Book Review

Double-Souls by Devin Harnois

TW: discussion of rape within the plot and within the book.

Double-Souls is an odd little book that I liked very much despite some factors that bothered me. It’s a fantasy romance with paranormal and steampunk elements about a person who is “double souled.”  One soul falls in love with a woman and one with a man. This means that the book has elements of a m/f romance, elements of an m/m romance, and elements of a ménage romance without exactly fitting into any of those categories.

Felan is a member of the Nevarah, a group of people that was conquered and colonized by the Toreliens. Felan is honored to be chosen to be the vessel of a nature spirit, named Kahal. When the two combine their energies, they can shapeshift, which makes the two souls function as one incredibly powerful warrior. The plan, as established by tradition, is that Felan and Kahal will inhabit the same body in harmony and work for the betterment of Felan’s people.

But Felan and Kahal are not “in harmony.” To Felan’s horror, Kahal is fascinated by the Torelians. Kahal insists on a trip to the big city. While there, both Felan and Kahal are forced to question their methods and their loyalties while Felan falls in love with a Torelian woman and Kahal falls for a Torelian man.

This book raises a ton of issues. For starters, Kahal is creepy and invasive and a borderline rapist. One of the first things he does is forcibly take over Felan’s body, which terrifies Felan so much that Kahal is able to hold the threat of taking over the body over him for the rest of the book. I cannot begin to express how disturbing this sequence is and how much groveling I felt Kahal would have to grovel to redeem himself (the grovel is not forthcoming).

Later, Kahal uses Felan’s body to have sex with a man. Felan is not interested in having sex with a man, and when Kahal has sex with his lover, Felan has to experience it by proxy against his will – which means we have a consensual sex scene and what I consider to be a rape scene happening at the same time. My sense is that the reader is supposed to see this scene as a necessary part of Felan lightening up. Part of the theme of the book is accepting different expressions of sexuality. However, I felt that the use of Felan’s body without his full consent was not sufficiently addressed. This scene isn’t about Felan being uptight; this is about Felan being pressured at best and forced at worst (the fear of having his body stolen again is always present) into doing something sexual that he doesn’t want to do. That’s not liberation. That’s rape. It’s also intensely problematic that both Felan’s lover and Kahal’s lover have sex with Felan and Kahal respectively without knowing that there is another soul observing the act.

Kahal is selfish, impulsive, and amoral. However, he also has a childlike sense of wonder and curiosity that makes him slightly sympathetic, especially in contrast to Felan, who is overly whiny and intolerant. Felan and Kahal are extremes – Kahal thinks of Felan as reckless and irresponsible, which is true, and Kahal thinks of Felan as fearful, bigoted, and rigid, which is also true. As the book progresses it becomes clear that they need each other to become a balanced person – one who is ethical and caring, and also joyful and curious.

Because the story is driven more by the conflicts between Felan and Kahal than anything else, I haven’t talked much about the romances. I found the romance between Felan and Addie to be more compelling than the romance between Kahal and Edwin because I adore Addie. Addie is an activist who fights for humane treatment of animals, and her initial attraction to Fehal is because he is good with animals (he can communicate with them telepathically). Addie is so awesome that even when she thinks she’s caught Felan cheating on her with Edwin, she still warns him when Edwin might be in danger. But she’s not too perfect – she has to come to terms with her own privilege and her own unconscious bigotry.

Meanwhile, Kahal and Edwin are attracted to each other because they are both great with machines. Kahal is more focused on seduction, because Edwin has no concept of love between men and is terrified of being caught in a relationship with a man. Readers who enjoy the dance of seduction will like this romance, and readers who prefer a more direct relationship will like the one between Addie and Felan.

I admired this book for its ambition even though it’s messy. At its worst, it presents reprehensible acts (I’m looking at you, Kahal) with a total lack of accountability. How can Kahal be redeemed for his control and abuse of Felan’s body if he never realizes that his actions were so wrong, and he never apologizes? The story also presents a simplistic attitude towards colonialism. It’s easy to say that Felan and his people should not attack innocent Torelians. But by not exploring alternative methods of resistance in any detail, the non-violent view comes across as more trite than humane.

At its best, the story has lovely things to say about the importance of emotional balance, and the importance of accepting and celebrating different sexualities. It also has good things to say about bigotry. All the characters struggle on at least some level with bigotry and all of them grow tremendously in their attitudes.

The end of the book leaves the romances in a good place, with a new sense of openness and clear communication after an entire book of secrecy. There’s a feeling that both Felan and Kahal have grown up a great deal, and that all four of these crazy kids will find a way to stay together.

Even though this story has a number of scenes that are deal breakers for me, I admire the book because it’s different and it’s ambitious. It’s also well written for the most part although it could have used some tightening up given all the different elements at play. The descriptions of the city are excellent. I’m giving it a C largely because it’s so ambitious. It would have earned a much higher grade if some of Kahal’s actions had been treated with the gravity that they deserved, and a much lower grade if not for the fact that it’s interesting and thought-provoking.

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Double-Souls by Devin Harnois

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  1. Kareni says:

    This does sound fascinating and out of the ordinary. Thanks for the review, Carrie S.

  2. Linda says:

    > The story also presents a simplistic attitude towards colonialism. It’s easy to say that Felan and his people should not attack innocent Torelians. But by not exploring alternative methods of resistance in any detail, the non-violent view comes across as more trite than humane.

    Thank you.

  3. Heather says:

    The theme of two souls in one body, and what should be done when one soul falls in love, reminds me a bit if Stephenie Meyer’s The Host, which I found quite disturbing for this very reason. It was supposed to be a very romantic moment, I think, when the extraterrestrial soul hosted in the heroin’s body (against her will, btw) discovered that she could be sympathetic to humans after all and fell in love with one of them… but I hated that part for how rapey it was. I’m not sure I would know how to handle a romance featuring two different souls in the same body, however: after all, where’s the story if the souls are not conflicted? Not saying this to excuse anything, however; I firmly believe that if a given theme is too difficult to work with, authors are free to avoid it…

  4. chacha1 says:

    If any authors are out there wondering how to do the double-soul thing, why not take a look at I Will Fear No Evil by Robert Heinlein? Sure, it’s dated, and sure, it’s a male fantasy, but the female soul and the female body are treated with respect.

    I don’t like the assumption that one soul would be able to overpower the other. That’s possession, not co-ensoulment, or however you want to say it. And possession is ipso facto rape.

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