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The Soul Keepers #1
The Soul Keepers
Death is just the beginning.
After dying in a terrible car accident, Rhett awakens in the afterlife and is recruited to join the crew of the Harbinger, a colossal seafaring vessel tasked with ferrying the souls of the dead. To where exactly, no one knows. But the crew must get the souls there, and along the way protect them from vicious soul-eating monsters that will stop at nothing to take the ship and all of its occupants.
Rhett and his new friends have a hard enough time fighting back the monsters that grow bolder and more ferocious every day. But then a new threat emerges, a demon who wants something that Rhett has. And if she gets it, it could mean the end of everything... for both the living and the dead.
After dying in a terrible car accident, Rhett awakens in the afterlife and is recruited to join the crew of the Harbinger, a colossal seafaring vessel tasked with ferrying the souls of the dead. To where exactly, no one knows. But the crew must get the souls there, and along the way protect them from vicious soul-eating monsters that will stop at nothing to take the ship and all of its occupants.
Rhett and his new friends have a hard enough time fighting back the monsters that grow bolder and more ferocious every day. But then a new threat emerges, a demon who wants something that Rhett has. And if she gets it, it could mean the end of everything... for both the living and the dead.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published July 3, 2018
15 people are currently reading
2589 people want to read
About the author
Devon Taylor
3 books47 followersDevon Taylor was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and currently lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two daughters. His day job consists of sneaking around the house with ninja-like stealth to avoid waking up his kids. When not writing, reading, or tediously typing out text messages with all the correct spelling and punctuation, he spends his time with his family. He is the author of THE SOUL KEEPERS, THE GHOST SEEKERS, and the upcoming DAGGER HILL.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
August 28, 2018
You can find this review and more on my blog: My Endless Shelf.
This book took me COMPLETELY by surprise!
I admit that I struggled a little to get into it at the beginning but I quickly got caught up in the fantastic mythology.
To sum it up, this book felt like a mixture of Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and a modern spin on Greek mythology.
I loved the writing style, particularly when it came to the action scenes which were fantastic, and also the plot twists which were extremely unexpected.
The characters were varied and interesting, keeping me engaged throughout and the mythology is fascinating, especially the ship itself, and its changing nature.
My only complaint with this book was the ending, I just felt that it left so many unanswered questions. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend The Soul Keepers to mythology and YA fantasy lovers in general.
This book took me COMPLETELY by surprise!
I admit that I struggled a little to get into it at the beginning but I quickly got caught up in the fantastic mythology.
To sum it up, this book felt like a mixture of Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and a modern spin on Greek mythology.
I loved the writing style, particularly when it came to the action scenes which were fantastic, and also the plot twists which were extremely unexpected.
The characters were varied and interesting, keeping me engaged throughout and the mythology is fascinating, especially the ship itself, and its changing nature.
My only complaint with this book was the ending, I just felt that it left so many unanswered questions. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend The Soul Keepers to mythology and YA fantasy lovers in general.
December 7, 2018
I just didn’t like this book. I struggled to get through the last 50 pages. I felt like I had more questions than answers from this book. It was a weak story. How can ghosts be harmed to the point they need ghosts hospitals?! Just not for me.
June 27, 2018
**I received this as an egalley from the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review.**
I really wanted to enjoy this book, and while the writing style was definitely good and easy to get through, there was something that just didn't click for me. In fact, I almost DNF'd it several times in the first half, but decided to continue with it because it was moving so quickly and I thought I might get into it at some point. There were definitely missing elements to the story and plot, and just a scraping of the surface of the characters that left me wanting more from them than what I got.
The story threw the reader right into things from the start, that's for sure. The pacing of everything was decent and it was easy to move through each chapter despite their lengths. But there were a lot of issues in terms of overall plot and storytelling that left me feeling very lackluster about the book as a whole. To begin with, the entire first half of the book is just basically world-building and info-dumping. It introduces the characters, the premise of what the "syllektors" do, and answers all the necessary questions about what afterlife is like aboard the Harbinger (which, by the way, had a lot of updated technology and entertainment and weaponry and no explanation as to how it all got there other than a casual shrug). You get Rhett going through his emotional release about his parents' deaths, and that's it. No plot movement really whatsoever.
Part Two is where things actually start happening. The demon lady shows up and gives Rhett a cryptic warning about not defying her when she comes to take his yet-unkown power. Uh...okay? Psychons (the grim reaper monsters that eat souls instead of saving them in a box for a neverending trip down the River Styx like the syllektors do) suddenly start attacking them "more often" (*cough* twice *cough*), and that's when all Hades breaks loose.
Honestly, some of it felt like a mess. The characters were definitely a mess. While Rhett had some good progress, Basil and Mak were given strong outgoing personalities that obviously hid a little more, but they constantly kept regressing to those original traits. Basil was the one always cracking jokes. Mak was constantly getting angry at people. Treeny was always shy and timid. Theo was...a wall of muscle who seemed kind I guess. It just seemed like while they had some sort of awesome personalities, they never actually showed them on the page. And so when things started happening at the end of the novel, there had been no foreshadowing or hints about certain characters and it left me feeling rather annoyed, like the opposite of a deus ex machina. Instead of something random happening to make everything better, something random happened to make it all worse, because before that there had been no real precedent or, like I said, foreshadowing.
