Book Review- My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

Title: My Soul to Take

 Author: Rachel Vincent

Series:  Soul Screamers #1

Published:  2009 in America. 2011 in England by Mira Ink

Length: 345 pages (plus bonus material)

Source: Won from Mia @ Gripped into Books

Other info: The others in this series are My Soul to Save, My Soul to Take, My Soul to Steal and Soul Thief. Rachel Vincent has also written the Shifters series for adults.

Summary : Something’s wrong with Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can sense 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 boy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the dark forces behind Kaylee’s power than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no reason and only Kaylee knows who’ll be next, she realises that finding a boyfriend is the least of her worries.

Review: Kaylee Cavanaugh has a weird, unwanted, supernatural talent. If someone near her is about to die, she can sense it and she screams. A lot. And as girls around her start dying for no reason, it’s up to her, her somewhat-boyfriend Nash, and others to work out what’s happening and what they can do to stop it.

Rachel Vincent uses this to write about banshees, Irish creatures who scream/sing when death is close. Banshees are often overlooked in YA paranormal fiction, and it’s nice having a good variety of creatures to choose from. Reapers also feature in this book, adding a little more interest to it.  The fact two under-represented creatures are in this is something that made me want to read it. Even though I didn’t know about the reapers before I read it.

It gets going very quickly. The club at which the first girl dies is literally the first chapter, and said girl is dead  by the end of the next one. This fast pace is kept up throughout, keeping me interested and wanting to read on.

To me, Kaylee and Nash become real people by the end of it, as did the world of bean sihdes (banshees) and reapers both of these incorporate very very well into “real life”, if you get what I mean. They kind of slot together well as if they were always there and the author was just pointing them out.  So the paranormal elements locked in well with real life.

Kaylee undergoes a lot of development, learning about her power, how to controlit and other things with Nash. They make a great couple together, both powerfully and also romantically. My absolute favourite character is Tod, because of his personality and the fact that he’s a reaper.

I like Rachel Vincent’s writing style. It flows well and moves the plot along. The romantic scenes were written well, and so were the action scenes towards the end.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to an original  series. I would definitely like to carry on reading series.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |