What do you think?
Rate this book
Magic Souls
The name’s Bebe, and I’m a pushover.
A co-worker sabotaged my career at work, and in true Bebe fashion, I just let it happen.
I wished that I could make her pay.
Enter a demon, Ladouche, who grants me the power to get revenge with complete immunity. No cops, no jail, no nada.
Revenge feels good. Really good. But now the demon is asking for the souls of three innocent people in return for my new power. If I fail to procure the souls, then I’ll lose my own.
Not quite what I bargained for…
***
Magic Souls is an interactive urban fantasy much like a Choose Your Own Adventure. You’ll control Bebe as she navigates through Ladouche’s lies and deception. Read it multiple times, unlock different endings, and relive your childhood.
Click the buy button to download your copy now!
*Formerly published as How to Be Bad: A Decision Select Novel.
A co-worker sabotaged my career at work, and in true Bebe fashion, I just let it happen.
I wished that I could make her pay.
Enter a demon, Ladouche, who grants me the power to get revenge with complete immunity. No cops, no jail, no nada.
Revenge feels good. Really good. But now the demon is asking for the souls of three innocent people in return for my new power. If I fail to procure the souls, then I’ll lose my own.
Not quite what I bargained for…
***
Magic Souls is an interactive urban fantasy much like a Choose Your Own Adventure. You’ll control Bebe as she navigates through Ladouche’s lies and deception. Read it multiple times, unlock different endings, and relive your childhood.
Click the buy button to download your copy now!
*Formerly published as How to Be Bad: A Decision Select Novel.
Unknown Binding
First published January 6, 2014
8 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Michael La Ronn
81 books167 followersScience fiction and fantasy on the wild side!
Michael La Ronn is the author of many science fiction and fantasy novels including the Android X, Eaten, and The Last Dragon Lord series.
In 2012, a life-threatening illness made him realize that life is too short. He’s devoted his life to writing ever since, making up whatever story makes him fall out of his chair laughing the hardest. He’s also a total Final Fantasy geek.
If you're new to Michael's work, visit this link to grab his $1 Series Starters--->www.michaellaronn.com/seriesstarters
Michael La Ronn is the author of many science fiction and fantasy novels including the Android X, Eaten, and The Last Dragon Lord series.
In 2012, a life-threatening illness made him realize that life is too short. He’s devoted his life to writing ever since, making up whatever story makes him fall out of his chair laughing the hardest. He’s also a total Final Fantasy geek.
If you're new to Michael's work, visit this link to grab his $1 Series Starters--->www.michaellaronn.com/seriesstarters
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 24, 2014
Today, I am reviewing the Paranormal story How to be Bad by Michael La Ronn. This is a story that focuses on a young attorney, Bebe McFerrin, and her interactions with the demon who appears to offer her revenge and immunity. You can do anything you want, says Ladouche (yes, that’s his name) and suffer no consequences…but you must gather souls for me. What makes this book unique is that is a Decision Select novel, harkening back to the days of Choose Your Own Adventure. Formatted for ebook readers, the story allows the reader to select his/her path through hyperlinks.
I give this book a 3.75/5. Here is my breakdown.
Characters: 3/5. I found the two main characters, Bebe and Ladouche, interesting if slightly two-dimensional. This can be excused in part by the nature of the read (you can’t give Bebe too much character or it feels like you’re taking away the readers’ choices) or the nature of the characters (Ladouche is a demon; whaddaya want from him?) but I just wished I knew a little bit more about them.
Plot/Storyline: 4/5. The ideas in this story intrigued me. Like many, I have fond memories of the Choose Your Own Adventure stories, and I was curious to see how this could be implemented in ebook form. It was well done; the action moved forward and gave you decisions at critical moments, and these decisions really mattered at the end. As an aside, Michael did a great job giving us little “flag” pages to notify us when we’d gone too far instead of clicking a decision link.
Flow: 4/5. The story flowed and the plot moved onward with little diversion. I found the replacement of profanities distracting (I had to look twice when I saw the word birch) simply because the replacements seemed so out of place, but overall the story moved smoothly and well..
