Princess of Souls is a journey in which the main female character, Selestra, tries to reclaim herself as everyone around her has their own nefarious plots making her feel secluded and lonely. Trapped in her tower Rapunzel style she isn’t allowed access to the outside world but when the opportunity comes to leave, she takes it. Selestra then goes on a journey filled with magic and a humorous male companion (Nox) whom she meets who you’ll find keeps her on the edge of her toes and yours the whole time.

I especially loved the realisation that Selestra has that she doesn’t have to do things alone. Her mother was trapped unable to be the mother she wanted to and Selestra saw this and feared she would become like that too but because of Nox she saw that there was another way to fight back which was so well done in this book.

Will I reread in the future? I may read this book again.

Will I read anything else by the author? Yes, Alexandra Christo always spins a wonderfully whimsical tale and I am very excited to see what adventure she writes next.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this, but it didn't feel like it was in the same world as To Kill a Kingdom. I liked the relationship between the two main characters but I just felt like this was ok? It wasn't anything new I hadn't read before. It's a shame as I adored TKaK!

dark rapunzel has a hold on me like nothing else and this author does dark so well. the plot is dark and twisted which i love. the politic in this book are perfectly written with character who have a great banter and enemies to lover story line. both MC complement each other and you see the growth between them. the world building is on point and this author has a skill set for dark stories like no other

I have yet to read an Alexandra Christo book that I didn't enjoy. This was such an addictive read and I found myself flying through it!

I really liked the premise of this one and the characters were amazing. I loved watching them grow and develop throughout!

Cannot wait to read whatever Alexandra writes next

P.s. sorry for such a late review

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

I love fairy retelling so this one was right up my street. Princess of Souls is suppose to based on Rapunzel, However I felt this was a unique story on its own.

It was fast paced and action packed and filled with great characters. I throughly enjoyed reading it.

I really enjoyed this book.

When I heard it was set in the same world as To Kill a Kingdom I was super excited about the prospect of maybe a hint/mention of a crossover however that sadly didn't happen at all.

The writing style was super easy to read and the world building is just perfect. I found that the relationship between Selestra and Nox was just stunning.

The only reason for 4 stars is that it felt very jam packed, there always seemed to be something happening and occasionally throughout the book some scenes get a little bit lost in translation.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

I loved this book. The main characters were well rounded but also grew as their adventure went on. I really liked the dynamic between them and also the side character bought a lightness to heavy moments. That balanced the story.

This was such an interesting and incredible read, there was such depth and intrigue. I found myself completely entranced by the story.

What can I say about this book and the author? Hmm.. Well, I really don't know why she writes so little when she creates such amazing worlds with every book! The first book was very good, but this one... It was definitely worth the wait. It keeps the reader interested, excited, and energized all the time. If you want to read something great, this book is for you. Especially if you love references to children's fairy tales you will fall in love with the story! Read it and don't wonder!

This book unfortunately was quite forgettable. I really enjoyed To Kill a Kingdom but this one fell flat for me. This is advertised as a Rapunzel telling but I think it steers away from it quite drastically.
For me the romance also had very little chemistry and I found myself waiting for their scenes to be over.
After reading it I didn't think about it again and found myself reluctant to pick it up when I'd take a break.

I would give Alexandra Christo another go but I was quite disappointed with this one

Loved this book, great characters and story. Full of adventure and surprises keeping me intrested and wanting to know more the whole way through.

Princess of Souls- It was a book I loved at the time of reading, but looking back it’s kind of blurred a bit . Many Thanks to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review:
So I adored to kill a kingdom, so hearing the words “rapunzel retelling” had me requesting this instantly. Also enemies to Lovers- Yes just give me it please I’m a sucker for a good love story.

Plot- So it was fine, I mean the plot sounds amazing from the synopsis and reading it was a genuine pleasure and its done in a great style with really good pacing. It was fine overall, nothing really standing out as good or bad, even if it was a tiny bit predictable where it was going.

World building- I’d expect nothing less than fantastic on the world building and it delivered.

Characters- Okay this is where I took a nosedive. I had zero investment in the two leads and the romance felt meh. Like if they got together or not I was not in any way bothered. They didn’t feel to have any development either? I can’t put my finger on it but it just made me not enjoy the story as much.

Overall:
An anticipated read that worked for the most part- just the characters and romance arc didn’t quite work for me.

First of all thank you to Hot Key for letting me read this book early! Billed as a retelling of Rapunzel, Christo manages to create an utterly unique story that takes only the bare bones of the story to create an amazing world.
Seles tea and her mother are the last of their kind and whilst her mother willingly serves the immortal king, Selestra is desperate for more than reaping souls to feed his life span.

Able to foretell a person’s death from a single touch, Selestra’s life becomes unwittingly entangled with the that of one of the king’s best soldiers when she performs her magic for the first time.

To save herself she has to save Nox and defeat the king who now hunts him across the world.

Like To Kill a Kingdom before it, Christo sweeps you off on a grand adventure across the sea, and through magical islands determined to kill our enemies to lovers with swoon worthy banter. I was hooked reading this utterly entranced in Selestra and Nox’s story. I loved how they slowly came to trust each other as Selestra’s world unravels and reforms as she races to escape death.

It’s well paced and at no point did i feel that it was overlong despite having struggled with To Kill a Kingdom initially - though that was probably a me thing.

I’d love for more stories in this world especially where the characters start to overlap and cameo but not gratuitously.

As soon as I saw this was a return to the world of To Kill A Kingdom I knew I needed to read this, as who didn't love TKAK?

