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Book: “Soulgazer” by Maggie Rapier
Publishing Info: Ace, July 2025
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Saoirse yearns to be powerless. Cursed from childhood with a volatile magic, she’s managed to imprison it within, living under constant terror that one day it will break free. And it does, changing everything.
Horrified at her loss of control, Saoirse’s parents offer her hand to the cold and ruthless Stone King. Knowing she’ll never survive such a cruel man, Saoirse realizes there is only one path forward…she must break her curse.
On the eve of her wedding, Saoirse seeks out the legendary Wolf of the Wild—Faolan, a feral, silver-tongued pirate. He swears to help rid her of the deadly magic, if she’ll use it to locate a lost mythical isle first. Crafted by the slaughtered gods, it’s the only land that could absorb her power.
But Saoirse knows better than to trust a pirate’s word. With the wrath of her disgraced father and scorned betrothed chasing them, Saoirse adds one last condition to protect if Faolan wants her on his ship, he’ll have to marry her first.
Review: Ok, I’ll admit it: I was first drawn to this book based purely on the romantic and whimsical nature of the cover art alone. This artist has illustrated a number of fantasy book covers, and I’ve never once not immediately wanted to pick that book up! Doesn’t hurt that this one also promised pirates!
While this book didn’t quite work for me the way I had hope, there were still plenty of strengths to be had. One thing that stood out immediately, both as a pro and a con, was the style of writing. This book leans heavily towards a sort of lyrical, lush style of storytelling. There is a lot of imagery used and many lovely turns of phrase that I couldn’t help but admire. However, conversely, there were times that even as I was wowed by the beauty of the writing, I was left wanting in actually understanding what was meant to be portrayed. At times I found it difficult to place the setting in which the story was taking place, or how the action flowed from one scene to another.
This was particularly challenging at the start of the book, when the reader is plopped down in the middle of a busy scene, full of magic, religion, and political power moves. Even a few chapters in, I still didn’t feel as if I fully grasped the social-political situation of the scene the story was taking place within or the heroine’s magical abilities. That said, as the book continued and the plot focused in on the main characters and the action surrounding them, I had less trouble. Even here, though, there were still times where this focus on beautiful strings of words was prioritized over clarity of description. Ultimately, I think this is a case where the author has a lot of potential, but still needs to grow a bit in her craft.
I did enjoy the romance at the heart of the story for the most part. I didn’t necessarily need as many of the steamy scenes as we got, but the development of the love story on an emotional level was done well. This was largely helped by how well-done the love interest was written. He felt complex, interesting, and well-suited for the sort of romance that was being explored. On the other hand, I found myself struggling a bit more Saoirse. This was unfortunate, because there was a lot I liked about this character.
For one thing, she was very much outside of the typical romantasy heroine mold, being much more reserved, with her journey focusing on her slowly coming out of her shell and escaping the mental and emotional abusive systems that she had been raised within. Even at the end, she was in no way a “girl boss” or “badass” sort of heroine. This was refreshing! However, she was also hard to enjoy at times, being sometimes incredibly naive. There were also several points in which conflict could have been easily handled with simple communication, which made her silence all the more frustrating to follow.
Overall, while this book wasn’t a favorite of mine, I think the author has a lot of potential! There were the bones of a really great story to be found here, and with a bit more polish, I think this book could have been a hit! That said, even as it stands, I think there are a number of readers who will really enjoy this one, especially romantasy fans who are looking for a quieter heroine and a swoon-worthy hero!
Rating 7: While I struggled at times with some of the writing, there is a lot to enjoy in this romantasy story, not least of which is the excellent romantic lead!
Reader’s Advisory:
“Soulgazer” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists but it should be on Beautiful Covers.
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