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Blood of the Earth (Soulwood, #1)

Faith Hunter

Start date: September 1, 2016

Finish date: September 30, 2016

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in August 2016" September BOM…more
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What Members Thought

Jul 22, 2016 Sharon rated it it was amazing

Blood of the Earth is the debut from Faith Hunter's new urban fantasy series Soulwood. It revolves around Nell Ingram...and there is no way to sum up this character in a few words...she is complicatedly delicious. I finished the book days ago, but wasn't quite sure how convey the essence of the story in a way for you to understand. So after days of thinking on it I came up with:

If some books are kind of like eating Jello Brand cheesecake (light and fluffy and sweet)...then Blood of the Earth wou Blood of the Earth is the debut from Faith Hunter's new urban fantasy series Soulwood. It revolves around Nell Ingram...and there is no way to sum up this character in a few words...she is complicatedly delicious. I finished the book days ago, but wasn't quite sure how convey the essence of the story in a way for you to understand. So after days of thinking on it I came up with:

If some books are kind of like eating Jello Brand cheesecake (light and fluffy and sweet)...then Blood of the Earth would be like eating NY cheesecake (dense, heavy and filling)

Yup, that's the best I could come up with . But you get my point...I hope. Anyway, this story is a combination of mystery, crime solving and the supernatural. It has a dark edge, but there is some humor too (Nell's reaction to eating her first Krispy Kream donut and piece of pizza). Nell's character, just like any supernatural character, is hyper-sensory (is that even a word?). Every sense is engage and Faith conveys this to the reader. In the beginning I felt the sensory descriptions were over done, but it evened out quickly.

Nell...I really like this character. She is part Sherlock Holmes, yet part naive, and also too wise for her age...you have to read it to understand. At the beginning of the story Nell has no idea what she is, but she is intimately (and kind of in a creepy way) connected to the earth, especially her woods. She is unsure if her connection is good or evil. By the end of the book Nell does find out exactly what she is and will need to figure out how to use it.

There is a great supporting cast of other characters that Nell lets into her life. Each complex and with backstories just waiting to be told. My favorite is Tandy. He is an empath and part of the PsyLED team Nell ends up working with. I love how Faith portrays what the life of an empath is like. It was easy to connect with this character and you just want to protect this little cinnamon roll from the world.

As with any first book in a new series, when there is so much world building, you get overloaded with information, but I have no doubt this will smooth out and it didn't keep me from enjoying this story.

4.5 "feed me!" Sheep
http://www.ismellsheep.com/2016/07/bo... ...more

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Apr 21, 2025 Moondance rated it it was amazing

Shelves: tennessee, witches, urban-fantasy, shifters, magic, fantasy, cats, kidnapping, empath, shifter

Edgy and not sure why, I carried the basket of laundry off the back porch.

Nell Ingram left God's Cloud of Glory church when she was 12 to become a sister wife to an older man. John needed someone to help care for his terminally ill wife. Although married in the Church at that time, Nell did not become his true wife until she was of age. Now John is gone and at age 23 she has been a widow for five years. The Church is constantly trying to bring her back into its fold. Thankfully, Nell is a stron Edgy and not sure why, I carried the basket of laundry off the back porch.

Nell Ingram left God's Cloud of Glory church when she was 12 to become a sister wife to an older man. John needed someone to help care for his terminally ill wife. Although married in the Church at that time, Nell did not become his true wife until she was of age. Now John is gone and at age 23 she has been a widow for five years. The Church is constantly trying to bring her back into its fold. Thankfully, Nell is a strong-willed woman and sees them for the cult they really are. Special Agent Rick LeFleur with PsyLED and wereleopard Paka arrive at Nell's home asking for help with recent kidnappings that may have ties to the Chruch through another faction know as Human Speakers of Truth.

I was hesitant to start this series even though I love Jane Yellowrock. Rick LeFleur was the number one reason. I have hated him so much for most of the Yellowrock series. I'm glad I did, or I would not have met Nell. Nell's earthbound magic is not truly defined in this first book. We get to see her connection to the Soulwood and other living plant life. Her communication and ability to call someone tied to the woods is a different take on magic.

I can certainly see why Nell broke ties with the Church. Its male centric teachings is hard to read. I hated how the women were treated. The use of the "punishment house" was barbaric. Women are portrayed as second class citizens that can't think or do anything on their own without a man. Granted, there are some strong women in the Church, and we do get to see them in action later in the story.

The PsyLED Unit 18 is an interesting group of people. The combination of shifters, a witch, an empath, a human. and Nell make up for an almost ragtag group. The fact that they are mostly new graduates of Spook School looks like they were set up to fail.

I loved watching Nell experience new things. (She had never been in a hotel or eaten pizza) She was very childlike with her responses.

