Whoa. This may be the best book I've ever read. No. It IS the best book I've ever read. Perhaps not my favorite, but the best. I highly recommend the audiobook!
Kristen Hannah made me feel so many feels. I never thought it would be physically possible for me to cry over an anti-semetic, probably racist Nazi. Both main characters, Vianne and Isabelle, were strong and resiliant in their own ways, with layers of flaws and complexity. The side characters were flawed, too. No one was perfect. Every side character (perhaps with the exeption of Von Richter, who is straight-out evil) had their own struggle, and their own sides of good and bad, their own shades of grey. The world and its inhabitants are not black-and-white, after all.
It's been a long time since I've read a book like this. Which has got me thinking... maybe I should start reading more adult fiction.

People often overuse the phrase "unique fantasy." I can say to you, that without a doubt, this is one of the most uniquely built fantasies that you'll ever read.
Kingdom of Souls follows a girl desperate for a hint of magic from a family that is full of it. But that's only the beginning. As the Kingdom's children begin to go missing, she finds herself digging up an even more sinister of a plot...and I'll let you read the rest.
The only reason I didn't give the book 5 stars was because I thought that the pacing was a little wonky. I would have split the book into two so we could get more character and plot development. It felt like two books smashed into one. But other than that I loved it!

This book just improved so much more from Illuminae and I...wow. I am amazed and cannot wait to read Obsidio!

Why does my baby have to have such a sad ending? They didn't deserve that????? And if you know who I'm talking about you'd probably think that this character had gotten their comeuppance but NO; they were shortchanged by Amie and Jay! Literally why? Well, I know why; A&J wanted their little story to have a bittersweet ending but my baby got the s**t end of the deal. I'm literally dying inside. And the fact is, no matter what this character did or said, they'd still never be loved because of who they are. And it's so sad! I have to admit that they were really my only investment for reading this series because though I loved (most of) the main characters, this one was the only one I connected with. They don't even get to be in the picture at the end of the book. NO, don't flip to the end of the book to see who's not there. And I'm just too emotionally drained from this book to continue this review rant so I'm going to leave now.

This went by wayyyyy too fast. I enjoyed the story, but having watched the Netflix show first, I was dissapointed by the lack of characterization and the meandering plotline.

I think that this sequel is really well done and differs from other trope-y YA books of the time in that it doesn't fall into middle book syndrome. It's really action-pact and there's romantic tension, so what isn't there to love?