Official Synopsis
"The Corporeal Pull is a story of love that transcends both time and the mortal plane. Terra, a guiding spirit of the Tweens, was content to manage her corporeal charges on Earth and help them towards their divine purpose until she was faced with Liam. The strange attraction she feels towards this lone entity forces her to reexamine the narrow perspective she has held for centuries. Suddenly, the relevance of soul mates is thrust into the forefront of her thoughts, and she cannot deny their relevance.
When Terra realizes that Liam’s intended path is one of incomprehensible suffering in the mortal world, it is already too late. She has let herself become entangled in his fate. Terra is faced with an impossible quandary; how can she knowingly send her love to a human lifetime where he is meant to be sacrificed to slow the flow of evil in the world?
She realizes that without Liam, her immortal existence will become one of never-ending pain. If Liam cannot continue his existence; than neither will she. Things do not go according to her plan!
This epic tale of good versus evil seeks to answer the age-old question of “why me” that all earth-bound travelers must eventually ask about their own life experiences. This action-packed love story will invite you in and leave you breathless!"
Review: Three out of Five Stars
I was lucky enough to be given a copy by Sara B Gauldin to review her new book (my answer immediately was YES. YES I WILL). Thanks so much Sarah!
I honestly had no idea what to expect going into this. This is the first book I've read by this author. It is also very new and nobody else has talked about it to me. The synopsis sounded alright and I figured it would be a decent read.
World and Plot: The Corporeal Pull takes places in a universe where all entities are created by The One. All mortal and immortal beings are born into a place called the Tweens. The immortals stay in the Tweens forever and do whatever job are given. One of these jobs is being a guide to the mortals. Mortals will enter Earth through a portal and have to fulfill a certain purpose before they die to reenter the Tweens. Guides watch over them and try to point them in the right direction. Our main character Terra is a guide who falls for one of her charges and doesn't know what to do when she's asked to send him off to a terrible life.
I didn't tag fantasy just for kicks. It's not your average world and it takes some getting used to. The world building is done slowly though and wasn't info-dumpy, which is always nice.
Reoccurring Themes: Love, Soul Mates, Sacrifice, Destiny, Good vs. Evil, Life
Reaction: The Corporeal Pull was an interesting book. It really makes you think. I just don't think it was my type of book. I don't think this book is for the casual reader. It has very mature vocabulary and concepts. I would have hated it if I had read it when I was younger. I think that people who like books with deep philosophical meaning and heavy romance would enjoy it.
The book begins with a prologue of a letter written from the main character Terra to her friend telling her about her choice to enter the mortal world without knowing if it will work or not. I really liked how it started like that because it was intriguing.
We cut back to a couple months earlier when Terra is training new guides. The beginning of this book was pretty hard for me to get into. Terra is basically an altruistic robot at this point who only cares about her job as a guide. She also speaks in a very complicated intelligent way. She even tells her trainees she doesn't understand the point of emotional ties. Talk about an Ice Queen.
Terra isn't unlikeable, but I didn't really connect with her. She does become a bit more normal when she describes the time she doubted her guiding when she possibly encountered two soul mates.
Terra has one friend named Halle. Halle is a creator who makes art then sends it to Earth. Halle is much better at socializing and understanding connections than Terra and tries to help her.
Liam, our love interest is then created and meets Terra. The love story...it didn't work for me. I don't enjoy the concept of soul mates or one true love. But Liam and Terra fall instantly in love when they first meet. This always bothers me regardless of whether they're soul mates. I like a relationship to grow and develop. I like there to be buildup. There is a lot of telling and not showing. Liam is also made out to be a bit too perfect. Terra is as well. I liked the couple well enough but it wasn't anything special in my opinion.
Despite that hiccup the story moved along with us getting more familiar with the transition from being created to being born as a mortal. We also learn of an evil that's affecting the world, the Scourge.
Yeah I always pictured the Eye of Sauron when they talked about it...It made it seem more menacing! It corrupts souls on Earth and makes them cruel and evil, much like The Dark Side. Terra explains to the guides she is training that it is there job to try and get their charges to not be swayed by darkness and complete their true purpose.
Terra and Liam are together and happy, but Terra sees in his future that he will have a troubling life on Earth in order to combat the Scourge in some way. She is very conflicted about sending him to his almost certain doom. She has two options: to have him born to a woman that wants to murder her child or a woman in a coma who will never wake up that was impregnated by rape. Obviously neither seem too swell.
Terra tries to convince the Council to spare Liam, but they won't change their minds. They say that they all must do the will of The One without questioning it. Terra tries to warn Liam of his fate. Liam doesn't want to hear it though and wants to go into his mortal life without knowing. He'd rather try to remain optimistic. Eventually Terra and Liam have a little spat about this because Terra thinks he needs to be prepared. They patch things up rather quickly though.
Next it's time for Liam to become a mortal. Terra goes with him. When the time comes to say goodbye she kisses him in front of everyone not caring about what others think. Then after he goes through the portal Terra follows him in.
Terra had sent Liam to the woman in the coma as his path. Since she jumped in after him she winds up with the other option, the woman wanting to kill her child. Terra is the first immortal to ever try crossing into the mortal world and is surprised at her success. Terra is born but is floating and able to speak.
I hate when they have newborn babies that can speak. It is so creepy. Terra's mother is so freaked out she decides to spare the child and sell it to someone. A widow named Portia adopts Terra and she has a normal happy childhood. She doesn't let on that she is centuries old and can speak to anyone else.
Whenever Terra sleeps she has a connection to her friend Halle back in the Tweens. Halle searches for Terra and keeps track of Liam too. Terra uses this as an opportunity to make sure Liam is safe every night and is very grateful. His childhood is full of shifting from foster home to foster home.
When Terra is young she starts doing as much physical activity as she can so she'll be strong enough to face the Scourge. When she's at the park one day she is surprised to meet a soul without a body named Korin. Korin explains that her body was taken over by one of the Scourge and she continues to survive by stealing energy from things like electricity. Terra finds out that as an immortal she is the only that can see these beings. Her and Korin agree to work together to try and find a way to combat the Scourge.
A couple years later Terra's teacher gives her a fake test on a unit they weren't studying to prove that Terra doesn't pay attention. Terra passes with a hundred percent and a meeting is called to talk about it with the principle. During the meeting Terra encounters her first Scourge entity. She stops him from possessing the principal and sends him away with a warning.
A couple weeks later Terra goes to a sleepover where they watch The Exorcist...
Because what young girl doesn't want to watch that before going to bed? *shudders* But the movie gives her the idea that maybe she can find a way to "exorcise" the Scourge entities that have taken over other people's bodies.
When walking home from the sleepover Terra is suddenly attacked by three Scourge. They outnumber her and one of them takes over her body. Uh oh spagetthi-o's. After being ousted Terra goes after one of the remaining Scourge and tells him off for not completing his true purpose. When confronted with his goal in life the Scourge freezes and shatters.
Terra rushes back to her house to find Korin and explain what happened. They decide to try and get Terra's body back when it returns. Terra in the meantime goes to check on Liam now that she can teleport using her immortal form. While there she meets Liam's mother Carol, who is also an entity. Carol explains how she choose to leave her life as a vegetable to watch over Liam. She also tells Terra that Liam says her name in his sleep and hasn't forgotten her. Terra is overjoyed and leaves content.
Korin and Terra are able to overpower the Scourge that had taken over her body and Terra reenters it. There is then a time skip of a couple years. She could still see and try to fight off the Scourge, but she couldn't destroy them as a human. However as the only person who could try to fight them...
She's the only hope of trying to fight them at the moment. One day when Terra checks in on Liam she can tell something is off. He's with a new family, but they're acting really strange. SHe has a feeling the Scourge is involved. So she has Korin take over her body for the time being and goes to see what's going on.
She arrives and is instantly attacked. It turns out to be the soul of one of Liam's adoptive parents though. The Scourge took over her body and now she's standing guard over Liam and their son. Terra, the family, and Carol agree to work together to fight off the Scourge presence here.
It's a tough battle and Liam is expelled from his body during it. He and Terra can see each other for the first time in many years. They manage to fight off the Scourge and are left with a dilemma. Liam wants to remain with Terra, but Terra knows he has to return to his body to complete his true purpose. His greatest challenge has yet to pass. So with heavy hearts the couple shares a last moment.
END OF BOOK ONE
I didn't know it was a book one. I didn't know it was a series. I was getting to the end and I was like how are they going to wrap all this up so quickly?? But there's a sequel called Aware apparently.
Basically right now I feel like this:
The book was decent. The biggest lie it tells is that it's action-packed. If you read books with action in them, then you can clearly tell this is not an action book. It is a words and conversations book. There's nothing wrong with that. The fight scenes just weren't that gripping or suspenseful.
The book has a lot of good question about life and love. Would I recommend it?...not to readers like me. Like I said me and this book just weren't that compatible. I can see how others would really enjoy it though.
Thanks again to Sara for the free copy! I really appreciate it!
Quotes:
"It was her job to dispatch him. Terra wonder what that made her; a guide or an executioner."
"I am sorry that I wasn't strong enough to stay."
"There are times in a mortal life when the idea of continuing seems like more than one can bear."
"Live your life and come back to me without being marred by pain from the world."
