Thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read ARC SoulHate

I was so excited to receive this ARC. I loved the whole concept of Soulmate and Soulhate on which this world was built.

I liked how the concepts were presented and described. It's hard to say without spoilers, but I enjoyed the description of the state and emotions a person goes through when encountering soulhate, We get a glimpse of what happens when a person encounters their soulmate, but it's not very detailed.

The built world reminds me of ancient Rome, with the appearance of the city, the government, and the political story. The writer did a good job describing how their system works and how the world, their city-state, and partly others, is set up.

As for the main characters, Renza and Idris, who are connected as soulmates, the relationship develops gradually and naturally until the end, when it accelerates.

As I said, I really liked the concept of soulhate and how it was presented, but despite that, I gave it this 2-star rating. The plot was predictable, and there was too little focus on their soulmate relationship and too much on what was happening from a political aspect. I wish there had been more scenes between Renzo and Idris, more focus on the relationship and the development of that relationship. I would love to see how they function together, given their desire for each other and the emotions that being a souhate brought. This part was disappointing for me.

I'm glad I read the book, but it's not a book I would read twice.

First and foremost as always thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. This was an incredibly good read! The story was beautifully written and the characters were flushed out really well! I hadn't really given much thought to the opposite of a soul mate before this book and I'm glad I got to read this one! The enemies to lovers in this was perfect! Definitely worth the read!

“Soul Hate,” by Hannah Kingsley

This book is a good book for people who like a lot of political intrigue and a constant enemy to lovers’ trope. It ended up being a little too political for me and I didn’t love how quickly it went from romantic to hating each other and then back again, the push and pull isn’t always my thing in books. It did have a lot of good things like the plot and characters that weren’t annoying and had a lot of their own goals. I like the fantasy vibe of the book overall. 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

Spoiler Warning: Soul Hate is a brilliant concept and story. Instead of usual soul mate / fated mate this story follows your fated soul hate. The person you are meant to kill from blind rage and hatred. However what happens when you eventually fall for them instead? There was some great political intrigue and I really liked how it felt set in an Italian city. The characters were well thought out. I feel there could have been more moments between Renza and Idris - their relationship seemed to jump quite quickly.
Nouis was a very interesting character but I did not trust him from the get go so I felt like I was waiting for the moment he was going to deceive the main character. It didn’t feel like much of a surprise.
Also, some descriptions were quite repetitive (for example, many buildings/objects were described as ‘creamy’ quite a lot)
I enjoyed the book and it was an easy read with a fun plot idea. 3.5 stars!

This was a nice, easy read but with lots of excitement in it. I wasn't expecting a soul hate/mate to be based around a religion and gods, but it was a good way to introduce it. The only thing that bothered me was not really understanding who/what the Holy Mother was, but unless there's going to be a second book (which I hope there will be), I think that keeping the mystery is good.

of course, the main feature of the book, enemies to lovers. I very nearly didn't think that it was going to happen, but it did, however it felt superficial and maybe only there to fulfill the trope. On the other hand, they enemied beautifully.

overall, this was a four star read with room for improvement in the plot but the way it was written was very good and once I started reading it, I didn't want to stop.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Unfortunately I DNFD this book i just found it a bit slow for my liking and I couldn't gel with the characters at all. It has a fab concept it was just not for me. I'm sure someone else will love it though

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for providing me with an eARC of this book!

I ended up enjoying Soul Hate more than I expected to! I was pleasantly surprised by it and hope there will be a sequel.

The titular premise of the book, everyone having a soulmate and a 'soulhate' was definitely intriguing. I thought it made this book and the dynamics between the two main characters more interesting for sure.

I really enjoyed the political intrigue element of this book. It wasn't what I was expecting but I thought that it worked well. The city is based on the ancient cities of Rome and Athens, but with more modern values. This mostly worked but there were moments were I felt that the setting and the characters/ideas didn't quite gel. Additionally, the use of modern slang and language felt out of place.

I liked Renza a lot as a main character, even if she was willfully blind to a pretty obvious plot twist (in my opinion). Her motivations and ambition was enjoyable to read about.

I also liked Idris, but wish we could have seen more of him. I understand why we didn't, but I think there could have been ways around it to give us more of a glimpse.

