BOOK REVIEW | My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

Title: My Soul to Take
Author: Rachel Vincent
Series: Soul Screamers Series
Pages: 279
Publication Date: August 1, 2009
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: I checked out this book from my online local library!

She doesn't see dead people. 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.

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I'll be honest with you, I haven't heard of this series until this year when I was looking for a book with a red cover for the #ReadingQuest. When I saw this it was available at my online local library, I decided to give it a whirl. I didn't have any expectations, so I can't say I was disappointed or pleasantly surprised, but I did have fun reading it!

My Soul to Take follows Kaylee, the main protagonist, who is able to have premonitions of death. She can't say how or when, but only knows if someone is facing immenent death around her. The catch is, Kaylee can't help but scream, drawing massive amounts of attention to herself. The book starts off with Kaylee having one of these premonitions at a club, and the story kind of goes from there. 

There were several things that I enjoyed about My Soul to Take, and a handful of things that I also didn't like. But first, onto the the aspects that I did!

My Soul to Take has a first POV narration. I absolutely loved the narration. Kaylee's voice was very clear, and there was no unneeded details or annoying streams of consciousness. I personally loved Kaylee as a narrator. She can be a bit naive, but it wasn't too grating. Kaylee was also pretty down to earth and relatable. She can be a bit selfish, but the whole book is about her, so I wasn't frustrated with that either. 

My Soul to Take is also very inventive. I haven't read any books centering around this specific supernatural creatures. In fact, I haven't even heard of them! It was such a breath of fresh air to be introduced to a world I wasn't even aware of. 

The writing in the novel also kept me hooked. I couldn't stop reading this book, even though I was super busy the whole time I was reading it. The prose wasn't amazing by any means, but it was simple and kept me drawn in. The book also wrapped up nicely! There weren't a lot of loose strings, so I don't know what the sequel will be about at all. In fact, I feel as if this could be a standalone novel if it really wanted to. I am still looking forward to reading the sequel though!

Now, onto the cons! Some of the characters were very stereotypical, and the high school setting was as well. There were the classic mean girls and dumb jocks. Maybe most high schools are like this, but mine wasn't at all. The cliques and pettiness feels more like middle school than anything else. 

Also, nothing really happened in the book until the very end. Yes, the premise was interesting, but there was barely any action until the last 15 percent. The whole book is more of Kaylee figuring everything out about who and what she is. While it kept my attention, I was still hoping for action the whole entire time.

When I finished this book, I went to goodreads and rated it, as I always did. I also wanted to check out how the other books in the series were reviewed. Here I was thinking that the series was a trilogy. I was SO wrong. It's 7 books long! 7 books!!! I honestly have no idea what the hell will still have to be covered six books from now, but I guess I'm in it for a long haul. Because yes, I will be continuing on with this series. :) 

With that, I give this book 
3 out of 5 Stars!

Have you read this book or anything else by Rachel Vincent? What did you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!