Spelling/Grammar: 5/5. I did not notice any sort of grammar or spelling issues with this book. The proofreading was well done and the time/money spent was well invested..
Overall: 3.75/5. What an intriguing idea! Michael has given us a story in which we get to truly be in the protagonist’s shoes. One thing that I wish is that he had stayed away from the 1st person – I’m not fond of that POV in general, and, for some reason, it made it harder for me to be immersed because the language kept referring to “I,” as if Bebe were someone else. Perhaps a case could be made for 2nd person?
Overall, an interesting read and well worth your time, especially if you remember those CYOA books like I do. Thank you, Michael!
I give this book a 3.75/5. Here is my breakdown.
Characters: 3/5. I found the two main characters, Bebe and Ladouche, interesting if slightly two-dimensional. This can be excused in part by the nature of the read (you can’t give Bebe too much character or it feels like you’re taking away the readers’ choices) or the nature of the characters (Ladouche is a demon; whaddaya want from him?) but I just wished I knew a little bit more about them.
Plot/Storyline: 4/5. The ideas in this story intrigued me. Like many, I have fond memories of the Choose Your Own Adventure stories, and I was curious to see how this could be implemented in ebook form. It was well done; the action moved forward and gave you decisions at critical moments, and these decisions really mattered at the end. As an aside, Michael did a great job giving us little “flag” pages to notify us when we’d gone too far instead of clicking a decision link.
Flow: 4/5. The story flowed and the plot moved onward with little diversion. I found the replacement of profanities distracting (I had to look twice when I saw the word birch) simply because the replacements seemed so out of place, but overall the story moved smoothly and well..
Spelling/Grammar: 5/5. I did not notice any sort of grammar or spelling issues with this book. The proofreading was well done and the time/money spent was well invested..
Overall: 3.75/5. What an intriguing idea! Michael has given us a story in which we get to truly be in the protagonist’s shoes. One thing that I wish is that he had stayed away from the 1st person – I’m not fond of that POV in general, and, for some reason, it made it harder for me to be immersed because the language kept referring to “I,” as if Bebe were someone else. Perhaps a case could be made for 2nd person?
Overall, an interesting read and well worth your time, especially if you remember those CYOA books like I do. Thank you, Michael!
May 1, 2014
This is a kind of ethical decision making game, blending humor and fantasy into an examination of selfishness and altruism. I think it would make an interesting book for young adults to discuss in a classroom, on the reasoning behind choices and the imperfect consequences. The hardest choices are not between two evils but between two goods. The protagonist, a young attorney, has to choose between what is good for her self-interest, and what is idealistically or altruistically good, and the reader clicks on those choices to determine the next events in the story. I never read Choose Your Own Adventure Books as a kid, so this experience with choosing the story was new. I could read it again and make new choices and see different outcomes. For all I know, I might even get a different end. And that, I suspect, is the point of this book.
April 23, 2014
SUMMARY
The concept of the book is a choose-your-own-adventure. The reader has the option of making the decisions for the main character, and as a result, the story can change depending on the reader’s choices.
We follow a woman, Bebe McFerrin, who works at a law firm but is terrible pushover. When a colleague steals her case (and her promotion), Bebe wishes aloud that she could take revenge without any consequences. She is then surprised to discover that a demon has overheard her wish, and is willing to give her all that she desires, in exchange for some small favors…
From there, the reader takes over the main character’s choices, allowing the story to unfold. Sometimes menacing, sometimes hilarious, this story is wonderful; however, while concept-wise it is intriguing, it is somewhat problematic in its execution, as we will detail below.
THE GOOD…
1) Childhood is calling
Remember those old “pick your own adventure” stories? The ones during childhood, when you could pick up a book and flip through it, making the character’s decisions and seeing what resulted? Well, be prepared to have nostalgic flashbacks, because this book is a choose-your-own-adventure story. Only this time it’s updated into .mobi format, so that rather than having to flip through the pages manually you can click the choices inside the document, making for a much smoother transition. It’s like an old-fashioned form of video game, except with reading involved.
