Rating: 4⭐️
The Wild Awakened (The Soul and Soil Trilogy Book 1) by Portia Pierce is a book I wanted to love so badly. From the description to many of the really interesting, well done elements in this story, I kept thinking it’s going to come together in a positive, and well crafted narrative at the end.
So close.
One thing immediately that tells us about the story and removes a part of the mystery it’s that the prologue gives away that the Fracture was a “manufactured” and not naturally occurring environmental disaster. A recent one of only 20 years past that civilization is still dealing with the consequences. That could have been left out.
Because the villain, a man, is a huge part of the story and series as we will soon find out.
The elements I enjoy, the characters, including the animals like the Nyx, cat and Bram, the GSD dog, both sentient, who interact with Vivien “Viv”, Calder, the veterinarian with special abilities ,
There’s werewolves, vampires, witches, and of course, the “human race only government/enforcement group, the Concord. The author hasn’t solidly laid out a foundation for all of these various elements so as a reader encounters them in the book we don’t have a definitive explanation for them.
It’s a good plot and a not uncommon one where we see nature rebalancing itself against technological advances. However in this case, clearly a man has decided he’s going to be the one to make the decision to fracture the world and start the process. He’s “right” in his position. A decision that will play out over the course of the trilogy.
Which brings me to what I believe works against the narrative and characterizations here. The foundation and theme are interesting. The animals are engaging. It breaks down where the main characters are concerned.
That’s power use and gender roles. Viv has powers that she’s afraid to use. There’s a big backstory here about her childhood and parents but time and again, she refuses (and the author is telegraphing her pattern here with Viv) to make her decision to use her full powers but instead withholding or opting for a lesser use of them. Which gives her opponents the upper hand every time.
It’s a tiring game of Viv saying “oh no I can’t do that” and not using her powers for whatever reason. And the male villain retaliating by saying “ yes, you are exactly like every ineffectual woman in your family , unable or fearful to use your own powers”. Repeat.
Could she? Yes. Does she? No. So it lingers on for 3 books of this. While she makes choices that continually frustrates the reader.
All of this a reader can see coming , in the pages in the first book.
I guess I feel this had so much potential to be a better book. The characters started out so well. So strongly. And then it all devolves into a weird little power imbalance gender struggle between Viv and the villain. For the next couple of stories too for those who want to continue.
I really would like to see less characters like this in stories. More well crafted and empowered women. Not one, let alone 3 books of “I’m so frightened of my own powers that I’ll be the footnote in my life “ type of person while the villain (male) becomes the strongest powerful player in the narrative.
Aren’t we past that yet?
The Soul and Soil Trilogy, complete:
The Wild Awakened #1
The Wild Divided #2
The Wild Unbound #3
Buy link
Book 1 of 3: The Soul and Soil Trilogy
Blurb
BOOK 1 OF A COMPLETED FANTASY TRILOGY ⭐
The world fractured twenty years ago. Nature is steadily reclaiming its power and magic has been forced into the open.
I’ve spent my life pretending I’m ordinary. Just a small-town veterinarian with a stubborn garden and two opinionated pets. That is what I told myself.
Then, a wolf dies on my porch and I am suddenly pulled into a deadly conflict that I never asked for.
Now, something is spreading through the Wild: twisting and pushing it, turning predators into weapons. The wolf pack wants answers. The vampires are watching. The Concorde is circling.
And somehow… it all leads back to me.
If I don’t discover what I am, and what I’m willing to become, the Wild won’t just awaken. It will choose.
And I may not like who it chooses.
Perfect for readers who love strong heroines discovering power, animal companions with personality, alpha werewolves with a bite, slow-burn tension, political supernatural intrigue, and nature reclaiming the world.
This book is the first of three in the urban fantasy series ‘The Soul and Soil Trilogy’.
February 16, 2026
Language
English
Print length
315 pages
Book 1 of 3
