The Sapphire Soul

Eldritch Heart, Book 3

By: Matthew S. Cox

Narrated by: Elisabeth Lagelee

Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Monarchs often face the consequences of a predecessor’s actions - but death is asking too much.

Kitlyn and Oona never wanted power, only to love each other...a potentially deadly desire in a kingdom obsessed with a twisted notion of purity. After years hiding the truth, even from themselves, they sit on the throne together as queens. It only took bringing an end to a horrible war - and the direct intervention of a goddess - for the citizens to accept a marriage between two young women.

Earning the respect of two kingdoms affords them the opportunity of learning how to lead, but goodwill won’t last forever in the face of complacency. Their resolve is tested as beasts long thought mythical are spotted around the kingdom, threatening the citizens. The sightings take an ominous turn when a stranger wielding unknown powers strolls into the throne room.

Worse , the ancient curse still stalks Kitlyn. A cryptic message from a ghost offers her only chance to survive...if she dares risk the safety of the kingdom to spare her own life.

©2020 Matthew S. Cox (P)2021 Matthew S. Cox

Probably not done yet

At the time of writing, it's still just a trilogy.

After reading book 1, I thought "that was really cute and everything wrapped up pretty well" and then there was a book 2 and I said "How do you continue that? You'd have to introduce brand new problems book 1 never mentioned"... Which is what happened and it was cool. We got more lore, world building and things became more like D&D, with Oona as a Cleric, Kit as a Geokineticist and soldiers. At the climax, they even fought a Lich!

It also began the "Sorry-my-kingdom-ruined-everything Clean Up Tour", which book 3 wraps up (hopefully). Again, book 3 brought more of the world into light with a gauntlet of small quests, but also wrapped up fairly neatly at the end. All of the author's other series are 5+ books, so with Ulffon at large, my guess is we're still not done.

So, the Good: as always, Kit and Oona are adorable. It never feels like you're hearing about Mary Sues, just having an adventure with Mary and Sue. They struggle, fight, learn and grow. Yeah, there's actual combat and it was great. The world feels thought out enough you probably could play D&D in it!

The Bad: Their sexuality, personal history and drama are brought up multiple times. It'd be fine if it were done to talk to a new character, but each time is in soliloquy. So it comes off as reminding the reader, who already knows. It felt like: "Kit, Oona, you're gay, you were a servant, the king was a terrible person, I know. I read that book. Why are you telling me and not this new character? You already won me over." I've also heard the word "fidgeted" more times in this series than all my years alive.

The Great: Tamsin the Wizard. For a character introduced so late in the book, she felt really "alive" and I was sad she got benched for the last leg of the quest. Kit and Oona or course feel very familiar now with more mature personalities. I can only hope book 4 and beyond let Evie, Pym and Tamsin grow up to have a party of 5 characters. The world seems very built up with much of it left to actually go and see.

Super slow

The first book was cute, I hated the voice for Oona but I managed. The second book was a nice surprise, there were undertones of a curse but it could have still been a tidy ending. Oona's voice got worse, and I felt she was always yelling, unfortunately Kit started to sound more like Oona.

This book was super slow! Not much time has passed but apparently these teens are amazing at running a kingdom with no experience. There's all this whining about a possible curse and wondering what to do about it. Oona is practically spitting her words out, and they both sound angry whenever they talk. Lots of running around like chickens with their heads cut off, not much useful or exciting happens until a third of the way into the book. Then everything magically falls into place, they're handed everything easily, the end. Happily ever after. Basically a huge disappointment.

loved it!

narrator i feel like has expanded quit well over the 3 books! Can't wait for the next one! I've really enjoyed this romance. i really really hope there is a 4th book. they all wrap up nice ends but its such a good book.