2) You can lose at the end
At the end of the book, if the choices are made in a certain way, it’s entirely possible for the demon involved to steal the main character’s soul. This means that, like a video game, there is a way for the reader to “lose.” Because there are several endings, it is also possible for the reader to think that he’s “won,” only to discover the opposite. We thought this was awesome, because many authors are too timid to “go there.” For a book like this, however, not going all the way could end up being a disaster, because the reader wants options. By giving us the option to fail, and condemn Our Heroine to destruction, it makes the reading more worthwhile for us.
3) Characterization
These characters are all excellently done, from the villain to the protagonist to the extras. There is howling hilarity and deadly earnestness in them all. Even though the demon is the equivalent of a used car salesman, he still is likeable in the “I love to hate you” sort of way. As for the protagonist, we also liked how she was a pushover. No joke! This is rather meta, but it makes sense: the reader is making decisions for someone who can’t decide for herself. We’re not sure if this irony was intentional or not, but it makes sense so we’re going to just go with it. And yes, even though she wasn’t able to stick up for herself, we still found ourself just liking her. Bebe McFerrin may be a bit of a twit, but she also has a kind heart to her. Perhaps a little too kind, but that's part of her charm.
4) Writing
As the above demonstrates, this book is has excellent writing. There are little to no spelling, grammar, or even formatting errors. It reads easily and concisely, while still providing ample amounts of information and description for our imaginations to crunch on. The humor in particular is wonderful. There are times when this book can be sad, but it almost always has some kind of witty comeback that will make things all right again.
THE BAD…
1) Problematic execution: “All roads lead to Rome”
Instead of having many potential narratives, this book follows just one narrative: there is really only one concrete plot. Although there might be small differences in that plot based on the reader’s choices, ultimately it is an “all roads lead to Rome” situation, where no matter what the choices made, the character is going to end up in the same destination. What this essentially means is, this book is more like an actual novel than a choose-your-own-adventure story. Going through the book for the first time, it is every bit as engaging as you’d expect a choose-your-own-adventure to be. The writing, the characterization, the pacing, and the humor all make it a very fun ride. Personally, if this were an ordinary novel, we’d rate it highly based on the fun we had just reading it. But the problem is that when it comes to the options, there is no real way to escape the main narrative of the story, which means that after the first read-through it becomes less entertaining.
It is definitely worth noting, however, that there is differentiation during the end of the story. Depending on the reader’s choices throughout the story, Our Heroine can secure her freedom or suffer the consequences of her evil actions. Because of this, there is some importance attached to the character’s actions throughout the story; all our choices ultimately aren’t for naught, because they will have an effect at the end. But those actions just happen to be ones that won’t affect the plot, because the plot is unchangeable. For this reason, we don’t think that one could read this book more than two or three times, which is a shame, given that theoretically a choose-your-own-adventure could be read many times over with different results each time.
THE BIZARRE…
1) Reluctance to swear
When a woman is being nasty, she’s a “birch.” As in the tree. There are other cases of swearing and cursing being replaced with inventive sound-a-like words.
Hey, we can identify! On this blog, we’ve called characters “bass turds.” As in, fish poop.
We found these attempts to allude to swearing to be humorous. We can see that they might work to make this book a little more kid-friendly, which given its style (again, it’s choose-your-own-adventure) is probably beneficial for its audience.
2) Real-life prizes
There are occasions in here where the author will give people who have made certain choices real-life prizes, usually in the case of free samples from other books. We thought this was a really interesting way to bring the “real world” into the book, and give extra kudos for it. We think it’s really interesting how this book can be interacted with on a number of levels, with the characters interacting together, the reader choosing for the protagonist, and the author interacting with the reader.
…AND THE VERDICT:
This book is BIZARRE.
