Quaking Soul

By Jennifer M. Zeiger

Book Overview

"The adventure is strong, the defiance of the main character while trying to understand her past and change the ways of her hard headed elders makes this book a page turner. The vivid details allows you to see the characters come to life and the tiny hint of romance makes your heart smile without the book becoming a clesha love story." -Reader Review
As the next in line to be Queen of the Dryads, or tree nymphs, Na'rina knows two things for sure. Her world of fauns, nymphs, dwarves, and other mythical creatures must remain myths to the more populated human world to remain safe. And the wer-im, or werecats, who burned the dryad's trees long ago, are never to be trusted again.
But now a wer-im is warning them that humans are not only capturing mythics, but experimenting on them for scientific advancement. He wants to forge alliances to survive.
At first Na'rina refuses, but when her mother's captured, she finds the violent wer-im might be her only allies. But can Na'rina trust them? Or will her decisions doom the mythic world as she knows it?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1735122610
• ISBN13: 9781735122618
• Release Date: March 2021
• Publisher: Jennifer M Zeiger
• Length: 584 Pages
• Weight: 1.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Shallow characters and a messy plot culminate in a mostly satisfying final act

"Quaking Soul" is the debut novel of Zeiger, which is to say she has written books before but never a full-length novel. Her writing proficiency shows through in the physical construction of her words and sentences, while lack of experience in the novel format leads to common mistakes like exposition dumps. The book is certainly ambitious. At least a dozen mythic races are overlaid on our world, each with its own prejudices and history. The world, however, suffers a bit in the details of political structure, daily life, and general societal details. For example, I could not tell you how many dryads exist. The main character, Na’rina, is next in line to rule the dryads, but is she responsible for forty? Four hundred? Four thousand? This lack of detail is felt across the board and makes the world a shell of what it could have been. The characters are okay. Secondary characters often have a one-dimensional nature and exist to fulfill a few objectives to move the plot forward. Lack of well-roundedness of side and secondary characters meant I could not imagine what they are doing when offscreen. It is almost as if they cease to exist or freeze in time when not on the page. The main characters are better, and though their motivations can be nebulous at times, they are sufficient to sustain the plot and provide a bit of intrigue. The plot is bloated and suffers from a slow start and somewhat repetitive middle. Random encounters are used to spice up the action and, admittedly, keep things going at a decent clip. In the final act, the actions picks up nicely, and the book ends on a high note, making "Quaking Soul" is a fairly solid story and respectable debut showing. It would make a good read for people who enjoy more slow-paced stories.