The plot is very well done and the action builds after the first few chapters. As always, Khristine Hvam does an excellent job with the narration. Reading this book has inspired me to go back to the beginning of Jane's series so that I can see how they are intertwined.

This was an excellent read that I would recommend.
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Apr 29, 2017 KarenF rated it it was ok

Shelves: urban-fantasy, audiobook

So from reading other reviews I think I'm on lonely island with not really enjoying this one. I do like the Jane Yellowrock series but haven't really kept up with the short stories set in that world so this was my introduction to Nell. I'm going to say that while the narrator was excellent I think I would have been better off reading this one as a book instead of on audio. I felt it moved incredibly slow. It was like all those Sookie Stackhouse books (which I enjoyed overall) where there's just So from reading other reviews I think I'm on lonely island with not really enjoying this one. I do like the Jane Yellowrock series but haven't really kept up with the short stories set in that world so this was my introduction to Nell. I'm going to say that while the narrator was excellent I think I would have been better off reading this one as a book instead of on audio. I felt it moved incredibly slow. It was like all those Sookie Stackhouse books (which I enjoyed overall) where there's just pages and pages of her doing laundry or whatnot around the house. We get that amplified her, I must have heard about how Nell lived off the grid and what she had to do for hot water 100 times (or at least it felt like it). So if I were reading that, I could pick up the pace there, harder to do in an audiobook. (Yes, I know you can change the speed - it always sounds wonky to me).

The other issue was Nell herself. I thought her powers were pretty cool and I liked her interaction with the PsyLed team. However, to be perfectly honest, I didn't enjoy being in her head. I don't particularly enjoy southern US culture and her POV is steeped in a certain part of it. Also, all the stuff about the church and her family. By the end* (view spoiler)

So, I'm not sure if I'll continue with this series. If I do, I'll certainly pick up the book rather than audio so I can just skim the parts that don't involve the PsyLed team. And I'll certainly wish it was from one of the other team members POV than Nell's. Unlike a lot of Jane Yellowrock readers, I don't hate Rick. Jane/Bruiser was always my ship so anything that got Rick out of the way of that was OK by me. Honestly, I'd rather have his POV. Anyway, if I keep reading it will be to keep up with Jane's world and the PsyLed team. But I'm not sure if I can suck it up enough to be in Nell's head again to do that.

*If you read the spoiler the answer to the second question is "none".

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Sep 18, 2017 Melissa Davis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: r15-bsb-pick

Okay, so, I have only read the first book in the Jane Yellowrock series and I was a little nervous about picking up the spin-off. I was kindly assured that there was only one thing that might be kind of spoilery that you find out right at the beginning of the story but I'm not sure when it happens in JY. (view spoiler) After reading BOTE, I don't really feel spoiled at all because I still don't know what happened in the JY books to lead to the sort-of-spoi Okay, so, I have only read the first book in the Jane Yellowrock series and I was a little nervous about picking up the spin-off. I was kindly assured that there was only one thing that might be kind of spoilery that you find out right at the beginning of the story but I'm not sure when it happens in JY. (view spoiler) After reading BOTE, I don't really feel spoiled at all because I still don't know what happened in the JY books to lead to the sort-of-spoiler but I am still super excited to find out. (view spoiler)

First, I just loved Nell! I loved her no-nonsense attitude. I loved how her character develops over the course of the book ... you totally see her bloom and grow! (Lol! I crack myself up!)

... crickets ...

Anyway ... as I was reading I kept thinking of the phrase "a great & terrible beauty" - which she certainly is! (view spoiler)

I really enjoyed all of Unit 18 - especially Paka & Occam. They were just what Nell needed. I really liked Tandy & T. Laine, too. I am looking forward to hearing more about them in future books.

The story was really engaging ... I had a really hard time putting it down. I was totally intrigued by the polygamist cult and the poor kidnapped girls. My only complaint was some of the repetitiveness. I don't mind when something is repeated - it tells my brain, "Hey! This is a clue!" but hearing it more than 2x is overkill - so I admit to some skimming during those parts. I really liked how scary the idea of a sentient forest thirsting for blood was and I can't wait to see how the storyline develops.

I would totally recommend this series and I am excited to continue with the next book.

Scary forest + enigmatic MC - not trusting me to remember what you told me = ★★★★ ...more

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May 17, 2017 Daffodil rated it it was amazing

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampires, shifters, magic-users

Another winner from Faith Hunter. I love Jane & Beast from her Jane Yellowrock series and was looking forward to starting this spinoff series. Nell first appeared in a JY short story "Off the Grid". She isn't a witch, vamp or shifter. In fact Nell doesn't know where her power comes from, but she has a way with growing plants, is tied to her forest, Soulwood, and knows the minute anyone or anything steps on her land. There's also a darker aspect to her gift that she does her best to ignore, but I ...more

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