The Soulkeepers by G.P Ching

When fifteen-year-old Jacob Lau is pulled from the crumpled remains of his mother's car, no one can explain why he was driving or why the police can't find his mother's body. Made a ward of his uncle and thousands of miles from home, a beautiful and mysterious neighbor, Dr. Abigail Silva, offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. In exchange, she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a gifted warrior charged with protecting human souls. He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother's disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions Dr. Silva's motives for helping him.

I really enjoyed this book.

Jacob Lau has already lost his father and now it seems he may have lost his mother too. After being pulled from the crumpled remains of their car, with no explanation or idea where his mother is, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle, whom he never knew existed, in Paris, Illinois. Now, stuck in this small town filled with bigotry toward his mixed race, he is just trying to get by and get back to Oahu to find his mother. With the help of his new girlfriend and best friend, Malini, and a slightly eccentric neighbor, Dr. Silva, he will find out more than he had bargained for.

Ching kept me interested in the story through the entire thing. I loved that, no matter what you had just learned, there was always another mystery to keep you hanging on. The characters were very interesting, especially Dr. Silva. The whole story was multidimensional. The writing was really good, it didn't feel like a debut novel.

There, of course, were things I didn't like. Some parts felt rushed. There would be big jumps in the plot that threw me off. I wanted to feel the closeness and the growth of Jacob and Malini's relationship. Also, there were some strong religious undertones. I had no idea about them before reading the book and they didn't come into play until about halfway through. For me, this wasn't overpowering for me. It fit in great with the story and wasn't too preachy, in my opinion. I could just read it, add it too the plot line and move on without feeling like I was being preached to.

It was a very good book. I will definitely be reading the rest in the series.

4 out of 5 stars

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