My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
Soul Screamers, #1
My rating: ★★½



I feel duped :(

I was so excited for this book and this series because the prequel novellita Ms. Vincent wrote, My Soul to Lose, was simply awesome. Unfortunately,however, I found this book is a let-down.

Through a series of events, Kaylee finds out when she is 16 that she is a bean sidhe (known to the rest of us as banshee). She sees when people are about to die and wails/screams/sings for their souls. As if that were not enough big news to swallow, girls around her school begin to drop dead when it is obviously not their time to go. She has to find out why and put a stop to it.

The good: Firstly, the cover is amazing! I love it! More importantly, Rachel Vincent's world is so unique. I think it is so cool that she wove her tale around banshees instead of werewolves(although they are cute) or vampires (ick!). So she gets points for originality, lol. She also is a really good storyteller and kept me interested in where she was taking the story. I didn't see the ending coming at all (but I am not one of those who ever does) - the twist was really good.

Tod was a cool character, and along with Uncle Brendon the nicest/best/most likeable people in the book. It's a pity the series is not about Tod :( I'd take him over Nash and his idiocy any day.

The bad: I did feel that some scenes (well, one in particular) were just filler/plot movers. The conclusions Kaylee jumped to were ridiculous - there was no rhyme or reason to them, other than as a plot device for the big reveal (aka she is a banshee). I'm sorry, but 16-year-olds are not that dim. I felt it was unnecessary drama.

The side characters were not interesting (Sophie, Emma), and kind of annoying.

The ugly The main characters are nothing to write home about. In fact, as the story progressed more and more I found my dislike for Kaylee and Nash growing. Kaylee is rude, self-serving, obnoxious, TSTL (many times), idiotic...as you can see, my dislike for her grew from mild to rather strong by the end.

Nash is not much better. I know from reading the blurbs on the other books in the series that Tod is his brother. I could not believe how crass Nash was in how he treated Tod, especially given the relationship. A thousand strikes against him for that one. Also selfish. NO.

Kaylee's dad wins the award for selfishosity. I had no sympathy for is story arc. At all. Or maybe I am the one who's coldhearted and unsympathetic. :/

Basically, the long and short of it is this: a good story was ruined by idiot characters.

Will I continue with the series? Yes, because I enjoy Ms. Vincent's writing. Will I complete the series? I don't know. Depends on how I feel about Kaylee and Nash as I read more books.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, but with misgivings.



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