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.
