My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers #1) by Rachel Vincent

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

What a great book! And you know if I say that about a YA story it must be good! I have read most of Rachel Vincent's adult series, Shifters, and really love it, so I was expecting that her YA series, Soul Screamers, would be fantastic as well. However, I'm very picky about my young adult reads so My Soul to Take had its YA label working against it for me from the start.

This is definitely one of those books that gets better the further you get. When I started it, I liked the main character Kaylee, and I enjoyed learning about what she is and how it works along with her. But it wasn't until about halfway through the book that this became a "stay up late and read it no matter how early I have to wake up" book. And the last 50 pages or so were in the  "CAN'T PUT THIS DOWN!" category. When I was crying by the book's end I knew it would be getting a good review.

Vincent has a knack for developing an urban fantasy element not commonly seen in the genre (Hello, Shifters series? Werecats?) and this series is no different. In , Kaylee discovers that she is a banshee (written as bean sidhe in the book). Banshees in Vincent's world are not women dressed in ragged dresses who walk around funerals and wail for the dead (traditional legend). They are also not woman with broken hearts who turn into crazy screaming she-demons who kill men with their wail (uh...Charmed...). Vincent's banshees have the ability to sense when someone near them is just about to die. When they get this sensation, they are overcome with grief and the overpowering urge to scream at the top of their lungs. This unearthly wail holds souls to this plane for a little longer while the wail lasts. Of course, there is much more to being a banshee, but I can't give it all away!

The romantic element to this story is the new relationship between Kaylee and Nash. I could have used a little more relationship build up between them. I understand that he is a popular guy and that's why Kaylee is instantly interested and excited when she runs into him outside of school, but it seemed like they were an item almost instantly. I would have liked some more tension and such before they decided they were practically in love. With that said, I did like their actual relationship and the sweet high school feel of it. I also enjoyed the way Vincent held out on us about Nash and why he knew so much about Kaylee. Perhaps she decided to use up all the tension and mystery on that instead of on Kaylee and Nash's relationship. And then there is Tod. A mysterious character who enters the story about halfway through, Tod shows an immediate interest in Kaylee and has some sort of past with Nash. I loved all of the interactions between these three and can't wait to read more about Tod as the series goes on! I see a possible love triangle happening in the future, but I might be reading into that because of my experience with Shifters.

As I mentioned above, the end of this book will keep you reading until the last page. You will not want to put it down once you enter the final sequence of major events. Leave it to Rachel Vincent to throw in some curve balls.

I'm reading the rest of this series for sure! So far, there are four in the series, with book five releasing September 27th.