This was a book that I didn’t feel I read as much as experienced. It’s a very emotional book for a start. It put me in mind of several things.
One it was very much like navigating a dreamworld, there were elements that made me think of my own dreams, that strange netherworld where people meander in and out and topography’s change and you have no say in it.
Secondly, there were some passages that reminded me of some of those guided meditations where you are led into some deeply symbolic and spiritual landscapes.
‘The trees are tall and bare, their bark adorned with leaves shaped like vibrant green birds that blended seamlessly with the branches. The sky above was a stunning sunset of oranges and purple, illuminated by two delicate pink moons that cast a serene otherworldly glow. The forest floor was alive with movement as flowers wandered on their stems, their petals fluttering shyly. The ground was soft and cushion-like, creating a gentle, living carpet underfoot. The air was crisp and cool, filled with the fresh foliage and the faint sweet fragrance of the wandering flowers.’
And finally, it took me back to the 80s; before Windows and before MacBooks, when computer games were so much less sophisticated than they are now. I remember loading the game data into the machine (a Sinclair Spectrum, okay so I’m old!) via a cassette player and it took ages! Because the graphics were limited the role-playing games relied on words and there were passages in this book which reminded me of those –
‘Its surface began to shimmer, undulating in mesmerising waves of liquid gold that seemed to breathe with a life of their own. Each ripple caught the light, casting golden sparkles that danced across the room, making the air feel electric and charged with anticipation. The mirrors glow grew stronger…’
And then, if you were playing the game, you’d be given a number of options to choose from which would determine the outcome and the next path that you took. And the main character, Dee, passes through doors which seem to dictate the course of her soul journey, for that is how I saw the story, someone mining the very depths of her soul to find the truths of her life and its outcomes. It’s almost a fictional self-help book!
Soul is the first in the Soulbound Trilogy. The cover blurb tells us –
‘Dee’s world shatters in an instant when a devastating car crash leaves her trapped in limbo, each door revealing a fragment of her past. Driven to reunite with her soulmate, Luke, she travels through heartfelt and haunting moments, confronting the defining events of her life. Dee must piece together her past in this surreal journey and face long avoided truths. Will she find her way back to Luke or remain lost in her memory?’
And Dee’s journey takes her through a labyrinth of doors and mirrors that reflect her life and open pathways in her heart and mind that help her to understand so much of her previous life AND understand the people closest to her. Luke, her lover and her soul mate is her Holy Grail in this fantasy romance that isn’t afraid to speak the truth and confront life changing issues.
It's a remarkable achievement for a debut novel. And I understand, having met the author recently, that Book Two in the series looks at events from Luke’s perspective. It’s an exciting prospect.