Michael Karolewski: "The Soul Sector"

Title: The Soul Sector [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Valcara Incorporated (1st of 6 books)
Author: Michael Karolewski [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Afterlife, Urban Fantasy
Year: 2021 (reissued 2023)
Age: 18+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Creative spin on the afterlife. Good blend of fast-paced and introspective. Flawed yet relatable lead with a solid redemption arc.
Cons: Might feel a bit too long if you don't click with the main lead, since a good chunk of the novel deals with her backstory, everyday life and moral swings. Ends on a cliffhanger. Gay characters get proper attention and sympathy, yet they seem doomed to feel guilty.
WARNING! Alcoholism/alcoholic parents. Attempted suicide. Drug addiction/overdose (off page). Casual homophobia/slut shaming (countered). Road accidents. Violence, blood and gore. Spiders. A couple of brief/not overly graphic sex scenes (in case you're not comfortable with those).
Will appeal to: Those who're looking for a fresh take on the afterlife/apocalypse. Those who can root for an antihero on a redemption path. Those who enjoy a Good Place vibe, only with corruption and mayhem.

Blurb: Rose Ryder never believed in the afterlife. Until she ended up there. When she finds herself in Valcara, a dystopian purgatory where souls are bought and sold, she is focused on only one thing - reuniting with her deceased younger sister. But Rose quickly learns her premature arrival violates Fate’s design. After a Valcaran company recruits Rose as their secret weapon, she becomes entangled in an industry that straddles the realms of the living and the dead. At the mercy of a divine corporation she doesn’t fully trust, Rose is sent back to Earth to meddle in mortal affairs. As she uncovers corruption on a cosmic scale, she realizes greed and deception extend beyond the grave. She wishes to free herself from the job, but her Valcaran employers hold the ultimate bargaining chip - if Rose refuses to cooperate, they will send her sister’s soul to Hell. (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: this book was up for grabs on NetGalley (in the Read Now section). Thanks to Michael Karolewski for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

CORPORATE SOUL

This book fell through the cracks for me when it first came out, so I'm glad the author decided to revamp it and put it on NetGalley to build some series awareness, since Book 2 is due in a few days! (on October 31st, to be precise).

Anything with an afterlife setting or dealing with the subject never fails to pique my interest, but it's not an automatic win for me. Exactly because I love the genre, I'm very picky about it - and I'm pleased to say, The Soul Sector hit a lot of right notes for me. For one, it brings a fresh concept to the table (as far as I know - what I can say is that I've never come across a similar one before): Purgatory (here called Valcara) as a very Earth-like stock market trading in souls instead of shares, often with a complete disregard of morality issues. In addition to serving as a clearinghouse for Heaven and Hell, Valcara is also a world between worlds, where - besides Earthlings - a number of non-human creatures (well, souls) end up as well, while waiting for (more like, earning) their forever placement. Lots of colourful characters populate this imaginative setting, that nevertheless is only the tip of the iceberg, since Karolewski hints at a much larger universe - not to mention, he's got no less than six books planned for the series. At any rate, Valcara  is only partially the backdrop for this installment's events: the story has one foot firmly planted on Earth, and no, that doesn't make it (half) boring (not only because there's a generous amount of interdimensional chaos in the end 😂. Not saying more because...SPOILERS). [...]

REDEMPTION SONG

If the premise and the afterlife setting are a blast, they couldn't work so well without a strong main character - damaged and emotionally stunted, but able to elicit empathy and, ultimately, to take the route toward redemption. Rose is a 25 y.o. data analyst for an insurance company, with an alcohol problem, a couldn't-care-less attitude and a 17 y.o dead sister. Consumed by grief and guilt over Lizzie's death, at odds with her mother and unable to return the affection of her few friends, after a supernatural incident Rose becomes a pawn in a cosmic game spanning morality, free will and a soul's worth. With Lizzie's ultimate destination (and the world's fate) at stake, she slowly grows into an unlikely, yet indomitable heroine, all while battling her own demons and trying to amend her mistakes (if hitting some roadblocks in the process).

SPARSE REFLECTIONS

As much as I enjoyed The Soul Sector, I have a few quibbles about it that I feel like incorporating in my review (though I'm sure that the author meant well, and in one case, maybe I'm the one at fault for not understanding the main character's mental process)...

• While the story is gay-friendly (one of the deuteragonists is Black and gay, and Rose is always ready to counter any instance of casual homophobia - racism too - whether he's the target of that or not), the gay characters seem to have a guilt complex and/or a sadness about them caused by their sexual orientation (that's especially true of a young man that Rose meets in Valcara). I understand that Karolewski wants to make a point about the unfair treatment queer people still receive, but they deserve to be represented as happy AND proud, not miserable and self-doubting because part of the world is very vocal in its hostility towards them.
• Rose performs an act of heroism at the end of the book, and there's a perfectly valid reason for her to think she can be the best suited person to do such a thing; but the author doesn't explain what her original plan was, since she only succeeds thanks to an unexpected ally that helps her doing her deed.
• As a rule, I'm not one to question an author's choice of words, but I didn't like that a certain clothing article was described as "a wifebeater" - I know the word exists, but I think it should be damned to oblivion, for obvious reasons.

Regardless of those minor annoyances, the story is fresh and entertaining, the characters fleshed out (and funny when they have a reason to be), the writing solid, and I'm very much looking forward to the next installment in the series. (Pssst...friendly reminder...indie books are good!).

For my "The Prophet's Debt" review (second installment in the series) click here.

For more Adult books click here.

For more Afterlife books click here.