Her Soul to Take

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence and substance use.

The grimoire with Leon’s true name is a symbol of Leon’s selfhood and freedom that develops the themes of Consensual Power Dynamics; Survival, Autonomy, and Trust in a Dangerous World; and The Transformative Power of Love. Kent has used Leon’s true name to hold him against his will and use him as a weapon, torturing him when he refuses. When Leon realizes that Kent no longer has the grimoire, he hunts it tirelessly because finding it means that he can destroy his name and finally be free.

However, by the time he has the sheet with his true name, his motivations have changed: “Taking that sigil into my hands felt surreal. I almost expected it to crumble into ash the moment my fingers touched it. The last record of my name on earth, my last tie to this place. My freedom” (309). Momentarily stunned to have the “freedom” he’s sought for so long, Leon quickly realizes that freedom is no longer what he thought it was. Trusting instead in his connection to Rae, Leon puts himself at her mercy by giving her the page with his true name as he tells her to run from the Reaper.