Monster Romance is Having a Moment, but I Drew the Line at a Demon Boyfriend:
My Near-Read of A Soul to Keep and How It Made Me Revisit the Original Beauty and the Beast
I’m book obsessed—let’s just get that out of the way. If someone so much as mentions a book club, I’m leaning in, eyes wide, ready to hear what’s on the reading list. So when a friend said her mini club had chosen their next book, I eagerly asked for the title.
She texted me the cover… and I immediately wished she hadn’t.
A young woman, draped in the shadowy embrace of a skeletal demon with antlers. I got the ick instantly. But, ever curious (and a little reckless), I gave it five full minutes of consideration before my friend sent the book’s opening teaser:
“To all the MonsterFuckers out there, this book is for you. Don’t pretend that you’ve never wanted to be railed by some human-eating dark entity that has a skull for a face—you saw the cover, you knew what you were getting yourself into, and you still chose to open this book and read it.”
Excuse me??
That was not a blurb. That was a warning. A warning dressed like a dare. And it felt like Jesus himself passed me a sticky note that said: “Girl, don’t do it.”
Spoiler alert: I didn’t. But my friend did—and her retelling was enough to have me clutching my pearls and Googling exorcists.
💀 The Premise
A Soul to Keep is set in a cursed village protected by a demonic force, but only if they offer up a sacrificial bride. The “lucky” woman chosen this time around is our protagonist, who is given to a “Dusk Walker.”
Now, the book insists this creature is not a demon—but let’s break this down:
Skull face? ✅
Antlers like a pagan forest god? ✅
Eats people? ✅✅✅
This is a demon in all but name. Created by a witch, and started off as a “little blob with teeth.” (Adorable, right? Like if your Labubu wanted to devour your face.) His final form? Determined by what he eats. So naturally, his vibe is: wolf-head, stag-crown, humanoid body… and don’t ask about below the belt.
💘 From Sacrifice to Soulmate
Despite being a people-eater, this beast falls head over claws for our protagonist. And she? Well, after a brief detour through horror and confusion, she finds a book of fairytales (because of course she does) and Beauty and the Beast is highlighted.
Suddenly she thinks: Maybe he’s not so bad. Maybe this demonic apex predator is just… lonely.
Girl. No.
But alas, the tale leans in hard. He gets romantic. She gets bewitched—literally. He casts a spell so their anatomically unspeakable bodies can be “compatible” (again, do NOT ask), and by the end, she’s not only in love, but willingly sells her soul to him.
Yes. Her soul.
When I asked my friend about this very obvious turn of events that happens every time someone gets involved with demons, she said—dead serious:
“It was necessary to save her life.”
Excuse me again??
🔥 Romantic or Ritualistic?
What floors me is how normal this seemed to her. Not horrifying. Not even a little unsettling. Just… hot. And look, I can see how someone might get swept up in the fantasy—the same way Beauty and the Beast convinced us that Stockholm Syndrome is just true love in a castle.
But this book takes that classic fairytale seed and waters it with blood, lust, and bone magic. What blooms is not a rose. It’s a full-grown romantic carnivore that has young women sighing over soul-binding and spell-sex.
I narrowly escaped this dark forest with my soul intact, y’all.
So if you ever find yourself holding a book with a monster on the cover, just remember:
You saw it.
You knew.
You still opened it.
And that’s how it begins.
⭐ Final Verdict:
★☆☆☆☆ for me (my Bible wept)
★★★★★ if you’re into monster smut with a moral dilemma
Anyway, time for this Byrd to fly. Bye Bye Now.