Book Review: Soul Guardians Series

Book Review

Soul Guardians Series

Written By: Kim Richardson

About the Author:

Kim Richardson is the author of the SOUL GUARDIANS series. Since childhood, Kim developed a wild imagination and surrounded herself with fantasy novels and movies like, The Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. She later studied in the field of 3D Animation, and became an Animation Supervisor for a VFX company. For many years she worked on big Hollywood films and stayed in the field of animation for 14 years. Since then, she has retired from the VFX world and settled in the country where she writes fulltime.

Marked: (Book # 1) 

Review

Have you ever wondered where in Heaven Guardian Angels come from? In Kim Richardson's novel "Marked" the first book in the Soul Guardian Series, you will find just that and more. This is not your typical "Angel" story....

When sixteen year old Kara Nightingales's mortal life ends, you enter a wold of magic, mystery and a sense of humor unknown to most when thinking of Heaven and Angels.

I found this book to be intriguing. The fantastical concepts kept me wanting more. The relationships that developed between characters seemed logical and realistic and evolved in equal correlation to the plot. When the story ended, I wanted to find out more and continue the series.

I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. I felt that it lacked that "Special Something" that allows you to connect on a personal level with the characters and I felt that at over 400 pages, the story was a little drawn out. It could have been shortened in order to keep the story moving at a better pace.

Overall this was a pretty good book. I would recommend it to someone in their teens and perhaps early 20's, who enjoys reading Fantasy/Supernatural Fiction.

Elemental: (Book # 2)

Review

Heaven isn't just sunshine, rainbows and butterflies!? In Kim Richardson's second book in the Soul Guardian Series, "Elemental", you get a a taste of the nitty-gritty side to Heaven...

Kara Nightingale is back, and she learns that no matter how special you might be...there are rules to follow. Even in heaven. But what happens when those rules are broken? In her quest to save her mother's soul, Kara finds out just what happens to Angels who break the laws, and comes face to face with true evil. She learns to face her own "Demons" so to speak.

I thought the concepts were very interesting. The imagination that was used to create Horizon, the Netherworld, and Tarturs was amazing. I did feel that this book could have been written as two separate books however. There were 2 distinct plots at play through out the entire book.

I would give this book a 3 out of 5 star rating. Once again, Kim Richardson wrote another 400 page novel. This book moved at a slightly slower pace than the previous book int he series, but had enough "bits" thrown at you here and there through out the book to keep you reading. This book took me over a week to read, something that is unusual. I had a hard time staying focused, but was left with enough curiosity to keep coming back.

As sequels go, this one was pretty decent. I would recommend it to someone in their teens and perhaps early 20's, who enjoys reading Fantasy/Supernatural Fiction.

Horizon: (Book # 3) 

Review

Can demons destroy Heaven in a hostile take over? Is there anything can can destroy the Demon Lord and restore peace in Horizon and on Earth?

Kara's skills are needed once again in this 3rd novel in the Soul Guardian Series. The Demon Lord is back, and all of Horizon is in trouble. Kara is faced with the ultimate consequence of destroying the Demon Lord, or Loosing the ones she loves. 

I was a bit disappointed with this book. The pace of this book was very slow, and once again stretched out to over 400 pages. The action in this book should have been gripping, with a quick pace and that page turner quality of a well written suspenseful plot. Instead, I struggled through this book, with only the drive to find out what happened at the end to keep me going. I also began to doubt the main character. I felt as though more of her victories were accidental mishaps, her being in the right place at the right time, rather than skill and intelligence. I would give this book 2 stars. It was slow and hard to follow because the plot was so drawn out.

I would not necessarily recommend this book, unless you have already read the 1st two books and are looking to complete the series. I prefer books with a quicker reading pace.

Netherworld: (Book # 4)

Review

Surprise! Kara is back in the 4th book in the Soul Guardians Series. In this book, she travels to the Netherworld, home to the Demons. 

Though she is an Angel, Kara is able to travel to the Netherworld, when one of her friends is kidnapped. While she is there, Kara discovers something that makes her question herself, and puts her determination to the test.

This book was more disappointing to me than the last. I felt as though Kara was stumbling her way through the story rather than actually doing anything about her circumstances. She did have a few moments, but her lack of confidence and ditsy way of going through the motions lost my interest before I was half way through the book. This was once again over 400 pages which was way to long to enjoy. I give this book 1 star. If I hadn't been so close to finishing the series, I would have never finished reading it.

I would not recommend this book. The plot would have been great, but once again the story was poorly written and too drawn out to enjoy. The characters were loosing their hold in the story. This series should have ended at book #3.

Seirs: (Book # 5)

Kara discovers that not all humans are grateful for the work that Guardian Angels do for humanity. Seirs, the humans who can see the supernatural beings, but team up with the side of evil are at war with the Angels in this Novel, the 5th and final book in the Soul Guardians Series.

This series has been drawn out and juiced to its maximum limit. I didn't know how, after the last novel, Kim Richardson was going to pull out enough of this over stretched story to make another 400 page book. In this book, Kara breaks the most absolute angel law and is in a race against the clock to complete her last mission.

The way this story ended the series was so ridiculously pointless. I saw absolutely no reason to have drug the series out into 5 different books. This book was horrible. I am going to actually give it 0 out of 5 stars. Because of this book and the way this drawn out series ended, I was so upset that I spent 4 weeks reading this series and wasting my time.

I do not recommend this series to anyone. After reading all 5 books, I would not even recommend starting it with book #1 "Marked", which was the best and should have been the last in the series.


If anyone else has read this series, and has any additional comments good or bad, let me know. If you enjoyed the series, let me know. Perhaps your take on the series could change my opinion.