Novel-wise, it’s excellent. Choose-your-own-adventure-wise, it could be better. Given the abilities that this author has shown–both in this book’s writing, and in his ability to market the book–we actually expect VERY big things from him in the future. In reading through the book for the first time, we were happy with it; however, each subsequent re-read was less enjoyable because we discovered that there was a lack in plot variation. Now, don’t get us wrong–for what it is, the book is actually quite fun. But compared to what it could be, to what this author could obviously make it be, it doesn’t measure up. We can only imagine what this author could do if he worked on a similar project and threw even more effort into it. For that reason we are going to watch him very closely in the future, and greatly look forward to his next project.
The concept of the book is a choose-your-own-adventure. The reader has the option of making the decisions for the main character, and as a result, the story can change depending on the reader’s choices.
We follow a woman, Bebe McFerrin, who works at a law firm but is terrible pushover. When a colleague steals her case (and her promotion), Bebe wishes aloud that she could take revenge without any consequences. She is then surprised to discover that a demon has overheard her wish, and is willing to give her all that she desires, in exchange for some small favors…
From there, the reader takes over the main character’s choices, allowing the story to unfold. Sometimes menacing, sometimes hilarious, this story is wonderful; however, while concept-wise it is intriguing, it is somewhat problematic in its execution, as we will detail below.
THE GOOD…
1) Childhood is calling
Remember those old “pick your own adventure” stories? The ones during childhood, when you could pick up a book and flip through it, making the character’s decisions and seeing what resulted? Well, be prepared to have nostalgic flashbacks, because this book is a choose-your-own-adventure story. Only this time it’s updated into .mobi format, so that rather than having to flip through the pages manually you can click the choices inside the document, making for a much smoother transition. It’s like an old-fashioned form of video game, except with reading involved.
2) You can lose at the end
At the end of the book, if the choices are made in a certain way, it’s entirely possible for the demon involved to steal the main character’s soul. This means that, like a video game, there is a way for the reader to “lose.” Because there are several endings, it is also possible for the reader to think that he’s “won,” only to discover the opposite. We thought this was awesome, because many authors are too timid to “go there.” For a book like this, however, not going all the way could end up being a disaster, because the reader wants options. By giving us the option to fail, and condemn Our Heroine to destruction, it makes the reading more worthwhile for us.
3) Characterization
These characters are all excellently done, from the villain to the protagonist to the extras. There is howling hilarity and deadly earnestness in them all. Even though the demon is the equivalent of a used car salesman, he still is likeable in the “I love to hate you” sort of way. As for the protagonist, we also liked how she was a pushover. No joke! This is rather meta, but it makes sense: the reader is making decisions for someone who can’t decide for herself. We’re not sure if this irony was intentional or not, but it makes sense so we’re going to just go with it. And yes, even though she wasn’t able to stick up for herself, we still found ourself just liking her. Bebe McFerrin may be a bit of a twit, but she also has a kind heart to her. Perhaps a little too kind, but that's part of her charm.
4) Writing
As the above demonstrates, this book is has excellent writing. There are little to no spelling, grammar, or even formatting errors. It reads easily and concisely, while still providing ample amounts of information and description for our imaginations to crunch on. The humor in particular is wonderful. There are times when this book can be sad, but it almost always has some kind of witty comeback that will make things all right again.
THE BAD…
1) Problematic execution: “All roads lead to Rome”
Instead of having many potential narratives, this book follows just one narrative: there is really only one concrete plot. Although there might be small differences in that plot based on the reader’s choices, ultimately it is an “all roads lead to Rome” situation, where no matter what the choices made, the character is going to end up in the same destination. What this essentially means is, this book is more like an actual novel than a choose-your-own-adventure story. Going through the book for the first time, it is every bit as engaging as you’d expect a choose-your-own-adventure to be. The writing, the characterization, the pacing, and the humor all make it a very fun ride. Personally, if this were an ordinary novel, we’d rate it highly based on the fun we had just reading it. But the problem is that when it comes to the options, there is no real way to escape the main narrative of the story, which means that after the first read-through it becomes less entertaining.