I think mostly I was just disappointed in the way the characters' personalities sort of got lost in the shuffle and the way the story was written. The first half was just too much world-building and information-giving, and the second half everything happened too quickly and suddenly for anything to really make sense. Demon lady just appears out of nowhere and demands a power and Rhett starts trying to tie super loose ends together to make a somewhat plausible motive? Yeah, no.
Like I said, this book had some good writing and was easy to get through in a timely manner, and had the potential to be good, but it was lacking just enough that it lost its cohesiveness and left me unimpressed with it at all.
2.5 stars
I really wanted to enjoy this book, and while the writing style was definitely good and easy to get through, there was something that just didn't click for me. In fact, I almost DNF'd it several times in the first half, but decided to continue with it because it was moving so quickly and I thought I might get into it at some point. There were definitely missing elements to the story and plot, and just a scraping of the surface of the characters that left me wanting more from them than what I got.
The story threw the reader right into things from the start, that's for sure. The pacing of everything was decent and it was easy to move through each chapter despite their lengths. But there were a lot of issues in terms of overall plot and storytelling that left me feeling very lackluster about the book as a whole. To begin with, the entire first half of the book is just basically world-building and info-dumping. It introduces the characters, the premise of what the "syllektors" do, and answers all the necessary questions about what afterlife is like aboard the Harbinger (which, by the way, had a lot of updated technology and entertainment and weaponry and no explanation as to how it all got there other than a casual shrug). You get Rhett going through his emotional release about his parents' deaths, and that's it. No plot movement really whatsoever.
Part Two is where things actually start happening. The demon lady shows up and gives Rhett a cryptic warning about not defying her when she comes to take his yet-unkown power. Uh...okay? Psychons (the grim reaper monsters that eat souls instead of saving them in a box for a neverending trip down the River Styx like the syllektors do) suddenly start attacking them "more often" (*cough* twice *cough*), and that's when all Hades breaks loose.
Honestly, some of it felt like a mess. The characters were definitely a mess. While Rhett had some good progress, Basil and Mak were given strong outgoing personalities that obviously hid a little more, but they constantly kept regressing to those original traits. Basil was the one always cracking jokes. Mak was constantly getting angry at people. Treeny was always shy and timid. Theo was...a wall of muscle who seemed kind I guess. It just seemed like while they had some sort of awesome personalities, they never actually showed them on the page. And so when things started happening at the end of the novel, there had been no foreshadowing or hints about certain characters and it left me feeling rather annoyed, like the opposite of a deus ex machina. Instead of something random happening to make everything better, something random happened to make it all worse, because before that there had been no real precedent or, like I said, foreshadowing.
I think mostly I was just disappointed in the way the characters' personalities sort of got lost in the shuffle and the way the story was written. The first half was just too much world-building and information-giving, and the second half everything happened too quickly and suddenly for anything to really make sense. Demon lady just appears out of nowhere and demands a power and Rhett starts trying to tie super loose ends together to make a somewhat plausible motive? Yeah, no.
Like I said, this book had some good writing and was easy to get through in a timely manner, and had the potential to be good, but it was lacking just enough that it lost its cohesiveness and left me unimpressed with it at all.
2.5 stars
March 5, 2018
Holy heart-racing! I loved every meticulously paced action scene, the mythology behind the syllektors, and the heart that went into every unique character of the crew of the Harbinger. This is one of those books where you think you know where the story is heading, then you get spun on a completely opposite course than you expected. The Soul Keepers is such a wonderful mix of humor, on-the-edge-of-your-seat action, and a band of characters that you instantly root for. You'll want to hop on the Harbinger with Rhett and the gang as soon as the ship comes crashing onto the page. Pick this up in August. Seriously. You won't regret it!
May 12, 2020
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I LOVED THIS
Dead things
Soul collecting
Ships
Its like soul pirates and it was brilliant!!!
Bookstagram
Website
I LOVED THIS
Dead things
Soul collecting
Ships
Its like soul pirates and it was brilliant!!!
May 24, 2018
DNF. I tried. This was a really cool idea but the execution fell flat. It was the style of writing where things are rarely, if ever, summed up, so we read about everything as it happens from one minute to the next. And that ends up taking a lot of tension away and feeling overall kind of juvenile.
Things I liked:
Super giant ship that carries souls. I approve of this.
....I can’t think of anything else right now
Things I didn’t like:
A main character who is unhappy with everything and has a million questions, but doesn’t seem to do much to get answers for them. He does ask at first, but everyone frustratingly refuses to explain anything until they’re in the middle of the action, or even after that. But he doesn’t explore the ship, find someone who might be friendlier with info; he just mopily follows around his team hoping to catch on to everything. Which means the reader has to do the same. Seriously, why are characters so withholding in books?? I have never come across this in real life when I start a new job, visit a new place, etc.
The team:
Requisite tough, attractive girl in leather pants
Requisite innocent little girl hiding a dark secret from her past
Requisite giant, muscular, jovial guy
The last team member, Basil, wasn’t bad. But he was also just kind of there as the explainer when the plot called for it.
New kid who Did Not Sign Up For This
Requisite fight training scene(s). Our MC chooses brass knuckles as his weapon 🙄🙄🙄
I made it to page 100 so I don’t know all that happens after that, but jumped and scanned ahead and found more conversation that provides really vague answers and not enough monsters and souls and dark stuff 👹. Oh well
Things I liked:
Super giant ship that carries souls. I approve of this.
....I can’t think of anything else right now
Things I didn’t like:
A main character who is unhappy with everything and has a million questions, but doesn’t seem to do much to get answers for them. He does ask at first, but everyone frustratingly refuses to explain anything until they’re in the middle of the action, or even after that. But he doesn’t explore the ship, find someone who might be friendlier with info; he just mopily follows around his team hoping to catch on to everything. Which means the reader has to do the same. Seriously, why are characters so withholding in books?? I have never come across this in real life when I start a new job, visit a new place, etc.
The team:
Requisite tough, attractive girl in leather pants
Requisite innocent little girl hiding a dark secret from her past
Requisite giant, muscular, jovial guy
The last team member, Basil, wasn’t bad. But he was also just kind of there as the explainer when the plot called for it.
New kid who Did Not Sign Up For This
Requisite fight training scene(s). Our MC chooses brass knuckles as his weapon 🙄🙄🙄
I made it to page 100 so I don’t know all that happens after that, but jumped and scanned ahead and found more conversation that provides really vague answers and not enough monsters and souls and dark stuff 👹. Oh well
November 16, 2018
As a debut novel, Devon Taylor’s talent earns an 11 on a scale of 1-10. So why am I rating this book with a 3? This amazingly original tale of “The Soul Keepers,” marked by its magnetically compelling introduction was absolutely failed by its editor. Brilliant descriptive scenes and creatively quirky characters are impeded by stunted prose that an editor should have swiftly recognized and corrected. Within an ocean of recent books that has ignored action-seeking “junior high” readers, Soul Keepers had the potential to transcend expectations.
“The Soul Keepers,” is undoubtedly a Middle School book. Many mature and unnecessary superlatives could have easily been substituted with "pre-teen friendly"phrases.
The story line and pacing are would be well-received by fans of Riordan’s “The Lightning Thief” and/or Copling’s “Sage Alexander” Series. Taylor's work would also serve as a“book alike” Reader’s Advisory lists among Schusterman’s “Everlost” and/or Mark Frost’s “Paladin Prophecy.”
Taylor's talent is one to watch as his writing voice is certain to reel in reluctant readers and avid readers alike.
Lisa Brennan @noveltalk Netgalley ARC
“The Soul Keepers,” is undoubtedly a Middle School book. Many mature and unnecessary superlatives could have easily been substituted with "pre-teen friendly"phrases.
The story line and pacing are would be well-received by fans of Riordan’s “The Lightning Thief” and/or Copling’s “Sage Alexander” Series. Taylor's work would also serve as a“book alike” Reader’s Advisory lists among Schusterman’s “Everlost” and/or Mark Frost’s “Paladin Prophecy.”
Taylor's talent is one to watch as his writing voice is certain to reel in reluctant readers and avid readers alike.
Lisa Brennan @noveltalk Netgalley ARC
December 1, 2018
The book was labeled "young adult", but I think it was actually written for 12-14 year olds. The worldbuilding was superficial and neither believable nor interesting.
January 5, 2020
Can’t wait for book #2!
January 7, 2019
A book that's not for me but certainly for some-- it has fantasy, action, and a unique backstory, but it wasn't exciting enough for me to stick with it.
Rhett's dead then he goes on an adventure with Basil on the Harbinger, a ship with the souls of the dead until they're on the receiving end of an attack and deviousness ensues. It'll be part of a series so it might have been that was a well-organized standalone but instead is now at least a duology if not a trilogy.
Fabulous cover and who doesn't love the dead?
Rhett's dead then he goes on an adventure with Basil on the Harbinger, a ship with the souls of the dead until they're on the receiving end of an attack and deviousness ensues. It'll be part of a series so it might have been that was a well-organized standalone but instead is now at least a duology if not a trilogy.
Fabulous cover and who doesn't love the dead?
March 17, 2019
Review to come!
I really enjoyed this book and more people need to know about it!!
I really enjoyed this book and more people need to know about it!!
August 28, 2018
This book had such a great concept, but I think it missed some opportunities. It was an enjoyable read, but just not wow. Full review is up on https://thebookdutchesses.com/2018/08...
December 23, 2022
Another one bites the dust. Another one bites the dust. And another one down and another one down. A good captain always goes down with his ship.
January 31, 2020
Ugh, I wanted to like this book, but a lot of the ghost physic rules are inconsistent and confusing. Why do ghosts need a hospital? How can ghosts who easily pass through people get stuck in a car? Who knows.
I think this book moved a bit too fast for my taste, there should have been more character development for the characters because toward the end I didn't really care about any of them.
I think this book moved a bit too fast for my taste, there should have been more character development for the characters because toward the end I didn't really care about any of them.
August 24, 2018
Review coming soon!
September 24, 2018
I am sorry but The Soul Keepers is boring. Nothing of note happens at all until chapter nine and the you get this moronic sentence. ["She is stuck," Basil replied quietly. "She's got to be stuck."] The she in question is a ghost of sorts, people walk through her, she walks through objects so how can she possibly get stuck in a car? Heck she climbed through the window when she could have just stepped through the wreckage to get to her target. Have some sense she can't get stuck. It just can't happen when you don't have a physical body. Thoughts don't get stuck, memories don't get stuck, shadows don't get stuck. Also, they get slammed into cars and none of the living people seem to notice cars being thrown around or crumpled up like tin foil. Either these people or dead or they aren't. Either they have a physical presence or they don't, you cant have it both ways. I don't care about the technical aspects of a good story, but it at least needs to make sense.
March 17, 2021
3/5 stars
This story was a decent YA thriller with an interesting premise, however it fell a bit short for me. The idea of the afterlife or in between on the Harbinger is very interesting. I really enjoyed this different idea and would recommend this story around fall if you're looking for a read that's not too creepy. The characters unfortunately did not capture my interest. I didn't feel a connection to any character in particular, however the overall story and the Harbinger is what kept me listening until the end.
This story was a decent YA thriller with an interesting premise, however it fell a bit short for me. The idea of the afterlife or in between on the Harbinger is very interesting. I really enjoyed this different idea and would recommend this story around fall if you're looking for a read that's not too creepy. The characters unfortunately did not capture my interest. I didn't feel a connection to any character in particular, however the overall story and the Harbinger is what kept me listening until the end.
March 25, 2020
I usually don't post a review when I dislike a book, but this one...I can't. Nothing happened for the entire first nine chapters and in chapter ten, when the "twist" happened it was so dull and boring that I actually put down the book and considered giving up on it. It had so much potential but in the end, it fell so flat for me.
January 4, 2023
I really wanted to enjoy this but didn’t. Not enough world building, low stakes, didn’t get the villain, didn’t connect with the characters. Really cool concept poor execution.
November 13, 2019
The Soul Keepers follows Rhett Snyder, who essentially becomes a Grim Reaper after being killed in a car accident along with his parents. He joins a crew of other Grim Reapers aboard a ship called the Harbinger in another dimension. This ship is an amalgamation of many other ships throughout history, and the crew reflects that as they are all souls who became Grim Reapers since the beginning of time. The Harbinger protects the souls of people who have passed away from demons who want to feast on the souls, and these souls are brought aboard with the help of the Grim Reapers.
I did not expect going into this book that I would wind up giving it 2 stars. The concept was incredibly intriguing and when I first started reading it was hard to put the book down because I wanted to learn more about this weird afterlife that Devon Taylor had created.
Halfway through the story though I began to discover that the world building kept on being put to a halt simply because the author had most of the characters get angry when the main character would ask reasonable questions. This led to me disliking these characters, who made up the rest of the main cast.
Eventually we got to a point where these characters got over their aversion to questions and I could finally get to know them outside of being the annoying side characters. Even though they were no longer annoying, I just couldn’t connect to any of them. Whenever something happened to one of them I felt nothing because of how flat their characters were. If any of them had any depth I might have gotten attached to them, but because the author made every character tight lipped about their lives that was hard to do. You never got to know them outside of what the main character saw of them.
Adding to this was the fact that The Harbinger was supposedly a ship made up of people of all races, sexualities, ages, and genders throughout the ages, yet Rhett’s team was made up of American teenagers, excluding the one English teen. As someone who values diversity in a story I feel like a great opportunity was missed here.
Then there is the main character. He was also a bore. He supposedly has special powers, though it’s never clear what they are. This special power would have probably been his only saving factor as he’s not that bright or powerful, and he sucks at fighting. It’s somewhat implied that he has anger problems, but that is never fully explored and feels like another missed opportunity.
I was hoping the plot would be the saving grace of this novel, but the fact that the main conflict did not present itself until almost halfway through the book made that impossible for me. The conflict revolves around a demon Urcena, who threatens to destroy everything Rhett knows if he doesn’t give her his powers. As I’ve already mentioned, Rhett’s powers are never completely clear, so it was also never clear why Urcena wanted these powers. Combine this with the fact that she was boring made her entire purpose feel lackluster and the plot bland.
This book does feature romance between two side characters. While the romance in itself didn’t bother me there were some vague sexual moments between them that felt so out of place and unnecessary that I don’t understand why they weren’t just removed from the book.
The reason I feel this way is that even though The Soul Keepers is marketed as a YA book it reads more like a YR book, similar in vein to any other fantasy book where there is a group of kids with special powers, with the main character being the most special of all, and they all join together to defeat the big bad. Having the feeling you’re reading a book targeted for middle schoolers and then coming across sexual scenes made the book feel disjointed, like it didn’t fully grasp the audience it was for.
Bland characters with a plot and world that never feels fully explored made The Soul Keepers a disappointing read. If the story had been a bit more fast paced, and the characters more fully formed, I feel that this would’ve been a solid read. Alas, I am left with another story with an intriguing world that doesn’t live up to its potential.
I did not expect going into this book that I would wind up giving it 2 stars. The concept was incredibly intriguing and when I first started reading it was hard to put the book down because I wanted to learn more about this weird afterlife that Devon Taylor had created.
Halfway through the story though I began to discover that the world building kept on being put to a halt simply because the author had most of the characters get angry when the main character would ask reasonable questions. This led to me disliking these characters, who made up the rest of the main cast.
Eventually we got to a point where these characters got over their aversion to questions and I could finally get to know them outside of being the annoying side characters. Even though they were no longer annoying, I just couldn’t connect to any of them. Whenever something happened to one of them I felt nothing because of how flat their characters were. If any of them had any depth I might have gotten attached to them, but because the author made every character tight lipped about their lives that was hard to do. You never got to know them outside of what the main character saw of them.
Adding to this was the fact that The Harbinger was supposedly a ship made up of people of all races, sexualities, ages, and genders throughout the ages, yet Rhett’s team was made up of American teenagers, excluding the one English teen. As someone who values diversity in a story I feel like a great opportunity was missed here.
