Dark Souls by Ketley Allison (Dark Souls #1)

Author Spotlight

Ketley Allison is a twenty-something (maybe almost thirty-something) author who believes that supernatural love shouldn’t stop at eighteen. She began her career by writing books as birthday presents for her friends (with her friend as the main character and opposite a super sexy lead, of course) before ending it in order to walk down a path she thought she was supposed to follow.

The writing bug never left her—and, in fact, would often bleed into the official papers she was supposed to write—so now Ketley’s putting down her suit and finally following her dream. While her friends are no longer the stars of her books, she still throws in bits and pieces of them into each and every one of her characters.

As a result, her books tend to focus a lot on friendships as well as love, because let’s be honest, friends are what really get you through—especially when your epic love turns into epic heartbreak.

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Synopsis

19-year-old Emily desperately wants a name for what she is. For what is consuming and torturing her. For what is changing her.

But she’s not crazy like her mother. She’s not.

Emily may not be as crazy as she thinks, because her body is no longer her own. Something is stirring inside her. It is soft, seductive, and tells her what to do to survive. As Emily learns that her world has been infected by demons that consume human souls and fit seamlessly into the bodies they empty, she must also accept that she is one of them. Yet, she is different from the rest, because her darkness didn’t inhabit her, it was awakened. And it doesn’t just want the humans.

Review

Dark Souls is a haunting story of one woman’s inner struggle with who she is, and who she will become. In a world much like our own monsters live beside of us. They can be your neighbor, your boss, or your best friend. Emily (Ems) finds out that she is one of these monsters, but still she is different. Something dark and hungry has awakened in her and it wants to feed, desperately. Ems had a tortured childhood and has fought tooth and nail for the life that she has, now she is more and she is not sure how to handle it. Can she control the darkness that slithers inside of her waiting, or will it claim her?

I just want to tell you that this story captivated me right from the start. Ems is such a dynamic character. Her strength is just amazing. Going through the things she has, she has come through with her sanity and tried to be a better person everyday. When her bodies awakens to these new senses and powers she adapts quickly. She still fumbles and makes mistakes but she does not loose her humanity. Then there is Asher. He is dangerous and sexy, but set apart. He changes his moods and emotions on a whim. He is conflicted.

Asher and Ems have a lot of tension between them and there is some potential for a deeper relationship between them, but right now it is a tentative friendship that is laced with caution.

I devoured this story and cannot wait until the next book comes out! The author did an awesome job meshing our world with the world of the supernatural. Dark Souls is a must read that will claim you and take you into the darkness.

Excerpt

I was never supposed to live.

At least, that was what my mother would scream at me during her rages, her face twisted into savage fury as she lunged at me—either to kill me or mutilate me, I could never really tell. 

“You are wrong! You are an abomination!” she cried before charging at me, her right arm raised high as if to slay me in one swift, ferocious plunge.

Yet, for reasons that still escape me, she would never make that one final move. She would always stop mid-leap, her face frozen and twisted for a few terrifying seconds before I would see her body slacken, her tendons snapping and releasing like broken cords as she fell heavily to the floor, just before reaching me. What I remember most clearly was that moment of calm, chilling stillness, just before her legs would collapse beneath her, where her eyes, wide and unblinking, would focus solely on mine. Even when the rage turned into haggard despair and she crumbled before me, she would never look away. 

That memory, that horrifying image of my mother that I could never entirely erase, was the first thing that entered my mind when my world started falling apart. 

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