I think where this book faltered a bit was in its pacing. The last 20% felt quite rushed and as though it should have been given another 100 pages or so. Another issue I had was that while I feel pretty certain that this book is intended to have a sequel, it felt at times as though the author was trying to cram everything into this book. The romance in particular could have been drawn out more and I think that would have made it more satisfying. This also applies to the mentions of the gods - I wish they had either been expanded upon (as they will be explored in greater depth in a future book) or limited. I kept expecting to learn more and was disappointed when I didn't.

In summary, I had fun with this and will read the sequel if there is one. 3.5/5

The synopsis and cover art held my attention right away and I was anticipating devouring this Ancient Rome vibes, betrayal filled book.

Unfortunately, the execution and romance fell short for me, with me predicting the villian early on and plot easily. Whilst reading I found myself not connecting with any characters and I found issues with the spice level as it is categorized as Young Adult. While I understand that due to the lack of “graphic Words”(anatomy) it was catogorized as YA, but I still believe due to how the spice scene was written it can be considered 17+. (More so NA and shouldn’t be geared towards young teens.)

Thank you to the author for the ARC <3

3.5 / 5 What happens when you fall for the one person you are destined to hate and destroy? We are born with both a Soul Mate and Soul Hate, both invoking visceral reactions and feelings. Renza is following in the political footsteps of her father, and meets her Soul Hate just before her beloved city of Halice falls under attack. Can she work with her Soul Hate to protect her city? Who can she trust?

This was a great debut book by Hannah Kingsley. The premise was unique and it was a fast paced, quick read, with enemies to lovers trope. The tension between Renza and Idris was well done. It’s labeled as an adult romantasy but felt more YA and did not have enough fantasy component to really classify as romantasy, it was really just the soul hate concept. The story felt a little rushed and could have involved more development but I still enjoyed the characters arc and plot.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

2.5/5

as always, thank you netgalley for the opportunity! i’m very sorry to deliver my negative review but this book was not for me, unfortunately.
i thought the premise was extremely interesting! the whole idea of having not only a soulmate but also a soulhate, the person you’re destined to kill, was definitely interesting and something i had never seen before. personally, i think it was not delivered that well. our main couple, Renza and Idris, started talking only after the 50% mark and Renza had almost instantly thoughts about his body and his touch. i also thought that they were going for each other’s throat way more than they actually did in reality, i understand that it was for the sake of the plot but it felt like their soulhate bond was not as relevant as it should’ve been.
the pace was fine, probably a little fast for me. on the other hand, i thought the writing was very much repetitive. not only the sentences’ structure was almost always the same, but it felt like we needed to know some irrelevant details too many times (ex: LIs’ smells).
also, if the author intended to use something from another language (in this case the use of the words “signore” and “signora”) please make sure to use them properly! an italian person would never say “signore Patricelli” but it would be “signor Patricelli”. i know it’s a minute detail but it was still wrong.
as my first approach to a romantasy, it was not successful. i do think people might like it so check it out if the premise interests you.

When I saw this book on Netgalley I was sold. The title alone was enough to get me interested. Of course I requested a review copy and I placed my pre-order for a physical copy of the book. I was really happy that One More Chapter granted me a review copy and when the release date of the book finally came closer it was time to dive in.

There is a lot I really liked about this book. The writing is really nice. The book was easy to read, the dialogues sounded natural and I really flew through the story. I also really loved the politics in the book, although quite some things were very predictable and the finale turned a lot more bloody than I had expected after reading the rest of the book.

However, after finishing the book I also felt slightly unsatisfied. I think that's mainly because I had certain expectations of the story based on the prologue and world building. For some reason I was convinced that this story was about breaking the soul hate and soul mate situation and curse. That didn't happen. The dynamic of the soul mates and soul hates is more of a complicating element of the story, but the plot is not about it and really not about solving the issues.

I also hungered after a little more romance after reading the book. I think the author didn't intend this to truly be a romance, but now the romance also felt like more of a complicating factor instead of a plot in itself. Considering the rest of the story though, I did like how the romantic subplot eventually ended. It fits the characters and their journey.

So, my opinion is slightly influenced by my expectations. If you start the story with the right expectations, it's an amazing one!

This book had a lot of promise, but I just couldn't get past the soulhate urges. I'm a romantic at heart, and this took enemies to lovers too far for me.
I think perhaps if pitched differently, I wouldn't have felt as disappointed by the premise, and maybe been able to immerse myself properly.

Well written, but the story was just not a hit for me.