Yet again you see some amazing characters written by Alexandra Christo, and the dynamic between the two MCs Nox and Selestra I just adored. It was also so interesting to see how Selestra managed to break away from her childhood and the beliefs that were instilled into her from an early age, I love a good character growth and this one was written so well. I especially loved the scene where Selestra first left her home town after being stuck there for her whole life, you really felt you were there and the imagery was beautiful.

I can't wait to see if any other books will be set in this world, I certainly hope so!

Selestra is a witch-in-training, duty-bound to steal souls for the immortal king. Nox is a soldier intent on bringing them all down, but fate ties them together.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows our two main characters.
Selestra may live in the castle, and have every luxury, but she is little better than a prisoner. Her mother is the king's witch - feared by all, seeing deaths and stealing souls to keep the king's immortality. Selestra is the witch's heir, born to follow in her mother's footsteps.
When she meets Nox, she sees his death is tied to hers, and decides they have to work together to escape their fate.

Nox is the perfect soldier. He is a legendary fighter, loved by the army and even has the king's respect. It's all a facade though, the king and his witches murdered his father, and Nox is going to kill every last one of them. And it starts with winning a wish in an annual competition - and if he loses, he dies.
When he meets the fearsome heir, she's not quite what he expected, and that she hates the king too. He doesn't trust her, but realises that his enemy's enemy could be his friend.

I enjoyed this story, with it's hint of dark Rapunzel with a bit of Medusa thrown in.
I thought the magic used by Selestra and her mother was very interesting. How their ancestor bound them all to serve the power-hungry king in any way he sees fit.

The first half follows them as they try and escape the king and his army - Nox only has to survive a month to win the contest, and Selestra is keen to get as far away from her prison as possible.
Nox believes they will only be safe on an island that is impenetrable, and is rumoured to be the home to a legendary weapon - the only thing that can defeat the immortal king.
It's interesting to watch how their plans start to change, when they realise not everything is as it seems. And Selestra finds that she will have to face her enemy to truly escape him.

The not-so-good.
The main characters are alright to start with, they have their desires and drives, but they're nothing special. The friends that accompany them are much more interesting.
As the story goes on, and the "relationship" develops, I found they got blander and blander. Nox loses a lot of his depth, and he's just their to support Selestra; but it never feels like a real relationship. It's just ticking boxes and saying they're in love.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to more by this author.

An interesting take on the Rapunzel fairytale.

Selestra has been trapped in the castle her entire life. Heir to the King’s Witch, she is kept isolated from everyone, and prepared to follow her mother into service to the immortal King by feeding him souls every year as part of the Festival of Predictions.
Nox’s father mysteriously died the day after he revealed to his son that he perhaps wasn’t as loyal to the King as his son had always believed, and he enters the festival to enact revenge upon the King.
Their unlikely alliance leads them across kingdoms to the one land that has held up to the King’s rule.

I loved the settings the story takes place across, and seeing the different lands and peoples was interesting.

The characters were well developed and engaging. They’re young, and therefore make some decisions that older readers may find inadvisable or naive, however this fits with their ages and the narrative.

The magic system was intriguing and I loved learning more about it as the story progressed. Seeing the loopholes in the curse and how they came about made for an interesting plot.

I particularly liked how this story fit into the world of To Kill a Kingdom and the way that the stories work together - if centuries apart.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and would read other books by Alexandra Christo in the future.

Princess of Souls is such a beautifully written YA fantasy. The world-building is outstanding. This sequel is well written with an enchanting storyline and well-developed characters that engage from start to finish. The world is atmospheric and feels real with vivid descriptions and rich imagery. I cannot get enough. Highly recommended. Be sure to check out Princess of Souls today.

I cannot express how much I loved this. I love fairytale retellings and To Kill a Kingdom is one of my favourite fairytale standalones, so I had to read Princess of Souls which is set in the same world. It was so good and I love how Christo takes inspiration from Rapunzel and grows her story from the original, rather than keeping it so close to the story.

Selestra is a witch and has spent her whole life preparing for the day she takes over from her mother as the owner of a powerful magic. Each year, the king requires his Somniatis witch to foretell people’s deaths and link their souls to him. The king uses these souls to fuel his immortality and Selestra’s bloodline is tied to him. Whenever Selestra touches anyone without gloves, she will see their death, so she has grown up very isolated and she longs to escape the life that is expected of her. When she turns 18, she will take over from her mother at the Festival of Predicitions where 200 people come forward for the chance of gaining a wish if they can avoid the death predicted for them after 2 weeks.

Nox is part of the king’s army, but after the death of his father, which he believes to be at the hands of the king, he is determined to take the king’s immortality and kill his entire court. When Nox enters the courtroom as the final participant for the Festival of Predictions, the king makes Selestra see his death. From this moment, Selestra and Nox are tied to each other whether they realise it or not, as Selestra also foretells her own death.

Selestra learns a lot about herself over the course of this book. She discovers many things about her power and I loved watching her grow into herself. I loved the found family theme as with Selestra comes Irenya and with Nox comes Micah. The dynamic between the four of them was great, but obviously I adored Selestra and Nox together. It was quite a slow-burn and sort of an enemies-to-lovers relationship but it was more enemies to mistrust to friends to lovers, but either way I ate it up!

There was the perfect amount of romance as well as action in this one and I loved it! Definitely recommend if you love fairytale retellings!

An enemies to lovers set in the same world as to kill a kingdom, and hearing about this it sounded like my kind of book. But I had the same problems with both books. The characters felt too surface level and the writing was disjointed. I liked the concept and the ideas were there, but most of this book was boring and slow, and I'm not sure if it's a series, but it read like a standalone.

I loved being back in the world of To Kill a Kingdom! This was such a fun easy read and I really enjoyed Selestra and Nox as characters. There was plenty of intrigue and wit throughout and I absolutely flew through it!