Book Review: Souls in Ruin by Jacqueline White

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | Loved it! A must-own book.

Read Souls in Ruin if you like dark fantasy romance that actually earns the word dark, lyrical writing, and stories that drag you through the depths before offering even a sliver of light.

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This is one of those reads—the kind you don’t casually recommend without a warning label, but once it’s in your system? You feel it.

📖 What’s Inside:

Forced marriage 💍
⛓️‍💥 Captivity
Single POV
Torture 🗡️
On-page intimacy 🔴
🩸Blood and gore
Explicit language
Magical bonds
Revenge plot ⚡️

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Book Boyfriend Meter: 🧡

Hot. But absolutely not for me (for extremely obvious reasons).
The jury is still out on other characters though 👀

💭 My Thoughts:

I went into this craving something dark—and after hearing comparisons to Rain of Shadows and Endings (a personal fave), I took the plunge. From page one, the lyrical writing had its claws in me. Jacqueline White writes misery beautifully, and that’s both a compliment and a warning.

I’ll be honest: the opening lulled me into a false sense of security. Forced marriage? Bad boy king? Familiar territory. Almost…comfortable. By 20%, I was skeptical. No magic. Heavy spice. I worried the romance had sprinted ahead and ruined the tension.

And then the book pulls the rug out from under you.

This is not the story where the cruel king secretly has a heart of gold. This is dark fantasy romance that commits to the bit. What’s promised is delivered—slowly, relentlessly, and without flinching. The FMC’s descent is brutal. Poetic. Exhausting. There were ten straight chapters of suffering that tested my limits, and honestly? I deserve an endurance medal.

What kept me reading wasn’t action—it’s sparse here—but the internal narration. The rawness. The psychological toll. This book doesn’t romanticize captivity or torture; it confronts it. It’s about survival. Resilience. The quiet, terrifying strength it takes not to break.

If you’ve read Manacled or Alchemised and handled it well, you might be okay here—but please, check your triggers. This is not a casual dark read.

By 50%, I was locked in. By 80%, I was already grieving the end. It does end on a cliffhanger, but not the cruel kind—more a promise than a threat. I want the next book desperately… but I’m not panicking. I trust the payoff.

And trust me: if you endure this one, you’ll be rewarded.

📚Read Alikes:

Rain of Shadows and Endings and Alchemised energy, but meaner, bleaker, and not here to comfort you.

Should you add Souls in Ruin to your TBR?

Yes—but only if truly dark fantasy is something you can handle.
Check your triggers. Read responsibly. And if you make it through? The next book is going to wreck us all.

🛒 Buy Now

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