Then there is the main character. He was also a bore. He supposedly has special powers, though it’s never clear what they are. This special power would have probably been his only saving factor as he’s not that bright or powerful, and he sucks at fighting. It’s somewhat implied that he has anger problems, but that is never fully explored and feels like another missed opportunity.
I was hoping the plot would be the saving grace of this novel, but the fact that the main conflict did not present itself until almost halfway through the book made that impossible for me. The conflict revolves around a demon Urcena, who threatens to destroy everything Rhett knows if he doesn’t give her his powers. As I’ve already mentioned, Rhett’s powers are never completely clear, so it was also never clear why Urcena wanted these powers. Combine this with the fact that she was boring made her entire purpose feel lackluster and the plot bland.
This book does feature romance between two side characters. While the romance in itself didn’t bother me there were some vague sexual moments between them that felt so out of place and unnecessary that I don’t understand why they weren’t just removed from the book.
The reason I feel this way is that even though The Soul Keepers is marketed as a YA book it reads more like a YR book, similar in vein to any other fantasy book where there is a group of kids with special powers, with the main character being the most special of all, and they all join together to defeat the big bad. Having the feeling you’re reading a book targeted for middle schoolers and then coming across sexual scenes made the book feel disjointed, like it didn’t fully grasp the audience it was for.
Bland characters with a plot and world that never feels fully explored made The Soul Keepers a disappointing read. If the story had been a bit more fast paced, and the characters more fully formed, I feel that this would’ve been a solid read. Alas, I am left with another story with an intriguing world that doesn’t live up to its potential.
November 15, 2019
I feel as though I need to address some of the negative reviews about this book... Because for a debut novel, it was phenomenal. Not many writers can create this kind of a story where it hits hard from the beginning and grips you till the end. Boring it is not! From start to finish there is substance. It was a novel that I wanted to be a real thing... I mean, come on. Between your job which can take you all over like seeing the Golden Gate Bridge when you're a teen from NY, you can catch a movie, hit the gym or the library. Sounds like a giant cruise to me! It had solid world building elements; i.e. the amalgamation of parts of ships to become one cohesive colossus, The Harbinger, to the big (little) bad Urcena and her minions.
Taylor relies heavily on mythology, and I kept thinking of the Harbinger as the barge on the river Styx. If you think reaper, you know the syllektors are essentially the same thing. They ferry the souls of the dead. They can be killed, as they are semi-corporeal. Think dream sleep. What happens in dream sleep can affect your physical body in another plane... and so on. So fire experienced in the realm of the living can affect syllektors physical bodies, but unless they are burned to a crisp including the heart damaged beyond repair, a syllektor can "live."
The novel seems to have all the classic "coming of age" elements, though we know Rhett won't ever age. He's the gawky teen who doesn't seem to fit in and is adopted into a group where each individual has a distinct role to play. Basil the class clown, Treeny the tech-geek, Mak the unrivaled leader, and Theo the muscle. They're dysfunctional, and yet, become a family and there's a fatherly figure of the Captain keeping it all together. While some may see this as cliche, I thought it worked well. Rhett is your typical 17 year old boy. I couldn't stand him at times, but I understood, as much as a 28 year old female could understand a 17 year old boy that is. While I won't go into too much detail regarding the other characters, I want to focus on Mak. Introduced as a no-nonsense, standoffish and downright prickly character, she's one of the most complex characters introduced. Struggling with the death of their other team member, she struggles to let people get close to her. But professionally, her empathy for the souls is unparalleled.
The one minor complaint I had with this book, which certainly didn't detract, was there was one section, an entire two pages, devoted to catastrophic devastation Rhett witnesses as a syllektor. This was a bit too long for me. "Wild fires, war, hurricanes, landslides, mass shootings... We. Get. It. People dying all the time in horrific circumstances, and Rhett and his team are there to clean up. Other than this one minor complaint, this was one of the best debut novels I've read. From the second you meet Rhett reeling from the impact of his car accident, to the conclusion of book one, Taylor delivers an amazing novel.
Taylor relies heavily on mythology, and I kept thinking of the Harbinger as the barge on the river Styx. If you think reaper, you know the syllektors are essentially the same thing. They ferry the souls of the dead. They can be killed, as they are semi-corporeal. Think dream sleep. What happens in dream sleep can affect your physical body in another plane... and so on. So fire experienced in the realm of the living can affect syllektors physical bodies, but unless they are burned to a crisp including the heart damaged beyond repair, a syllektor can "live."
The novel seems to have all the classic "coming of age" elements, though we know Rhett won't ever age. He's the gawky teen who doesn't seem to fit in and is adopted into a group where each individual has a distinct role to play. Basil the class clown, Treeny the tech-geek, Mak the unrivaled leader, and Theo the muscle. They're dysfunctional, and yet, become a family and there's a fatherly figure of the Captain keeping it all together. While some may see this as cliche, I thought it worked well. Rhett is your typical 17 year old boy. I couldn't stand him at times, but I understood, as much as a 28 year old female could understand a 17 year old boy that is. While I won't go into too much detail regarding the other characters, I want to focus on Mak. Introduced as a no-nonsense, standoffish and downright prickly character, she's one of the most complex characters introduced. Struggling with the death of their other team member, she struggles to let people get close to her. But professionally, her empathy for the souls is unparalleled.
The one minor complaint I had with this book, which certainly didn't detract, was there was one section, an entire two pages, devoted to catastrophic devastation Rhett witnesses as a syllektor. This was a bit too long for me. "Wild fires, war, hurricanes, landslides, mass shootings... We. Get. It. People dying all the time in horrific circumstances, and Rhett and his team are there to clean up. Other than this one minor complaint, this was one of the best debut novels I've read. From the second you meet Rhett reeling from the impact of his car accident, to the conclusion of book one, Taylor delivers an amazing novel.
June 8, 2019
If you're looking for a paranormal read, this is it!
The Soul Keepers starts out with the violent death of Rhett in a car accident. But when he dies, it isn't the end. He is greeted by a young man who takes him back to a boat they call the Harbinger where Rhett finds out that he is now a Syllektor--"spirits" who aid in the collection of souls after they have died. This select group must track down the souls before they are eaten by psychons who feed on their energy. When a demon named Urcena discovers that Rhett is a "twice-born son," she realizes that he is more powerful than he knows. She wants what Rhett has and will stop at nothing to get that power for herself.
This book has a lot of interesting characters among Rhett's group of fellow Syllektors. They bond together over their shared experience of collecting souls. And I love how these books treat death and the afterlife....When Rhett first joins the team, he reflects on his thoughts about being a syllektor.
"There was death everywhere, all the time ,and Rhett was never more aware of it than when he was right in front of it, collecting the lives that had been. Death ran rampant, like a ferocious animal, slaughtering, destroying. And he began to realize that the syllektors were not Death itself, but messengers of Death. They were the unseen deliverers of that final peace, that tranquility where acceptance is the only option. Because to fight it is to fight the unstoppable force of nature."
"He collected those souls, and in them he felt more life than he ever thought possible, more warmth and purpose and love. There was death, sure, but it never felt as strong as the life that made up the souls that Rhett brought back to the Harbinger. IN some backward way, he felt like he was actually saving lives instead of waiting around for them to end. And there was peace in the idea that he might exist that way forever."
The Soul Keepers ends with a pretty intense cliffhanger but lucky for you, the second book in the duology is set to be out on August 27th!
The Soul Keepers starts out with the violent death of Rhett in a car accident. But when he dies, it isn't the end. He is greeted by a young man who takes him back to a boat they call the Harbinger where Rhett finds out that he is now a Syllektor--"spirits" who aid in the collection of souls after they have died. This select group must track down the souls before they are eaten by psychons who feed on their energy. When a demon named Urcena discovers that Rhett is a "twice-born son," she realizes that he is more powerful than he knows. She wants what Rhett has and will stop at nothing to get that power for herself.
This book has a lot of interesting characters among Rhett's group of fellow Syllektors. They bond together over their shared experience of collecting souls. And I love how these books treat death and the afterlife....When Rhett first joins the team, he reflects on his thoughts about being a syllektor.
"There was death everywhere, all the time ,and Rhett was never more aware of it than when he was right in front of it, collecting the lives that had been. Death ran rampant, like a ferocious animal, slaughtering, destroying. And he began to realize that the syllektors were not Death itself, but messengers of Death. They were the unseen deliverers of that final peace, that tranquility where acceptance is the only option. Because to fight it is to fight the unstoppable force of nature."
"He collected those souls, and in them he felt more life than he ever thought possible, more warmth and purpose and love. There was death, sure, but it never felt as strong as the life that made up the souls that Rhett brought back to the Harbinger. IN some backward way, he felt like he was actually saving lives instead of waiting around for them to end. And there was peace in the idea that he might exist that way forever."
The Soul Keepers ends with a pretty intense cliffhanger but lucky for you, the second book in the duology is set to be out on August 27th!
August 31, 2018
Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours and NetGalley, as well as author Devon Taylor for giving me a copy of THE SOUL KEEPERS in exchange for my honest review.
This review was originally posted on my blog: www.danithebookaholic.com
~~~
While reading The Soul Keepers I was telling everyone I came across about it! Even a couple of Sisters from the Church of Christ that have been going door to door in my town for the last few months; they stopped by to talk about the Book of Mormon (I'm a reader, I read everything, including religious texts if they're given to me) and instead I talked to them about The Souls Keepers!
I really loved this book! For a debut novel and even a young adult novel, the concept behind the story is original and encapsulating. From the moment I started reading it I was hooked! Author Devon Taylor created personable characters and put them in a world (the spiritual world of Earth's souls), and made them even more personable by putting them into (essentially) everyday situations, causing a calming effect and suggesting that there really is more life after death; that you're life has a purpose here and in the after world.
And touching on a topic from my last review — The Trouble with Unicorns — Devon knows how to write a battle scene! (YAY! 🤗) The battle scenes in The Soul Keepers are chapters long, but not so long that they get boring. I was a little nervous at one point where I thought "Wait... that was it? That's how that ends? All this led up to that?!" and thought Devon did a copout on me, but it was a trick and the battle continued! Ahh! I loved it!
I really couldn't say enough good things about The Soul Keepers. I could go on and on, but I try to keep my reviews short and simple. So if there's one thing in this review that you read I hope it's this: This is one book that I would highly recommend to everyone!
From one bookaholic to another, I hope I’ve helped you find your next fix.
—Dani
Dani's Score out of 5: 📚📚📚📚📚
This review was originally posted on my blog: www.danithebookaholic.com
~~~
While reading The Soul Keepers I was telling everyone I came across about it! Even a couple of Sisters from the Church of Christ that have been going door to door in my town for the last few months; they stopped by to talk about the Book of Mormon (I'm a reader, I read everything, including religious texts if they're given to me) and instead I talked to them about The Souls Keepers!
I really loved this book! For a debut novel and even a young adult novel, the concept behind the story is original and encapsulating. From the moment I started reading it I was hooked! Author Devon Taylor created personable characters and put them in a world (the spiritual world of Earth's souls), and made them even more personable by putting them into (essentially) everyday situations, causing a calming effect and suggesting that there really is more life after death; that you're life has a purpose here and in the after world.
And touching on a topic from my last review — The Trouble with Unicorns — Devon knows how to write a battle scene! (YAY! 🤗) The battle scenes in The Soul Keepers are chapters long, but not so long that they get boring. I was a little nervous at one point where I thought "Wait... that was it? That's how that ends? All this led up to that?!" and thought Devon did a copout on me, but it was a trick and the battle continued! Ahh! I loved it!
I really couldn't say enough good things about The Soul Keepers. I could go on and on, but I try to keep my reviews short and simple. So if there's one thing in this review that you read I hope it's this: This is one book that I would highly recommend to everyone!
From one bookaholic to another, I hope I’ve helped you find your next fix.
—Dani
Dani's Score out of 5: 📚📚📚📚📚
August 12, 2018
Rhett Snyder awakens from a fatal car accident outside of his body, looking in on his parents and himself. The only person that can see him is a guy named Basil who wants Rhett to come with him. Rhett and Basil enter an abandoned cabin that opens a portal to a gigantic ship called the Harbinger where “syllektors” are tasked with collecting and harboring the souls that have passed on before the psychons find and eat the souls.
OH. MY. GRACIOUS. This book! I seriously loved this book and have no clue how in the heck I am going to wait another year before the sequel comes out. Granted this book is not without its faults, but its excellent storyline makes up for the minor flaws that would have earned it a 4 star originally.
From the very beginning, we start off with a bang and the wild ride doesn’t ever seem to stop. This is a fast-paced, action-packed adventure that feels part middle grade, part YA. I was getting some serious Rick Riordan/Percy Jackson vibes the entire time I was reading it. My only fault that I found with the book is that around 70% of the way through the book, the description gets a bit info-dumpy and I found myself kind of skimming through material without realizing it and then having to go back and re-read once I realized. Seeing as this is Taylor’s debut novel, this is a flaw that I can easily forgive because the rest of the book was so good. Seriously...why am I not seeing this getting hyped up all over the place?! I could easily see this story lending well to a movie. 5 stars for sure!
OH. MY. GRACIOUS. This book! I seriously loved this book and have no clue how in the heck I am going to wait another year before the sequel comes out. Granted this book is not without its faults, but its excellent storyline makes up for the minor flaws that would have earned it a 4 star originally.
From the very beginning, we start off with a bang and the wild ride doesn’t ever seem to stop. This is a fast-paced, action-packed adventure that feels part middle grade, part YA. I was getting some serious Rick Riordan/Percy Jackson vibes the entire time I was reading it. My only fault that I found with the book is that around 70% of the way through the book, the description gets a bit info-dumpy and I found myself kind of skimming through material without realizing it and then having to go back and re-read once I realized. Seeing as this is Taylor’s debut novel, this is a flaw that I can easily forgive because the rest of the book was so good. Seriously...why am I not seeing this getting hyped up all over the place?! I could easily see this story lending well to a movie. 5 stars for sure!
September 10, 2018
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you, Netgalley.
Holy wild ride, Batman! The Soul Keepers grabbed from the very beginning and didn't let me out of its clutches until I'd consumed the very last word. I decided to download the audiobook from Kobo and I highly recommend doing so. It added so much more to the experience. The narrator did different voices for each character...including a certain creepy voice that still haunts my dreams.
It's always so hard to review the books that I enjoyed the most. Oh gosh, where to start? Rhett's character was very believable and relatable. He has a hard time accepting his new afterlife and is wracked with guilt over the cause of the accident. I won't delve much deeper than that because when it's revealed, it will gut you. He has to work hard to prove himself to his fellow crew members but once he does, he has found a new sort of family.
My favorite character was Basil. I loved his accident and his chipper attitude. He was also full of snark and wit, which is always a good thing. The secondary characters were also great and had a strong presence in the whole story. I feel like there's more to Mack than we get, but I have high hopes of more of her backstory in (hopefully) the next book. I definitely need more of this story and this world!
If you're looking for a fast-paced adventure with lots of wit, nail-biting moments, loyal friends, and a smidgen of romance, then I highly recommend The Soul Keepers...and grab that audiobook if you can. You won't regret it!
Holy wild ride, Batman! The Soul Keepers grabbed from the very beginning and didn't let me out of its clutches until I'd consumed the very last word. I decided to download the audiobook from Kobo and I highly recommend doing so. It added so much more to the experience. The narrator did different voices for each character...including a certain creepy voice that still haunts my dreams.
It's always so hard to review the books that I enjoyed the most. Oh gosh, where to start? Rhett's character was very believable and relatable. He has a hard time accepting his new afterlife and is wracked with guilt over the cause of the accident. I won't delve much deeper than that because when it's revealed, it will gut you. He has to work hard to prove himself to his fellow crew members but once he does, he has found a new sort of family.
My favorite character was Basil. I loved his accident and his chipper attitude. He was also full of snark and wit, which is always a good thing. The secondary characters were also great and had a strong presence in the whole story. I feel like there's more to Mack than we get, but I have high hopes of more of her backstory in (hopefully) the next book. I definitely need more of this story and this world!
If you're looking for a fast-paced adventure with lots of wit, nail-biting moments, loyal friends, and a smidgen of romance, then I highly recommend The Soul Keepers...and grab that audiobook if you can. You won't regret it!
December 18, 2019
This book addresses a perennial question - what happens after we die? In the case of a select few, they become Soul Keepers, who travel aboard the ship Harbinger (destination unknown) and collect the souls of people who have just died and deposit them inside of a giant cube onboard. They travel in teams of 4-5 to do so, because they also need to battle psychons, violent Grim Reaper-types who want to consume souls. I have so many questions that I almost didn't finish the book several times, but kept going in hope that my questions would be answered - but no such luck. For example, what is the purpose of the Harbinger? Where does it go? Who decides where it travels? The souls onboard fuel the ship, and being onboard is seen as the natural next progression for the souls of the deceased, but *why*? Who decides who becomes a Soul Keeper and who doesn't, apart from having died in a traumatic fashion? What happened to Mak at the end? Who is Urcena? I thought that the book could have delved more deeply into Rhett's special ability, as it's analyzed very superficially, especially as it's a major plot point later in the book. This book was written for young adults, and the writing style shows - it's fine, but I still think that the author could have skipped some of the action details in favor of spending more time answering some basic questions and building this world a bit more thoroughly.
November 13, 2024
What an interesting start. Plot is riveting, especially the beginning. Characters are engaging. Something about them made me want to continue reading and cheer them on. The main character, Rhett, behaves much as I believe I would. Disbelief, and then frustration. Even dead he tends to have a depressive vibe. I love that about him.
I also love that he is always looking for his parents. He has guilt but also love for them. It's tangible. Maybe because of how the accident occurred but it just felt like they had a decent relationship. In many stories the parents go unnoticed, even in YA, and it's so frustrating to me. The parents aren't even around in this and yet they are never forgotten. They are a constant for him.
The movement felt good. The time spent was a tad weird but didn't hold back the plot and I'm glad there wasn't training for an entire year. Obviously that would have held back the plot, and slowed everything down.
Characters were a riot. Although they may have seemed almost a tad cliche, I still liked them. Basil is my favorite. The other characters kind of blurred a bit. You have the mean lead who has to be snarky to everyone. I wish she was a bit more, I don't know, empathetic maybe? She rubbed me wrong the entire time.
I did enjoy the ending though. This was so well done that I sped through it. Found little that I didn't like. Most that I did.
I also love that he is always looking for his parents. He has guilt but also love for them. It's tangible. Maybe because of how the accident occurred but it just felt like they had a decent relationship. In many stories the parents go unnoticed, even in YA, and it's so frustrating to me. The parents aren't even around in this and yet they are never forgotten. They are a constant for him.
The movement felt good. The time spent was a tad weird but didn't hold back the plot and I'm glad there wasn't training for an entire year. Obviously that would have held back the plot, and slowed everything down.
Characters were a riot. Although they may have seemed almost a tad cliche, I still liked them. Basil is my favorite. The other characters kind of blurred a bit. You have the mean lead who has to be snarky to everyone. I wish she was a bit more, I don't know, empathetic maybe? She rubbed me wrong the entire time.
I did enjoy the ending though. This was so well done that I sped through it. Found little that I didn't like. Most that I did.
March 12, 2018
This book starts right in the action. Rhett Snyder’s in a car crash and he dies. He’s met by a British guy named Basil who takes him to a most unexpected afterlife—a ship powered by souls. Rhett learns that he is a syllektor—a person who died a traumatic death and can collect other souls. Rhett is put in Basil’s crew with Mak, Theo, and Treeny. Their job is to collect and protect souls before they get eaten by psychons (monsters like grim reapers). Rhett is given a weapon and taught how to fight. But dealing with death every day is not easy for Rhett. He has to come to grips with his own death and his role in his parent’s deaths as he picks up soul after soul, both young and old. Rhett discovers he has a terrifying power than none of the other syllektors have and a powerful demon will do anything to get it.
What I loved about this book: The fascinating and original concept of a ship afterlife, thought-provoking passages on death, heart-stopping action, deadly plot-twists, and that death is not the end (look for a sequel).
This is a great book for boys, reluctant-readers, and anyone looking for thrilling sail into a fantastic fantasy world.
What I loved about this book: The fascinating and original concept of a ship afterlife, thought-provoking passages on death, heart-stopping action, deadly plot-twists, and that death is not the end (look for a sequel).
This is a great book for boys, reluctant-readers, and anyone looking for thrilling sail into a fantastic fantasy world.
May 23, 2020
In some respects, this fast-paced thriller reminded me of Neal Schusterman's The Arc of a Sycthe series since it involves a band of individuals known as syllektors whose job it is to collect the souls of those who are dying. They have to work fast since they are up against another group called the psychons who also want those souls for their own purpose. Rhett Snyder, the novel's young protagonist, has no idea that either of these groups exist until he dies in a car wreck, and finds that there is a different sort of existence after death. At first reluctant and confused, eventually he accepts his role in this new reality while also discovering some truths about himself. It was hard for me to visualize where these harvested souls were stashed and the world in which Rhett and his new colleagues were operating. There isn't a lot of introspection, but there is quite a lot of action--almost nonstop--and scenes of violence and skin-of-the-teeth rescues. Had I read this book before the Shusterman books, I might have enjoyed it more. But it simply paled in significance when compared to those books and the complex world they inhabited.
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