"At the dawn of humanity there was a couple in love"
It's a sweet and comforting thing to open a story and find it starts no different than the classic fairytales most of us adore. Soul Hate is a amazing written tale and I'm thrilled I got the chance to read and review a early copy of it. I read it in a single sitting, and look forwards to having a phsyical copy at some point. The politics in this book fill pages from the start, well written and the inspiration clearly taken from past civilizations. There is no calm way to explain how much I love it. In short I'm more than a bit feral over this book. It is good to note that as a few others have commented already the romance within the story doesn't constantly take the limelight, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. Really this book made me love the soulmate trope all over again.

⭐️ 3/5

Let me just start by saying this was not a fantasy romance, but rather a YA Fantasy with some romantic elements.
I felt like I was reading a different book than what was promoted.

That being said, I still enjoyed it for the debut that it was.

There were some really intriguing and interesting fantasy elements and plot traits that felt new and unique.
This book did have a bunch of fantasy elements mixed with politics and a dash of romance. However, the romance did not feel like a main talking point... and some of the exciting romance scenes weren't with the MMC. Which was a bit of a miss for me.

If you enjoy YA Fantasy, then this is for you.

I loved the concept of finding the opposite of a soulmate! It was truly a great change of pace in current books today. The characters were amazing and well thought-out. I also enjoyed the plot quite a bit and the political intrigue associated with it.

It had potential, but it failed for me the characters were boring and their was no real depth.

The pacing was off too, I just felt like they had one conversation and then immediately fell in love with each other which felt kinda random.

The word building was beautiful I have to admit, but sadly I got bored.

Tw: didn't realize there was spice found it out the hard way
ch15 & half way through 22 I think)

It says YA sooo why we putting explicit content in this genre?! No clue but it should not be in there.

For an adult Romantasy debut with such an intriguing plot I went in very excited. I loved the politics, the solid world building, the soul love/soul hate aspect which was very unique and the tension in the last half of the book was sooo delicious. However it really was one of those worlds that took ages to get into and I did struggle with some of the language. Lots of modern language but also an accent world took me out of the fantasy.

All in all it was an enjoyable read and one for people who love politics over romance in fantasy, but a brilliant debut and would read more from the author.

First I’d like to thank Harper Collin’s UK, One More Chapter and Hannah Kingsley for the chance to read an ARC of this book!

What really drew me to this book was the idea of a Soulhate, in a world full of books on soulmates and fated mates. I needed a break from insta love and faes. This was exactly what I needed. I couldn’t put this book down.
I went into this book not sure how I would like it, I saw a lot of reviewers saying it was heavy on the politics, and I usually prefer an adventure over political storylines. But this one surprised me. The politics didn’t overwhelm the story. They added to it, and made the main characters drive completely believable. She loves her country. And puts it above everything else. I admired that about her. She never wavered or had a second thought other than to do what was best for her people. It was inspiring.
I could see the twist coming from far away, but I liked how it was handled. I hate miscommunication in stories, and I enjoyed how quickly it was discovered and overcome.

This was a really heartwarming story, where everyone comes together flawlessly for the greater good. I loved the tension between the two rivals, Idris and Renza. I really loved that it was not insta love. Their tension was perfect. And I’m here for it. I wish there was more of it, rather than just the last bit of the book. But I appreciate the realness of it. And can’t wait to see what happens next.

If I had one qualm… it would be the use of the word “creamy” to describe stone. It was a little much.

But besides that, I really enjoyed this book and I eagerly await the next one! That ending. I’ll be impatiently awaiting news of the sequel!!

Soul Hate follows our FMC, Renza, as she is faced with her fated enemy and forced to work together, uncovering a plot that would destroy the very city she lives to protect. The idea of being tied by fate to two people, one soulmate and one soulhate, was an incredibly interesting concept to explore. I especially appreciated that the book focused on the flaws of the system, and that lives should not be driven by fate but by one’s own choices.

Renza is a fair and just young woman who has so much love for her city and takes her job in politics very seriously. This was so great to read as she came across as strong and driven by ambition towards her city purely to improve the lives of the people and not from a place of ulterior motives, and not once is this ambition framed as a flaw just because she is a woman.

The cast of characters is filled with compelling individuals of diverse backgrounds, but none are as captivating as Renza’s mysterious soulhate, Idris. I really enjoyed exploring the dynamics of the pair and how they are forced to challenge fate itself from the minute they meet. I found the writing style of this book to flow smoothly and read beautifully, making this a great debut novel all around.

Thank you to Hannah Kingsley and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to give an advance review of this book. I really enjoyed this political romantasy and loved the unique basis the story builds from, gaining a 4/5 star rating!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.