This is my review of the series as a whole. It’s essentially a summation of my thoughts on the books in general. Check out the individuals, if you want to see them.
Customary warning: This is a reminder that these reviews are my personal opinions. My thoughts and feelings are not your thoughts and feelings. I may not always be the target audience for a book; sometimes I am. If I do not like a book, that doesn’t mean you’ll dislike it. If I love a book or simply like a book, you may hate it. Take everything I say with this in mind. If it sounds interesting to you despite what I’ve said, then go ahead and read it. You’ll only know you like something if you read it yourself.
Spoilers ahead!
That being said…
The Soul Collectors Series by Tara Benham
Reviews
What I Liked:
Mephistopheles aka Meph. I really liked him. Did I like a few of the things he did? No. But he felt the most other to me. He’s supposed to be other; he’s a demon.
Declan, for all it’s worth I did find him charming.
The other demons: Cain, Apollyn, Edra.
The humans at least felt human, and at least Gray’s purpose was tied greatly but not by much.
Aniston, for the little we had of her? I liked her.
The cover progression. White wings on black to black wings on grey and finally grey wings on white. It perfectly mimicked the progression of the books. I appreciated this.
What I Did Not Like:
Bayla, our MC. I get that her gaining emotions was so key to the coming of times, and the changes of balance. What I don’t get is why they came flying at her and why as a highly trained Angel, she didn’t do a thing about it? Why wasn’t she like, “What are these? Emotions? I should cut those off, but they still seem to leak through.” I would get that. I would get her caring for Haddy, and this being a major shock to her. I would like for her to have these realizations but instead it feels more like she is simply experiencing them with little thought. Plus the amount of times she cries or passes out (not from being knocked out) puts me off. She is Bayla The Great, but I felt that was more a title than an actuality of who she was.
The time differences. 1:9.5 Heaven week to Earth years. 1:1 Earth to Hell. “two weeks for us was about 19 years for the humans on Earth.” This means for one Heaven year it is 494 Earth years. Why? I know the book reason why, but why was this truly necessary? I feel as if the book would have been the exact same, had the times been 1:1:1. In fact, I think I would have understood Bayla’s random wave of emotions better because it would have been so much more shocking to her. Along these lines, the Journal entries of her mother were far too modern for me, especially if her mother had her 9,386 years ago. I’m also 100% certain that you would not be meeting Lucifer at a bar and the waitress taking your order would not have a pen, 9,386 years ago. 9,386 years ago would be 7,300BCE. We had just domesticated dogs in 7,300BCE. We were still Hunters and Gatherers in 7,300BCE. We did not have the concept of bars, of waitresses, of those likes. We didn’t even have domesticated sheep. There were not pens to drop in 7,300 BCE, even if you want to fight me that there could have been a similar concept of a “bar” where you could stop by for “lunch.”
The Love Triangle or just love in general? Bayla has been around for 19 Heaven years. How does she know what love is? Let alone true love? Who thought it was smart to let the 19 year old leader of Hell, marry someone so quickly after she got her emotions? I don’t know about you, but emotions are killer and if Bayla’s emotions send her into fainting when she experiences them too much? I don’t think it’s wise for her to rush head long into anything. See how fast she fell for Declan? See how fast she fell for Meph and then switched to him from Declan? Read: about two months. A parent wouldn’t want their child marrying the dark and dangerous guy who they met two weeks ago. I didn’t find it romantic. I found it taxing, and childish. Perhaps Meph was her soulmate. I can accept that. I would have just liked a bit more distance.
The general plot, but I feel this is a more “this book wasn’t written for me” than it was that the book series was bad. I felt that there were scenes that were odd for the age group, and conversations oddly placed? I get why the demons and angels had to act like humans, but even when they were on their own they still felt very human. Why? They are angels and demons, not humans. There should be an alienness to them. It wasn’t an overly complicated plot in general. I would have liked more Heaven and Hell politics, but did not receive them.
Were the random quotes at the top of each chapter necessary? I don’t think they were. In fact, I skipped most of them because I didn’t think they were important. I have seen series use quotes or definitions at the top of each page, but I feel that they should have more of a purpose other than that they match the aesthetic.
Why You Should Read:
Up to you, really. I wouldn’t recommend this book probably to anyone in my age group but perhaps younger? I feel that this book is written for younger readers, in which case I’m being too critical. I think a much younger Marlena, would have liked this book. Perhaps when she was in Middle School or Ninth grade, although I’m not sure. I was still very picky about my novels then too. You can see my rating, and this isn’t a 1 or a 0, so I do not feel that I wasted my time reading these books. They really were just… not for me.
Total Time Taken To Read
3hrs and 10min
Rating: 2.5/5
Marlena Marie 
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