Sixteen Souls is filled with character, whimsy, high stakes, and a spooky vibe all throughout. Not going to lie, my heart almost leapt out of my throat a few times because it’s impossible to not immerse yourself in the story so completely that it feels like you’re there with the characters. So why was this not 5 stars for me? I think it feels like I have read the story before. It didn’t feel all that different to city of ghosts, or the haunting of Adeline jones and unfortunately for me I read those first where if I hadn’t I might have loved this. The other thing was, because I was feeling like I was reading those other books while reading this I found myself getting confused about the age group that is being targeted. The teens in this read very young, but then they are swearing. I couldn’t always tell if I was reading YA or middle grade and so I found that a little jarring. I really had to think of what it was that caused my issue and this is the only reason I could come up with because as I said already ALL THE INGREDIENTS ARE GREAT! I am so sad I didn’t love this as much as I wanted to. Maybe I will try the second book as this was the authors debut so I am sure she may find her feet even more in the second. These are sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and she beareth these to Jacob -- sixteen persons. Sixteen Souls is a fantasy ghost novel set in York (England, not that anyone from Eboracum might recognise this fact). Its power ought to rest upon two important factors: its detailed sense of place; its ability to create tension through character. Unfortunately, Talbot's attempts in both directions are less than successful.

I'm so so happy Chris introduced me to Rosie and to her marvellous book! I absolutely can't wait to read the sequel and return to these wonderful characters I love so much. Hurry up, Rosie, hurry up!Deliciously dark” - Cynthia Murphy, author of Last One to Die, Win Lose Kill Die and The Midnight Game SOULS takes the reader for a wild ride in a heart-stopping aviation and legal thriller propelled by irresistible characters, an agonizingly possible airborne dilemma, and a desperate refusal both in the air and in the courtroom to give up in the face of devastating odds. I enjoyed this novel, which was fast paced and gripping. I enjoyed it despite the fact that I found some of it totally unbelievable. The rogue district attorney who brings criminal charges against a pilot because he supposedly knew his actions could cause death simply didn’t make sense. If the pilot had done what his bosses had told him to do (as the district attorney insisted he should), it would have killed all 16 people on the smaller plane that was attached to the larger plane’s wing after a collision. This book is utterly fantastic. 'Sixteen Souls' is everything I wanted 'City of Ghosts' by V.E. Schwab to be and more. It's rich, it's dark, it's gay af (I swear not a single one of these characters are straight), with a wonderully eerie atmosphere that perfectly captures the city of York in all its haunted, gothic glory. There're plenty of ghostly goings on at all times, and a thoroughly engaging plot that whips along at a brisk, steady pace. The writing is lovely and totally immersive, meaning I absolutely ripped through the entire thing in the space of just 36 hours (elapsed time).

Mitchell’s decision will land the former military pilot in the cross-hairs of a viciously ambitious district attorney determined to send him to prison for doing his job. Despondent and deeply wounded by what he sees as betrayal by the system, Mitchell at first refuses to defend himself or even assist the corporate lawyer forced against her will to represent him. Sixteen Souls follows Charlie, a seer of spirits living in the city of York, the most haunted city in Europe. All of Charlie’s friends are ghosts, but apart from that Charlie has tried to stay out of the ghostly business and just live his life as well as he can. The plot was generally good. Charlie, however, is a blinking idiot, who keeps leaping to conclusions that he is absolutely certain are correct, only to be proven wrong. Everyone treating his assumptions as facts had me close to yelling at the characters to stop being so stupid! Then he suddenly realises towards the end of the book that he's actually had the answers within his head the whole time and is able to lay out large sections of exposition. A couple of the major revelations felt a bit obvious from about halfway through, but there were still plenty of surprises and revelations to keep me entertained. Some of the revelations did feel like they came out of nowhere right at the end though, with characters and organisations dropped in to the text at the eleventh hour in a slightly jarring way.

All of the representation was brilliant, some of the sweet and gentle moments made me tear up. If you're looking for great disabled rep (as well as lots of wonderful queer and trans rep) then this is the book for you! These minor frustrations are all forgivable though, for Sixteen Souls is a gripping and fun thriller. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I spotted a reference to The Monk by Mathew Lewis, my favourite gothic horror novel and one of the first classics of the genre. Having been a fan of airplane dramas since the time of Arthur Hailey’s Airport, I thought I had seen every possible plot scenario from onboard terrorists to exploding bombs to the failure of virtually every piece of equipment imaginable to a gremlin on the wing (thanks, Rod Serling, for that one). However, in his latest thriller, 16 Souls, author John J. Nance pulls out not one but two fresh storylines, and the result is some riveting reader. These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls. These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.

These were the sons of Zilpah—whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah—that she bore to Jacob: 16 persons. What happens next I’ll leave for the reader to discover. I only mentioned this much to note a WWII history episode I’d seen recently (Air Warriors?) about a German air squadron late in the war which was specifically and deliberately designed to ram the Allied planes. The weird thing? The episode showed collision after collision in which, oddly enough, the German pilot survived.the setting is perfect. It’s set in York which is perfect for the ghostly vibe. I mean it is the home of the York Ghost shop. Yet, not everything goes to plan. Unlike some books, where everything just happens to work out, against all the odds, Talbot uses realism to its strength. Not every plan they make is pulled off, not every solution they find is correct, and not every villain they unveil is the right villain. Books will be announced during the previous month to give you plenty of time to read. They’ll be a mixture of new and old YA books. You studied on our six-month Writing Your Novel course in 2019. How did your time studying with us impact your approach to writing? I’ve yet to visit York (the setting for Sixteen Souls) myself but Rosie Talbot’s beautifully atmospheric world-building and wonderfully descriptive prose really brought the city and all of its rich, uniquely haunted history to life.

Your debut novel Sixteen Souls was spotted by publisher Yasmin Morrissey at Scholastic after generating more than 250,000 TikTok views. Do you have any tips for writers who want to delve into the world of Bookstagram and BookTok but don’t know where to start? The story is very interesting from the start, I finally had a chance to read about a main character having a disability, and while I'm not an expert I found it very well written and easily embedded in the book without making it too complicated. Especially the first half of the book is like that. Charlie gets constantly in trouble and beaten up and I was biting my nails and screaming “Please give this poor boy a rest!” It gets better in the second half of the book. And this is also justified. The first half of the book Charlie is on his own and refuses to let others help him. In the second half he slowly opens up and finds some old and some new friends and things gets better for him.These were the descendants of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah. She gave birth to these children for Jacob. The total was 16.