Name: Unsouled (Cradle, Volume 1)
ISBN: 9781734958171

Will Wight

Unsouled (Cradle, Volume 1)

Sally Salinas

Morgan Powell

If I had to describe this book to someone, I would say it’s like “the anime Demon Slayer, but not exclusive to swords, and not exclusive to demons” if that makes sense? I’ve seen other reviewers say it gives them anime vibes as well, so I don’t think I’m alone in this observation. 

I listened to this via audible (and sometimes followed along via kindle unlimited ebook), so the audio format will be heavily coloring my review. 

This first piqued my interest because it was offered as part of the audible plus catalog, so for a long time if you went to the fantasy category, you’d just see all 10 of these staring at you. I gave the first one a shot, and as I was listening, all of the books were no longer offered as part of the plus catalog. So, here this sat, half listened to, staring at me….until Audibles 85% off sale in March of 2022. I bought the entire series for < $5 a piece. These also seem to be a cult favorite on the r/audible sub on Reddit. Having those folks say it was a must-listen made me feel a little more confident in buying the whole series. 

Onto the actual review, I liked it! The magic system could be a little hard to follow at times since I was listening, but it didn’t impact my enjoyment because it seemed most decisions/the inner monologue for the MC was throughly explained enough that if I didn’t remember what role all the magics played, it was fine. (Like aura, madra, etc etc.). 

The first book is very character driven, with some plot. It’s very obviously a set up for the future books, so though the plot doesn’t gear up until further into the book I’m not going to fault it for that. I think this is a great start to a series, but I genuinely don’t know how what I just read is going to spawn into 12 entire books. (10 released as of this review 3.20.22, I read somewhere I think there are 12 planned). Nonetheless, I bought them all, and plan to listen to them all, unless something egregious happens that sours them for me!

Editing this review on 5.31.22 to say I’m all caught up to Reaper (#10) and I am thoroughly obsessed with this series. The character growth is perfect and there were some epic *literally jaw dropping* moments. Please read this book.