It is definitely worth noting, however, that there is differentiation during the end of the story. Depending on the reader’s choices throughout the story, Our Heroine can secure her freedom or suffer the consequences of her evil actions. Because of this, there is some importance attached to the character’s actions throughout the story; all our choices ultimately aren’t for naught, because they will have an effect at the end. But those actions just happen to be ones that won’t affect the plot, because the plot is unchangeable. For this reason, we don’t think that one could read this book more than two or three times, which is a shame, given that theoretically a choose-your-own-adventure could be read many times over with different results each time.
THE BIZARRE…
1) Reluctance to swear
When a woman is being nasty, she’s a “birch.” As in the tree. There are other cases of swearing and cursing being replaced with inventive sound-a-like words.
Hey, we can identify! On this blog, we’ve called characters “bass turds.” As in, fish poop.
We found these attempts to allude to swearing to be humorous. We can see that they might work to make this book a little more kid-friendly, which given its style (again, it’s choose-your-own-adventure) is probably beneficial for its audience.
2) Real-life prizes
There are occasions in here where the author will give people who have made certain choices real-life prizes, usually in the case of free samples from other books. We thought this was a really interesting way to bring the “real world” into the book, and give extra kudos for it. We think it’s really interesting how this book can be interacted with on a number of levels, with the characters interacting together, the reader choosing for the protagonist, and the author interacting with the reader.
…AND THE VERDICT:
This book is BIZARRE.
Novel-wise, it’s excellent. Choose-your-own-adventure-wise, it could be better. Given the abilities that this author has shown–both in this book’s writing, and in his ability to market the book–we actually expect VERY big things from him in the future. In reading through the book for the first time, we were happy with it; however, each subsequent re-read was less enjoyable because we discovered that there was a lack in plot variation. Now, don’t get us wrong–for what it is, the book is actually quite fun. But compared to what it could be, to what this author could obviously make it be, it doesn’t measure up. We can only imagine what this author could do if he worked on a similar project and threw even more effort into it. For that reason we are going to watch him very closely in the future, and greatly look forward to his next project.
May 31, 2015
In How to be Bad the reader fills the shoes on Bebe McFerrin, a budding young attorney and professional pushover. Bebe has the confidence of a gnat, rendering her susceptible to the manipulation of her co-workers. The reader is introduced to Bebe, on the most important day of her life so far, having her promotion stolen by a co-worker, and what does she do? Nothing, she sit’s and takes it. That is until she meets Ladouche, a demon with a taste for revenge, who promises her total immunity from any evil deed, giving her the opportunity to wipe the smile from her colleague Anette’s face once and for all. As Bebe’s life enters the hands of the reader she finally gets her revenge, binding her to a contract with Ladouche she did not know existed and Bebe is forced to steal the souls of three innocent people.
When I was younger I loved the Goosebumps choose your own adventure books, so I was immediately interested when La Ronn asked me to read his new novel, and I was not disappointed. Overall, I had a great time; it was so much fun experimenting with a book of this type made specifically for adults. The choices were a more complicated than in those books designed for a younger audience, some of it is actually based on your ability as a reader, your general knowledge, and ability to navigate certain situations – I liked this a lot.
Each possible story only takes about an hour to read, and as I’m sure those of you who have read these books before can appreciate they are more of a holiday read than anything else. I think it would be make a good book to read on a long journey, or a lazy afternoon when you have a few hours to kill. I enjoyed reading it a few times to see how the endings changed.
I think the message I took from the story is that it might not be a very good idea to place much faith in the promises of a demon. But of course the outcome will change depending on the choices a reader makes, so you might find you take something different away. I do think the text says something about people who let themselves get walked over, you shouldn’t be afraid ‘be bad’ every now and then to get what you want. If Bebe could learn to do things for herself every now and then, and be a bit less conscientious things might turn out better for her.
The one issue I have with the book is that there are a few formatting problems. I noticed that some of the outcomes did not quite fit with the choices I made. I’ve no doubt these are supposed to be different and I have relayed the issues back to the author and he is in the process of working them out.
