 reviews18 followers
January 30, 2023
I couldn’t put this book down to save my life. I was sucked in instantly. I loved the world that was created here. The characters were interesting and kept me second guessing on who was trustworthy.

I love Esme. She has been through so much and I can truly understand not knowing who to trust. I felt for her and my heart aches for everything that she went through. She is so strong, no matter what is thrown at her.

Aiden, such an interesting and complex character. My feelings for him is all over the place!

This book made me feel so many emotions. I laughed, I cried, I got angry and so much more. I love that this was a good slow burn romance.

I was in the edge of my seat towards the end. Please tell me that there is a book 2??? Because I need to know what’s going to happen next!
Profile Image for Mickey | Novellus.jpg.
7 reviews
July 16, 2024
Book Review & Star Rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I was nervous about this one, I think because on the blurb it says things about kingdoms and realms, I was hoping that whatever was happening in the book would make sense and not come across as not thought out well enough. I do love a good YA book, especially fantasy.
I started the first chapter anxious at about 9pm and then I finished the entire thing in one sitting, finishing at 3am.. starving to know what had happened, I immediately went to find out if there was another book to quench my thirst.
“A family curse, a crumbling kingdom, a soul binding debt only one can pay… and the cost may just be her soul” - it says on the back.. for the first time in a long time I felt as though “the cost of one’s soul” was actually accurate, the emotions this book gave me in one evening, was a roller coaster. Anxious, stressed, excited, angry and so many tears. I don’t know if happy tears, stressed tears or angry tears but tears. I was pulled right into the pages, and intoxicated by the chaos, every time I thought… ah that’s good.. my heart was shattered again, and I was back to despair and wondering what could possibly happen.
If you like having your emotions played with, I recommend this book. It’s magical, in more ways than I expected. The details and descriptions throughout left me hanging onto the pages and sometimes made me want to close the book for a moment. I had a few dislikes throughout, like waiting for the FMC to stand up for herself and see her become stronger, and also the pacing was sometimes going faster than necessary, especially towards the end.
I have so many questions and need so many answers, I’m still dreaming about scenes I can’t get out of my head. It’s definitely unique, and that’s something that I love. It’s safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed this read and it definitely has made it a little difficult to find the next ideal read for me in my TBR.

Trigger warnings; Violence, Descriptions of violence, assault, death, murder, forced captivity.
322 reviews1 follower
February 26, 2023
As quick as this book pulled me in it lost me! The characters writing is very good. And the story starts off really well. But then the plot holes are really jarring. Like, how does he know where her family is but it took him four months to find her? Why, if the last thing she wants is to be caught by the king Do they go to a festival one village away from the castle. It LITERALLY makes no sense. At all. It also makes no sense that the king took so long to find her with like everyone knowing who she is. The slow burn was well written, up until the end. I also would be doubtful that this should be classified as upper ya just because the FMC is under 18. Started the book with the feels, ending the book disappointed. I do think this author has a lot of potential, and there were really enjoyable parts of the book. However, maybe there could be less ‘tears burning of eyes and throats’
Profile Image for melting.
9 reviews6 followers
March 31, 2023
Sorry, this was just such an awkward read. Two stars for originality in terms of the story and world building, but that’s all i can give. It just doesn’t feel like this book went through any kind of editor or proofreader. There are so many run on sentences, overused words/phrases, and continuity errors. The formatting of the pages also feels off and uncentered.
The dialogue seemed clunky and awkward. The characters’ interactions were awkward and felt so forced. I tried my best to immerse myself in this world as I read but the frequency of errors was incredibly jarring.
I understand that this is Audrey Steves’ first released work. I 100% support self-publishing and new authors, but this one just doesn’t feel like it was ready.
Profile Image for Marcella.
502 reviews21 followers
January 5, 2023
It was a good start of a romantasy series!

Love the theme and general setting of the book, of angels and demons and deceits. Esme is a good lead, albeit a little too soft and sometimes reckless, but I'm looking forward her character development in future books! Aiden is a dear, no doubt. Curious about Elias and what role he would play in the next book. I wish we will get to see more magic and details in the world building while this series continues!

( ARC copy provided by the author in exchange with an honest review )
Profile Image for Rieka.
392 reviews7 followers
February 6, 2023
I love how unique this story is!! It pulled me in right from the beginning! The theme, the setting, and the characters have this fascinating pull that just makes you want more of the story. There's so much to unpack in this story that the plot twists will give your whiplash and crush your heart at the same time. If you love a good Angels and Demons book this one is right up your alley. I can't forget to add that it has one of my favorites tropes which is enemies to lovers but we get slapped with the back to enemies again and it made my head spin trying to figure out what could possible be next.

I love Esme. Her love for her family is so pure and felt on every page she's with them. Aiden I have a love hate relationship with cause of what goes down in the book.....Elias I'm iffy about also. I felt such a rollercoaster ride with my emotions in these that I just can't quite put my finger on who I trust yet or not. The cliffhanger had me so frustrated yet so glad cause it just means there's more to come and I can't wait!!
49 reviews2 followers
January 25, 2023
I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It had everything I enjoy, angles and demons' heck yeah, throw in slow burn, bodyguard romance, forbidden love and found family. Yes, yes yes!!! Those aren't even all of the tropes in this book. This kept me entertained and sucked in from the beginning. I am looking forward to more books by this author, a very solid debut novel!
Profile Image for Rachel R. M..
Author 2 books1 follower
May 17, 2023
The amount of times the FMC had tears burning her throat or eyes made me want to cry. But, the story kept me very invested and I will be reading book 2 to see how it all goes for the characters. Let’s hope Esme does a lot more fighting and less crying, less being kidnapped, less being coddled by everyone else around her… grow a backbone, girlie!
Profile Image for Savanna Vandusen.
144 reviews8 followers
January 24, 2023
This book blew me away! It brought something new to the table that I haven't read before and it did not disappoint! Angels, demons, enemies to lovers to enemies again, etc. Her writing is very similar to Jennifer L. Armentrout and I can not wait to see what this author has in store for the future.
Profile Image for Autumn Coker.
8 reviews
March 4, 2023
Slow Burn, Great Story Line

I was not sure I was going to love this book. It started off very slow, but by the end of the book, I am now hooked on Esme’s story. I can’t wait to see what happens next. If you aren’t a fan of major cliffhangers, I would be prepared!
6 reviews
August 19, 2023
I'm not usually a fantasy book reader but decided to give this one a try. I loved it. The story-line is good and there is an emotional pull. I read the first half of the book the day I started it. I highly recommend it. I can't wait for book 2.
1 review
February 23, 2023
Exciting with unexpected twists and fascinating characters. Left me wanting more. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Ashley.
4 reviews
March 20, 2023
Finished this in a day-SOOO good!! I will wait very impatiently for the second book 😭
Profile Image for Hannah.
19 reviews1 follower
October 6, 2023
Ending was good but frustrating

Slow burn of a book that I skimmed some chapters but the ending twist was interesting and left a lot of questions
Profile Image for LeeAnn De La Cruz.
43 reviews2 followers
March 14, 2023
This book keeps you HOOKED. There’s so much action happening and the slow burn is 🤌 The cliff hanger has me shook! I can’t wait for the next book in this series!
Profile Image for Chichilovestoread.
473 reviews
April 24, 2023
I went through so many emotions

Omg this book was amazing. The twist of events left me wanting more. I have no other words. If your into reading string FMC and slow burns with exciting world building and suspense.. Read this book!!!
Profile Image for Ilky.
78 reviews1 follower
December 5, 2023
One of the best fantasy books out there!
Profile Image for Kelsey  Snook.
414 reviews1 follower
Read
August 22, 2024
This book ended up getting darker than I expected towards the end, but I was here for it. "I don't let people get away with touching what is mine." (I refrain from reviewing books I've edited)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.