Blog Tour | Review ― Soul Finder by Jacinta Maree (+ Giveaway)

The past few days has been a rollercoaster of events. There are some I would have celebrated and talked about endlessly to my friend (i.e.: buying one of my highly anticipated November releases, the announcement of Young Justice season 3, the end of my Oral Presentation examinations, receiving book mail today) but I decided to tone down my excitement for these few days (I’m pretty sure that’s good news for my friend, lesser spam from me).While people across the globe are waiting for the “What now?” question to be answered, I tried to delve a bit into political talk in this review. Hopefully, no one minds and that I did this right (though really, what is right and what is wrong?).

(Also, WordPress just informed me that this is my 50th post on this blog. And this blog turns five months old in eight days, so that’s an average of ten posts a month, like… wow, just wow. I originally thought this would be a test drive of sorts, that maybe I’ll get bored of it soon and ditch this site after a few reviews but I’ve actually become really invested in it. Writing reviews has helped me realise the fun in writing something other than a narrative. Thank you to all you 44 followers, be it new or old, who decided to click that “follow” button. Hope you’ll all continue to stay with me for as long as I continue to blog.)

!! potential spoilers below. read at your own risk !!

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Soul Finder
(The Immortal Gene #1)
by Jacinta Maree

Genre: New Adult, Dystopian, Supernatural
Publication Date: 16 September 2016

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Summary:
Since being discovered as Soulless, Nadia has become a target for both terrorist groups and government corporations. Now, her only hope for survival rests in the hands of the man sent out to kill her: Diesel, the Mad Dog terrorist.

Diesel is determined to free himself of the never ending curse of reincarnation and the haunting memories that plague his mind. But when his search leads him to Nadia, a greater desire stills him from taking her life.

Unable to see into Diesel’s cracking mind, Nadia instead puts her faith into his strength, fueled by eleven generations of unmatched rage and insanity. Their tight-rope relationship balances the two between life and death, love and rage, trust and betrayal.

Tension pulls at the hems of their dangerous companionship, and as time runs out all madmen must eventually make their choice.

Book two of the thrilling Immortal Gene series dives deeper into the danger of trusting your heart over your head.

Sequel to:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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The quest for a cure to end this seemingly endless reincarnation cycle continues in the action-packed second instalment of The Immortal Gene trilogy. It’s only been a few months since I read Soulless but I spent a good 20% of this book trying to recall what happened in the previous book. After that 20% had passed, the plot really started to kick in and I was hooked.

Soulless ended with Nadia falling off a cliff and into the water below it, seeing proof that she is actually a Soulless, and readers were left hanging when she passed out. This book picks up immediately where Soulless left off, with Nadia being rescued from the water and eventually brought to a place where she reunites with Diesel once more.

There were some new faces, and we revisited some old ones. Some died, some lived, and a few became some of my favourite characters in this series. But once again, because of the brutality the characters faced in their world, I was unable to connect to any of them. Yeah, sure, they have their redeeming qualities but relatable is not one of them.

I like Nadia’s character because she’s a fighter. She’s strong, independent, and loyal to those she hold dear. I didn’t understand her feelings towards Diesel in the previous book, and I still don’t. Back then, I hoped that maybe it’ll be better developed in the next two books, and while we did get more interactions with Nadia and Diesel, with Diesel seemingly reciprocating Nadia’s feelings towards him, Nadia has suddenly become overly attached to Diesel. She actively tries to grab his attention, even briefly hooking up with another guy in the hopes that Diesel will get jealous. Worry not, no love triangle ensued. 

Diesel is still a character that is pretty much shrouded in mystery. Due to all the memories from his past lives crowding his mind, if he’s not on the D400, some characteristics of his past lives may just slip into his current self. Maybe in the third and final book, we’ll finally be able to uncover all the layers and know the real Diesel. But one thing seems to be constant, and that is his determination, be it his determination to find the cure to this vicious reincarnation cycle or his determination to protect Nadia.

I usually don’t go into political talk, mostly because what I want to say has already been phrased in a more impactful way by someone else, but also because I fear that I’ll come off as ignorant (due to assumptions or lack of information) or offensive (though this usually seems to be unavoidable). But in view of recent events, I feel the need to point out a quote from this book:

He kept walking, muttering the word ‘freak’ as he passed.
Eleven cycles of life and it seems some still could never get past
their own insecurities.

In Soul Finder, we meet a character who despite having been born as a guy, identifies as a girl instead. And even in a world torn apart by war and plagued by violence, poverty and madness, people are still unable to set aside their prejudices. This is reflective of some issues that plague our current world and this is what I love about dystopian books. Even though they can be set a billion years in the future, in one way or another, they still reflect the world we live in right now. And it’s little details like this that set you thinking. Is it human nature for some people in this world to hold such deep-rooted hatred? Despite our best efforts, is there truly no way we can change the mindsets of these people? Or if you prefer seeing things in a positive light, then how can we convince these people to let go of their prejudices?

Overall, this series has been amazing so far. It is dark, thrilling, thought-provoking and the reincarnation concept is just plain innovative. The characters, though not relatable, were loveable (well… not all of course). The romance was really the main thing that kept me from fully enjoying it.

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Born in Melbourne Australia, Jacinta Maree considers herself a chocoholic with an obsession with dragons, video gaming and Japan. She writes a variety of genres including YA paranormal, steampunk, horror, new adult, dystopian and fantasy. Winner of 2014 Horror of the year and bestselling author, Jacinta writes to bring enjoyment to others while fulfilling her own need to explore the weird and the impossible.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

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This giveaway is open internationally and ends on 16 November 2016. Enter the rafflecopter here for a chance to win a paperback or ebook copy of Soulless or Soul Finder.