I like reading things which are a little different and this definitely ticked a few boxes for me. Like I said before it’s not the most thought-provoking piece I’ve ever read, but it’s what you expect a choose your own adventure to be. The book is well written, fast paced, and entertaining, and I think Ladouche is a really great character, even if he is a bit of a douche. I would recommend How to be Bad to those who were fans of choose your own adventure novels as children, or those who, like me, appreciate things which have a little individuality and flair.
Originally posted on Jade the Obscure
When I was younger I loved the Goosebumps choose your own adventure books, so I was immediately interested when La Ronn asked me to read his new novel, and I was not disappointed. Overall, I had a great time; it was so much fun experimenting with a book of this type made specifically for adults. The choices were a more complicated than in those books designed for a younger audience, some of it is actually based on your ability as a reader, your general knowledge, and ability to navigate certain situations – I liked this a lot.
Each possible story only takes about an hour to read, and as I’m sure those of you who have read these books before can appreciate they are more of a holiday read than anything else. I think it would be make a good book to read on a long journey, or a lazy afternoon when you have a few hours to kill. I enjoyed reading it a few times to see how the endings changed.
I think the message I took from the story is that it might not be a very good idea to place much faith in the promises of a demon. But of course the outcome will change depending on the choices a reader makes, so you might find you take something different away. I do think the text says something about people who let themselves get walked over, you shouldn’t be afraid ‘be bad’ every now and then to get what you want. If Bebe could learn to do things for herself every now and then, and be a bit less conscientious things might turn out better for her.
The one issue I have with the book is that there are a few formatting problems. I noticed that some of the outcomes did not quite fit with the choices I made. I’ve no doubt these are supposed to be different and I have relayed the issues back to the author and he is in the process of working them out.
I like reading things which are a little different and this definitely ticked a few boxes for me. Like I said before it’s not the most thought-provoking piece I’ve ever read, but it’s what you expect a choose your own adventure to be. The book is well written, fast paced, and entertaining, and I think Ladouche is a really great character, even if he is a bit of a douche. I would recommend How to be Bad to those who were fans of choose your own adventure novels as children, or those who, like me, appreciate things which have a little individuality and flair.
Originally posted on Jade the Obscure
July 19, 2018
You start out as lawyer passed up for promotion to partner who makes a deal with a devil to get revenge. Of course the deal is not quite what you thought it would be, and you have to collect some souls or else. Whether you lose your own soul in the process seems somewhat arbitrary, though it wasn’t clear to me whether this was intentional on the author’s part or just an unintended result of bugs in the story. The most significant bug was your opponent's final decision in the game show showdown, which seemed to contradict both the previous events and the subsequent reactions of the characters whenever I came to it. Otherwise, the writing was good, the tale was entertaining, and there were some clever do-over options to keep the reader from having to start over after getting deep into your third soul.
I wasn't bothered by the substitute-profanities; I ran into a lot of real ones and only noticed one fake. Though I'm not generally a fan of the first person in CYOA, I thought it worked well for this story.
I wasn't bothered by the substitute-profanities; I ran into a lot of real ones and only noticed one fake. Though I'm not generally a fan of the first person in CYOA, I thought it worked well for this story.
February 9, 2014
i received this book in exchange for an honest review.
well, what do i say??!! you must have read goose bumps books in your younger days. this book was exactly like that to me. except this book is about life and how some wrong decisions can be life changing and how it affects us. this book is just like goosebumps when you see the format. you choose the steps and the book leads you to the respective consequences. it was so much fun reading this book. i shall definitely check out more titles by Michael. this is a must read for sure!!
well, what do i say??!! you must have read goose bumps books in your younger days. this book was exactly like that to me. except this book is about life and how some wrong decisions can be life changing and how it affects us. this book is just like goosebumps when you see the format. you choose the steps and the book leads you to the respective consequences. it was so much fun reading this book. i shall definitely check out more titles by Michael. this is a must read for sure!!
October 5, 2014
Had to try this just for nostalgia reasons and it definitely reminded me of some of the books I used to love when I was young. Was worth it just for the entertainment factor.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews