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Double-Souls
Two souls. Two hearts. One body.
Honoring an ancient tradition, Felan chooses to become a double-soul, taking a nature spirit into his body. But Kahal is nothing like what he expected. Fascinated by things like airships and electricity, Kahal insists on being taken to a modern city. They must hide their nature, for double-souls are forbidden, wiped out a generation ago when the Torelian Empire conquered Felan’s people.
Felan meets Addie, a Torelian that defies his expectations. Kind and accepting, she runs the city’s first animal shelter. Though Felan tries to fight it, his attraction to her only grows. To make matters worse, Kahal falls for an inventor's assistant. Not understanding the taboo against same-sex love, Kahal pursues the shy, brilliant Edwin.
Living two lives with one body becomes a delicate balance full of arguments and reluctant bargains. But when one of their lovers is in danger, Felan and Kahal will put aside their differences and risk everything by tapping into their true power.
A story of compromise and love with a fascinating twist on shapeshifters.
Honoring an ancient tradition, Felan chooses to become a double-soul, taking a nature spirit into his body. But Kahal is nothing like what he expected. Fascinated by things like airships and electricity, Kahal insists on being taken to a modern city. They must hide their nature, for double-souls are forbidden, wiped out a generation ago when the Torelian Empire conquered Felan’s people.
Felan meets Addie, a Torelian that defies his expectations. Kind and accepting, she runs the city’s first animal shelter. Though Felan tries to fight it, his attraction to her only grows. To make matters worse, Kahal falls for an inventor's assistant. Not understanding the taboo against same-sex love, Kahal pursues the shy, brilliant Edwin.
Living two lives with one body becomes a delicate balance full of arguments and reluctant bargains. But when one of their lovers is in danger, Felan and Kahal will put aside their differences and risk everything by tapping into their true power.
A story of compromise and love with a fascinating twist on shapeshifters.
- GenresFantasy
203 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 2014
1 person is currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Devin Harnois
27 books82 followersDevin Harnois has several published novels and he’d have more if he spent less time on Twitter and playing Dragon Age. Most of his books involve magic, monsters, and hope. They're also getting progressively more queer. He collects skull items and only a strong will prevents his apartment from being overrun by them.
In second grade he wrote his first story, a romance about two mice falling in love. He still has the original draft.
Devin lives in Minneapolis.
In second grade he wrote his first story, a romance about two mice falling in love. He still has the original draft.
Devin lives in Minneapolis.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 31, 2016
Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
TW: discussion of rape within the plot and within the book.
Double-Souls is an odd little book that I liked very much despite some factors that bothered me. It’s a fantasy romance with paranormal and steampunk elements about a person who is “double souled.” One soul falls in love with a woman and one with a man. This means that the book has elements of a m/f romance, elements of an m/m romance, and elements of a ménage romance without exactly fitting into any of those categories.
Felan is a member of the Nevarah, a group of people that was conquered and colonized by the Toreliens. Felan is honored to be chosen to be the vessel of a nature spirit, named Kahal. When the two combine their energies, they can shapeshift, which makes the two souls function as one incredibly powerful warrior. The plan, as established by tradition, is that Felan and Kahal will inhabit the same body in harmony and work for the betterment of Felan’s people.
But Felan and Kahal are not “in harmony.” To Felan’s horror, Kahal is fascinated by the Torelians. Kahal insists on a trip to the big city. While there, both Felan and Kahal are forced to question their methods and their loyalties while Felan falls in love with a Torelian woman and Kahal falls for a Torelian man.
This book raises a ton of issues. For starters, Kahal is creepy and invasive and a borderline rapist. One of the first things he does is forcibly take over Felan’s body, which terrifies Felan so much that Kahal is able to hold the threat of taking over the body over him for the rest of the book. I cannot begin to express how disturbing this sequence is and how much groveling I felt Kahal would have to grovel to redeem himself (the grovel is not forthcoming).
I admired this book for its ambition even though it’s messy. At its worst, it presents reprehensible acts (I’m looking at you, Kahal) with a total lack of accountability. How can Kahal be redeemed for his control and abuse of Felan’s body if he never realizes that his actions were so wrong, and he never apologizes? The story also presents a simplistic attitude towards colonialism. It’s easy to say that Felan and his people should not attack innocent Torelians. But by not exploring alternative methods of resistance in any detail, the non-violent view comes across as more trite than humane.
Even though this story has a number of scenes that are deal breakers for me, I admire the book because it’s different and it’s ambitious. It’s also well written for the most part although it could have used some tightening up given all the different elements at play. The descriptions of the city are excellent. I’m giving it a C largely because it’s so ambitious. It would have earned a much higher grade if some of Kahal’s actions had been treated with the gravity that they deserved, and a much lower grade if not for the fact that it’s interesting and thought-provoking.
- Carrie S.
TW: discussion of rape within the plot and within the book.
Double-Souls is an odd little book that I liked very much despite some factors that bothered me. It’s a fantasy romance with paranormal and steampunk elements about a person who is “double souled.” One soul falls in love with a woman and one with a man. This means that the book has elements of a m/f romance, elements of an m/m romance, and elements of a ménage romance without exactly fitting into any of those categories.
Felan is a member of the Nevarah, a group of people that was conquered and colonized by the Toreliens. Felan is honored to be chosen to be the vessel of a nature spirit, named Kahal. When the two combine their energies, they can shapeshift, which makes the two souls function as one incredibly powerful warrior. The plan, as established by tradition, is that Felan and Kahal will inhabit the same body in harmony and work for the betterment of Felan’s people.
But Felan and Kahal are not “in harmony.” To Felan’s horror, Kahal is fascinated by the Torelians. Kahal insists on a trip to the big city. While there, both Felan and Kahal are forced to question their methods and their loyalties while Felan falls in love with a Torelian woman and Kahal falls for a Torelian man.
This book raises a ton of issues. For starters, Kahal is creepy and invasive and a borderline rapist. One of the first things he does is forcibly take over Felan’s body, which terrifies Felan so much that Kahal is able to hold the threat of taking over the body over him for the rest of the book. I cannot begin to express how disturbing this sequence is and how much groveling I felt Kahal would have to grovel to redeem himself (the grovel is not forthcoming).
I admired this book for its ambition even though it’s messy. At its worst, it presents reprehensible acts (I’m looking at you, Kahal) with a total lack of accountability. How can Kahal be redeemed for his control and abuse of Felan’s body if he never realizes that his actions were so wrong, and he never apologizes? The story also presents a simplistic attitude towards colonialism. It’s easy to say that Felan and his people should not attack innocent Torelians. But by not exploring alternative methods of resistance in any detail, the non-violent view comes across as more trite than humane.
Even though this story has a number of scenes that are deal breakers for me, I admire the book because it’s different and it’s ambitious. It’s also well written for the most part although it could have used some tightening up given all the different elements at play. The descriptions of the city are excellent. I’m giving it a C largely because it’s so ambitious. It would have earned a much higher grade if some of Kahal’s actions had been treated with the gravity that they deserved, and a much lower grade if not for the fact that it’s interesting and thought-provoking.
- Carrie S.
Displaying 1 of 1 review