My Soul to Take
by Rachel Vincent
pub: Aug 2009
384 pages
Something is wrong with Kaylee Cavanaugh. She doesn’t see dead people, but…
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.
Young, healthy teen girls start literally dropping dead in Kaylee’s neighborhood. Just before they do, Kaylee gets a premonition about their death and she has the need to scream. We find out she’s a banshee. You know, the mythical creatures from Irish folklore. Her mother’s dead, her dad lives in
Kaylee does her freak out thing in a dance club and suddenly the hot guy from school, Nash, is at her side, and his presence is able to keep her calm. Nash is able to explain what’s happening to Kaylee but it is still a mystery as to why these girls are dropping like flies. Nash and Kaylee go on a quest to unravel this mystery with the help of a reaper, Tod.
The pace is fast and the adventure fun. I thought the mystery tracked well and the of twists at the end are very good. I like how the climax plays out. Vincent does and excellent job bringing the various characters together in the end and using them to connect the final solution. The ‘who did it and why’ makes sense. You may or may not figure it out but there is enough foreshadowing to make it a logical, as well as an interesting satisfying and bittersweet conclusion.
Kaylee is believable about how she reacts to the things happening too her. Nash is okay and while I liked him (he is supportive, honest and caring) I never felt the ‘hottie’ aspect of his character.
My favorite character is Tod. He’s a reaper – as in grim – a bringer of death, and he’s a secondary character but way more interesting and charming than the rest of the bunch. Honestly, I think Vincent should get rid of Nash and put Tod in as Kaylee’s love interest!
But that’s just me.
Things I didn’t care for…
Her cousin hates her but we never know why. And there are even references about how they adored each other when they were younger. Didn’t make sense. It feels more like a plot device to make Kaylee more sympathetic.
The instant attraction between Nash and Kaylee doesn’t track until the author uses something to explain their immediate “connection” so, okay. However, the romance didn’t do much for me. It was fine at first but then every few pages they were kissing and she was all gaga. And then she’d pull away. Then they’d kiss again, she’d go all gaga…and she’d pull away…or they’d get interrupted. It got a bit boring because it was always the same.
I don’t want them jumping into bed or anything but let’s at least get some different description in the various scenes. Romance is the most popular genre and it felt like the author kept throwing in kiss after kiss to ramp up the romance while keeping it a clean YA read. I’m all for romance but this became repetitive wit
hout being steamy.
And really…Tod is the hotter character – without ever kissing Kaylee once!
Some of the secondary characters fall a bit flat, except for Tod. Did I tell you about Tod? He’s a reaper and…oh, yeah. I already mentioned him.
Despite the flaws, I recommend My Soul to Take as a solid good read for paranormal/urban fantasy fans. I look forward to the sequel, My Soul to Lose, but unless Tod takes over as the romantic lead, I won’t be frothing at the mouth. I do love the cover!
We have a copy of My Soul to Take available to giveaway. Go to our MegaBook Giveaway post to enter. We will have 9 winners so far! Go put your name in the hat and Good Luck!
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