Review: My Soul to Take - Rachel Vincent

She doesn't see dead people. She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next.

My thoughts:

Was it as good as her other series? Eh, not really. Sure it was good, I read it fast, but there was not that frenzy to get the next book like with her Shifter books. Still a good light YA paranormal.

Kaylee screams and people dies. Why she does not know. Ok at first I thought it all good, but then it was like come on! Why not tell the poor child who can shatter eardrums. Stupid! Made no sense. Not gonna say why she screams, a possible spoiler even if easy to figure out.

She meets a boy, Nash, insta love (but I can buy it there cos of...things). 

What to say. People are dying, she thinks something fishy is going on and investigates all while figuring out who she is.

Conclusion:

YA PNR. Light. That's all.

Cover:

Oh look, a girl in a dress in a YA cover. 

Final Note.

Lis actually reviewed the first 3 books on my blog back in 2011 and here is her review of book 1

Series: Soul Screamers #1
Pages: 279
Genre: YA / Paranormal romance
Published: 2009 by Harlequin Teen
Source. Own

Guest Review: My Soul to Save - Rachel Vincent + a good e-book deal!

Soul Screamers, book 2
Genre. YA Paranormal
Pages: 279
Published: 2009
Review by Lis

When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies. So when teen pop star Eden croaks onstage and Kaylee doesn't wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can't cry for someone who has no soul.

The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad's ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend's loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls: a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld—a consequence they can't possibly understand. Kaylee can't let that happen, even if trying to save their souls means putting her own at risk.

**Warning: this review might contain spoilers if you haven’t read the first installment**

My Soul to Save is the second installment in the Soul Screams series and it is much much darker than the first book. In a way also much better, because now we know who the characters are the all the awkwardness is out of the way. When I started reading the book, I expected it to follow the set pattern of romance between two characters, but instead there is more of a focus on the mystery and the development of characters than there is on the romance. My Soul to Save is both a character-driven and an action-driven story.

After all the troubles in the first book, Kaylee and Nash expect some quiet time and go to rock at the concert of mega popstar Eden. The tickets were oh-so-thoughtfully provided by *grin* Tod. And he has no ulterior motives at.all!! Kaylee and Nash expect a quiet, nice night out. Instead they get a dead popstar and a not so typical Reaper. As it turns out, Eden sold her soul (sounds familiar, Supernatural fans?) to a hellion/demon for fame and fortune. Now that her time is up, her soul belongs to the hellion. The trouble only starts there. When the Reaper mentions to Kaylee, Nash and Tod that she will be back for the soul of the girl who sings the support program, a friend of Tod, the chase is on. What ensue is a dark story of soul selling, friendship, death and betrayal.

As I mentioned this installment is much darker and the end is a prelude to something that will play a big, huge, enormous role in the third installment. While much darker, I loved the second book better than the first. It continues with the theme “you can be the hero but you can’t save everyone.”

There is also much character development. Kaylee comes more into herself. Not more powerful, but she learns to stand on her own and deal. In a way, she becomes more independent, something that will niggle Nash and his hero complex. She is witty and caring to a fault. “Soulless popstar contemplating suicide. Focus Kaylee.”

Tod, did I mention I loved him, also plays an important role in this book and it’s a set up for the third book. Only you only find that out after you read the third installment. I very much liked that isn’t just a side character, but has a full role. He, like a few other characters aren’t just support cast that are there to play a role. Their characters are interwoven in the story.

What I didn’t like so much was the Supernatural soul-selling rip-off. While selling your soul for something big is a theme that goes back to the time of Shakespeare and Goethe, it was a bit too much like Supernatural. I mean people…are you just that stupid? What part of eternal torture don’t you get? Though unlike Supernatural there is an interesting out and something different when they sold their soul.

All in all this book was better than the first book and that was an already spectacular book. So don’t hesitate to get it!! 

Now a message from me, meant to post this yesterday but my memory is very very bad.

You can now get Lori Brighton's The Mind Readers for only 99 cents! :)

Guest review: My soul to take - Rachel Vincent

Soul Screamers 1
Genre: YA paranormal
Pages: 279 paperback
Published: 2009
Review by Lis

She doesn't see dead people. She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next.

--------------------------

Some of you may have heard me about my perpetual temp jobs that boring doesn’t even begin to describe in the least. Well if the jobs allows, that is to say I don’t have to talk to whiny people and I don’t have to answer a phone, I listen to audiobooks. It’s something that has kept me sane through many a temp job. Well, at my latest job, reading about whiny people and train delays, Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamers series came to my attention. Since Rachel Vincent is one of my favorite authors, I took a chance on the series and I haven’t been disappointed at all. Of course, to share the glee I asked B. for a review of the series. So get ready to be awed by the first installment: My Soul to Take.

To start, the series is a Young Adult book and it’s told from Kaylee Kavanagh’s point of view. She’s a High School student who doesn’t know about her heritage, about who she really is and what she can do. As a result she spent a week in the Psych Ward of the local hospital. Poor her. Now let me tell you, in the paranormal world there are some freaky cool abilities to have, but the ability to “scream” for the about-to-be-deceased isn’t one of them. Yup, that’s right. Kaylee is a Bean Sidhe. That would be a Banshee. Yes, the women who scream when someone is about to die.

Only she doesn’t know about it. She only knows that she sometimes sees “shadows” around someone and then gets a panic attack.

That is until one night, when you with her best friend Emma, she meets the uber cutey Nash. When she sees a shadow around a fellow dancer while dancing with the cutey, she starts to panic. Only Nash calms her down and it turns out he has a secret of her own.

The ball gets rolling fast and furious from there on out and you’re on a rollercoaster. The story is not all about Kaylee discovering who she really is. There is also something not quite right with female students dropping like flies.

Kaylee and Nash get help from Tod. Now Tod, he be mine. MINE I tell you! So stay away! He’s a Reaper. Yes, that would be a Grim Reaper, one who harvests souls. But like everyone in this story, Tod also has a secret.

The story is fascinating and well thought through. It’s not just your average teenage romance with a lot of angst. It has depth and a great cast of characters. The characters are not perfect, the have their flaws and they make their mistakes and I found that refreshing. While most stories have a tendency for a happy ending, this ending is happy with a flaw. It’s realistic in that the story shows that not everything always ends with the hero and heroine on top. No worries. No one dies, well no one who isn’t already dead or important!

The only real flaw I found in the story is the theme of predestine or pre-destiny. It’s actually a religious/Protestant term that says everything is preordained. When you’re born, when you die, what you do. It comes back in this story with the “list of the dead” Tod has. He gets a list with names of who dies and when. It’s probably there for the story and the existence of Reapers, but I’m a firm believer of making your own destiny. I don’t think all is ever so easy. Especially not a list of the dead.

Despite this My Soul to Take is a book that is most definitely recommended! It’s quirky, witty and has you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end! My Soul to Take sure made my job a whole lot less boring and caused some funny scenes! (If you ask, I might just tell you!)

Btw, the covers are also very beautiful!

Go get it! 

Thank you Lis!