Feathered Quill Book Reviews

 #Bookreview of The Soul Up North

By: Eenam Vang

Publisher: Atmosphere Press

Publication Date: December 1, 2025

ISBN: 979-8891328969

Reviewed by: Lily Andrews

Review Date: November 28, 2025

The Soul Up North by Eenam Vang immerses us into the lyrical and haunting world of a man whose belief in soulmates is both validated and shattered in a single devastating week. The book is structured as his obsessive pilgrimage to "collect" stories of an extraordinary woman, from those who knew her way before their paths fatally crossed.

Jack, who strongly believes in the concept of soulmates, cannot contain his joy when the symbolic "S" on Jade's left wrist glows vibrantly, signaling that she is "the one." However, little does he know the cruelty stitched into that revelation, that meeting her is a blessing that may have just arrived a lifetime too late, and the very symbol will become a permanent scar of loss and pain. A quiet, aching conversation with Jade's mother in the first chapter reveals her own tragic love story with her husband, whom she believed was her soulmate. Apart from casting a long shadow over Jack's hope, the conversation sets the stage for a journey marked by painful but insightful discoveries and a slow, deliberate earning of the right to hold onto Jade's memories.

As Jack's quest deepens, we are drawn into the intimate and often uncomfortable conversations that form the core of his mourning, compelling us to navigate together with him the same complex web of relationships that defined Jade's life. We see him learn of her troubled marriage to her former husband, a man who deliberately refused to see her as a destiny but as a mere convenience, setting the stage for a heated confrontation that burns away the last of Jack's naivety, and forcing him to accept that the woman he loved had been starved of the devotion, love and care that he would have given anything to provide. All through his journey, we are forced to confront the very system of soulmates that to many people, even in today's world, promises bliss and a "heaven-on-earth" experience, but ends up leaving devastating collateral damage, revealing the human fallibility hidden beneath its promises.

This book is saturated with a low hum of tension derived from unreliable narrators with different versions of Jade's story, forcing the reader to constantly revise their understanding of the truth. The book also pulls the reader to care for Jack's mental state, especially when he has a conversation with Jade's ghost, and when he encounters verbal battles that are filled with accusations, guilt, and raw emotion. It also employs shocking twists that are way outside of Jade's main storyline, such as when Jack wakes up only to find his roommate's girlfriend in his bed, in a bold act of resentment towards his supposed "innocence" and belief in soulmates. Most of the chapters build upon the previous ones with layered cliffhangers and suspenseful endings, which end up propelling the reader through a maze of revelations where each answered question unearths a more painful mystery.

Quill says: The Soul Up North by Eenam Vang takes pride in its messy, sometimes complicated characters who are a whole drama in themselves. It is a sad book for sure, but in a beautiful "staring out the rainy window" kind of way. It is not a predictable romance but a raw, poetic, and haunting book whose take on love and loss will break your heart a little bit, but also help you understand it a little better. Lastly, it won't offer you easy comfort, but a philosophical depth that will leave you asking yourself quietly whether destiny can sometimes be an agent of profound cruelty. Vang delivers a significant and standout work for the reader who loves stories that are more structurally complex and have an emotionally raw take on love and loss.

For more information about The Soul Up North, please visit the author's website at: eenamvang.com/