Soulmare


Children - Mystery
153 Pages
Reviewed on 06/19/2022
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Jennie More for Readers' Favorite

Soulmare by David M. Cameron is the story of three young boys; the youngest is Andrew, and his older twin brothers are Alec and Simon. The twins love everything about school because they have a great teacher, but in contrast, Andrew can't stand his teacher. Mr. Baldwin has a bad temper and doesn't like children or teaching. Upon learning about Mr. Baldwin's fascination with Papua New Guinea and how magic was still an accepted force, Andrew started having nightmares, or at least he thought they were nightmares. Andrew found himself in a horrific forest in Papua New Guinea, seeing a beast, a girl tied up in a constant state of danger, and scattered human remains. As much as Andrew hoped it was a nightmare, he would soon learn he was having a Soulmare after finding a mask in his room from his latest adventure in the magical forest. Now his and his family's lives are in danger, and he has no idea how they will escape from the terror awaiting them.

Soulmare by David M. Cameron is an exhilarating, captivating, and highly creative novel. I loved reading it, as the flow and order of the story are perfect, managing to hook my attention and keep it throughout the novel. The characters were perfectly developed, and I felt as if I knew Andrew and his family and I was excited to follow their journey. The characters were all relatable, including Mr. Baldwin. This is a book targeting children, and I felt like it was suitably written for its target audience while still intriguing to this adult reader. I felt entertained throughout and it is one of the best novels I've read, as it balances fantasy, suspense, and adventure perfectly.

Pikasho Deka

Brace yourselves for a thrilling supernatural mystery adventure with David M. Cameron's Soulmare. Plagued by visions of a mysterious forest, Andrew Stedman has a hard time focusing in school and matching the unbridled energy of his older twin brothers, Alec and Simon. But when he starts seeing a girl confronted by a demonic beast in his dreams, Andrew realizes that what he sees is actual reality in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. To complicate matters, the science teacher, Mr. Baldwin, is acting strangely and seems to know something about what haunts Andrew. After he reveals his visions to his brothers and discovers a mask of immense power, Andrew and the twins must find a way to rescue the girl from the forest. But now the beast has Andrew's scent and knows where he lives.

A tale of evil masks, demons, and wicked teachers, Soulmare is a wild rollercoaster of a ride. Author David M. Cameron weaves an absorbing supernatural mystery that hooks you in from the first page and refuses to let go until the end. Cameron drops the reader in the middle of the action from the get-go, and it is a non-stop thrill ride for the rest of the pages. Andrew is a likable protagonist who is easy to root for. His personality directly contrasts with that of the twins, and it makes for a compelling dynamic between the brothers. I had an absolute blast with Soulmare. Recommended to preteens and young adults alike.

Jon Michael Miller

The family in Soulmare consists of a pair of bickering but loving parents, twin boys Simon and Alec, and a younger brother, the protagonist Andrew. Oh, and also Phillip, the tadpole of a golden bell tree frog relegated to a fishbowl in a dark corner of the garage. Everything seems ordinary until Andrew meets his grouchy new teacher, Mr. Baldwin, at the beginning of the new school year. It’s not long before Andy realizes that Mr. Baldwin is just a bit more on the other side of crabby. Baldwin’s sense that Andrew is more perceptive than his other students causes him to take more than a dislike to his young student. The teacher’s display of some of his beastly artifacts from the Highlands of Papua New Guinea starts Andrew’s nightmares that soon whirl him into a fusion of dream and reality, and place him in mortal danger from a ferocious monster that pursues him into jungle depths and dark quarry caves. Andrew’s brothers try to help, as does their father, but it appears that there’s no way out.

David M. Cameron’s Soulmare is a thrilling and terrifying novella for kids in the middle school age range that will keep them flying through the pages. It will also reinforce family values and reveal daily life in Perth, Australia in a typical household and school. Mr. Cameron’s prose is direct and becomes more intense as the plot develops. He does not spare us from fright. What is real and what is a dream? Poor Andrew’s plight, however, is real to him as he tries to save his own and a native girl’s life. If horror and adventure are a young reader’s thrill, David M. Cameron’s Soulmare will keep him or her turning the pages, and maybe afraid of going to bed. And they will come to the end dizzied but thrilled like the end of a super rollercoaster ride.