My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers, #1)

by Rachel Vincent

[Jo]

You have no idea how much I have wanted to read this book! I am a massive fan of Rachel Vincent’s adult urban fantasy Shifters series, and just couldn’t wait to try out her YA urban fantasy Soul Screamers series. So when Harlequin Teen emailed me asking if I would like to review My Soul to Take, I jumped at the chance, and I’m so glad I did, because I absolutely loved it!

I absolutely loved the mythology! I have come across bean sidhes before in novels, but mainly in adult novels, or in references in other YA, and the mythology was different. I won’t go into the details of what it is to be a bean sidhe in this series, as it would spoil some parts of the story, but it is just brilliant! So unique, and just amazing to learn about along with Kaylee.

I loved the characters! Kaylee is very easily relatable, generally a pretty normal girl, but she is strong and has such huge compassion and a conscience that won’t let her rest. I loved her, and her voice, and it was great seeing everything through her eyes, especially as she found out the truth about herself. Emma, Kaylee’s best friend, is really cool too; she’s fiercely loyal but also has a great attitude I love reading about. I would have liked to have read more of her. Nash, Kaylee’s love interest, he’s incredibly good looking and very sexy, but I wasn’t too sure of first of all; he seemed to be far too nice considering his reputation, and I didn’t trust him, but it all makes sense in the end, and he’s just so awesome! Tod I still haven’t made my mind up about; as a reaper, he’s intriguing, and we find out some things about him that I predicted, but I’m still not sure if I trust him. I look forward to seeing more of him in the next book, to find out what he’s all about. An awesome set of characters, I love them all!

There is a great amount of action, but it’s not action as I normally describe it, with physical fighting, but yet, I can’t really go into it without spoiling the book. I can tell you that it’s seriously cool to read about, and I was pretty much literally on the edge of my seat, reading as fast as I could to find out what was going to happen. There were even some unshed tears at one point. It was fantastic! The ending was unbelievable! I did not see it coming at all; it was one of those jaw drop, “So that’s why!” everything pieces together moments. It was just brilliant, total genius!

If I was to criticise anything, I think it would be with Kaylee finding out about her being a bean sidhe; not how she finds out, but more along the lines of the time scale, and her acceptance. I can’t really go into much more detail without spoiling the book, again, and I can’t even tell you why, purely because I’m not sure; there’s just something about it that didn’t feel quite right to me. But generally speaking, this is minor, because I loved this book!

My Soul to Save is not part of the Shifters series, clearly, and so fans of the Shifters series shouldn’t pick this book up expecting them to be similar. The only similarities are the writing styles and strong female protagonists. There I would say the similarities end. Fans of Rachel’s should keep this in mind when picking up the book. This book is amazing, though, so you should definitely give it a go, whether you’re already a Rachel Vincent fan or not. I loved it, and I can’t wait to read My Soul to Save!

From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog