Official Review: Her Blackened Soul by Isra Sravenheart

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Kristy Khem
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Official Review: Her Blackened Soul by Isra Sravenheart

Post by Kristy Khem »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Her Blackened Soul" by Isra Sravenheart.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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Fantasy and dark magic snake their way through the pages of Her Blackened Soul. Written by Isra Sravenheart, the novel tells the tale of a villainous witch named Isra who lives in a tower. Naturally, she detests humans and her atrocious deeds have caused the townspeople to fear her. Although she likes animals, many of them avoid her ever since she killed a dragon and took its power. Despite this, the evil witch is befriended by a serpent named Romeo. Romeo predicts the mysterious appearance of a man in Isra’s life. When he shows up and makes a licentious request concerning women, she decides to make him her slave. Together with a peculiarly helpful raven called Astrid, Isra proceeds to torture the young man for his immorality. In the process, she realizes something remarkable about herself.

This fantasy tale has a strong Disney-inspired vibe to it in terms of its characters and setting. Things like the witch’s tower in the woods, talking animals, and poisoned foodstuff are key elements in both Disney movies and in this story. I would even compare the story to the TV series called Once Upon A Time which is largely based on fairytales. I liked this aspect of the book the most because it softened the theme of ‘dark magic’ and made it more playful. It also enhanced the fantasy elements of the novel. Furthermore, the story was written from a villain’s perspective which was a refreshing and unique twist.

Unfortunately, the writing style of this novel was terribly amateur. At first, I thought the book was written for younger audiences because of the poor word choice and the artlessly constructed sentences. However, Isra was nearly thirty years old plus the book mentioned sex and infidelity, so I think that the author intended it to be read by adult readers. But, this disconnect between the writing style and the adult content in the book was jarring.

In addition to this, I really disliked the repetitiveness in the story. Throughout the entire book, Isra’s evil reputation was mentioned. The characteristics and actions of some of the other main characters were also repeated. However, what I disliked the most was the inadequate character development that constricted the flow of the story. For example, Isra did not have a credible motive for her wicked ways. As a reader, I struggled to understand her character and why she behaved the way she did. A detailed backstory would have been extremely helpful, but sadly it was missing. Random characters also popped into the story such as an owl. This left me wondering where they fit into the bigger picture and why they did certain things. Similarly, there was no agenda behind Astrid’s sudden appearance in the book and his willingness to assist Isra in her evil actions.

There were seven grammatical errors in the story which included typos, punctuation mistakes, and missing words. I considered this, the book’s poor writing style, its inadequate character development, and repetitiveness before rating it 2 out of 4 stars. Her Blackened Soul is likely to attract young adult and adult readers who like fantasy stories about supernatural characters like witches and magical animals. I wouldn’t recommend it to children because of the adult themes in it.

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Her Blackened Soul
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Stephanie Elizabeth
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Post by Stephanie Elizabeth »

It's too bad the writing fell short because the plot sounds like it could make a great story. Great review!
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Post by kandscreeley »

It sounds like a good premise, but it needs some work. I live that it reminded you of Disney. I think I'll wait until this one is revised a bit before picking it up myself. Thanks.
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Kristy Khem
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Post by Kristy Khem »

kandscreeley wrote: 18 Apr 2019, 15:35 It sounds like a good premise, but it needs some work. I live that it reminded you of Disney. I think I'll wait until this one is revised a bit before picking it up myself. Thanks.
Yeah, its best to wait until a better revision comes out indeed. Thanks for commenting!
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Post by Michgal 32 »

The premise of the story is quite interesting. A lot of work however needs to be done here. Thanks for the good review
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Post by Prisallen »

It's a shame that the sex and infidelity were in the book, otherwise it might have made a good book for younger audiences. Hopefully, the author will take your criticism constructively and fix the flaws. Thanks for a wonderful review!
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Post by Wyland »

Lovers of fantasy will appreciate this, it’s too dark for my taste. Thanks for your review.
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Post by kdstrack »

A witch in a tower and a serpent named Romeo sounded intriguing. I hope the author will rework this because it looks intriguing. Thanks.
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Post by Eclecticmama »

Ahhh it is so frustrating when you have the promise of a good story, but it just doesn't deliver! It is too bad about the poor editing. That alone will drive away interested readers. But throw in the clumsy sentence structure as well, no thanks. Great review!
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Post by SunVixen »

"This fantasy tale has a strong Disney-inspired vibe to it in terms of its characters and setting. Things like the witch’s tower in the woods, talking animals, and poisoned foodstuff are key elements in both Disney movies and in this story. I would even compare the story to the TV series called Once Upon A Time which is largely based on fairytales. I liked this aspect of the book the most because it softened the theme of ‘dark magic’ and made it more playful. It also enhanced the fantasy elements of the novel. Furthermore, the story was written from a villain’s perspective which was a refreshing and unique twist."

According to this, Isra somehow similar Maleficent from Angelina Jolie’s movie. Also, I wonder if the serpent Romeo was named after Shakespeare's character? :lol:
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Post by Scarlet Nicoll »

Inadequate character development, and repetitiveness killed the book. So sad, I actually though I would give it a try. Thank you for the head's up!
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Post by Devika menon »

The plot sounds intriguing and I would have loved to read a Disney inspired book. It is so unfortunate that the writing style is not appealing. Thanks for your honest review!
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Post by Monet_va »

Great Review! Adding this one to my TBR pile for sure! :D
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