Official Review: Soulless by Queen Belinda Villars

shannonkate8 · Post by **shannonkate8** » 15 Mar 2020, 14:21

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Soulless" by Queen Belinda Villars.]

1 out of 4 stars

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Soulless by Queen Belinda Villars is a unique twist on the battle between good and evil. In addition to this ancient theme, tragedy, redemption, horror, love, hate, and religion are immersed in the story.

Queen Danara has fought for her life from the moment she was born. Tied to Lucifer by a multi-generational curse where first-borns are killed, Danara would have died if not for her mother's love and beliefs. Going forward, Danara becomes a beautiful, loving queen to her people. However, she finds herself in an everlasting war between Heaven and Hell and has a daunting decision of which path to take as she and her descendants move forward.

I thought this story had great promise. There were numerous reviews on Amazon touting the greatness of the story and writing. Unfortunately, I had a different experience. To start, the cover was perplexing as it does not appear to relate to the story at hand. While book covers are not required to relate to the story, it is the first thing the reader sees. As it is not a big issue, I moved onward and into disappointment.

Regrettably, I found the book to be lackluster and was confused through most of it. I could not figure out the time period or location of the story, which did not provide me with much of a setting. This is important because the setting helps readers visualize and experience the story. Without it, I was left puzzled. For example, in the beginning, Danara is born and Lucifer himself comes to take her away. Does this mean I am in a fantasy book? Is Danara's mother hallucinating? I had no idea. There was no background and I had more questions than answers.

Further, the book was littered with grammatical errors. Commas were incorrectly placed and appeared to be random at times. For example, the author writes,

"She proclaimed, as she looked deep into her daughter’s eyes and saw, destiny."

The comma after 'saw' seems to have been randomly placed. Perhaps the author was attempting to produce a pause in the flow of the sentence but did so incorrectly. Moreover, the author was inconsistent in some style choices (i.e. writing out some numbers and not others).

Overall, I give this book 1 out of 4 stars. Given the number of grammatical errors, poor writing, and confusing story, I do not feel that I can go any higher. I did not enjoy the story due to all the limitations. In addition, I do not feel that I understood the story and would be able to provide a decent, thorough synopsis of the book to someone else.

Based on the above, I would not recommend this book to others. Given that the book appears to be based in the Christian religion, those interested in religious battles may enjoy this book, though I would probably look elsewhere. Personally, I think readers can find a better story to fit their wants on this site.

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Soulless
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Cynthia_Oluchi · Post by **Cynthia_Oluchi** » 21 Mar 2020, 15:27

Thank you for the heads on. My time is too precious to spend it on a book I won't understand its story. I'll join you in checking elsewhere.

Frannie Annie · Post by **Frannie Annie** » 22 Mar 2020, 07:57

I might have tried this book had I not seen your review, although the cover doesn't really sell me on it. Thanks for the review.

shannonkate8 · Post by **shannonkate8** » 23 Mar 2020, 08:32

Cynthia_Oluchi wrote: ↑21 Mar 2020, 15:27 Thank you for the heads on. My time is too precious to spend it on a book I won't understand its story. I'll join you in checking elsewhere.

If the author has set up a background and provided more information, I think it really could have helped. I found myself asking questions more often than not though.

shannonkate8 · Post by **shannonkate8** » 23 Mar 2020, 08:33

Frances019 wrote: ↑22 Mar 2020, 07:57 I might have tried this book had I not seen your review, although the cover doesn't really sell me on it. Thanks for the review.

Obviously there are books all over where the cover doesn't relate to the story. However, the confusing cover and confusing story doesn't help the author.