Rachel Vincent

Soul Screamers — (2009-2012) Young adult. My Soul to Lose is a free prequel novella in ebook format. Reaper is a novella available on Kindle or audio. Publisher: 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 the need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next... SOUL SCREAMERS The last thing you hear before you die...

My Soul to Take

Kaylee Cavanaugh wants to be a normal teenage girl, but her "panic attacks" stand in the way. Kaylee can sense when someone is about to die. She can't save the dying person, though, and can't warn them. All she can do is let out an unearthly scream. If you're familiar with mythology, you can probably guess what kind of supernatural being Kaylee turns out to be!

As My Soul to Take begins, Kaylee learns that her premonitions are real and that her screaming episodes aren't symptoms of mental illness. Beautiful young girls are dropping dead for no apparent reason. Only Kaylee can see who the next victim will be. With the help of Nash, a gorgeous, popular boy who is also more than he seems, Kaylee sets out to learn who or what is killing these girls and stop the deaths.

Rachel Vincent does a great job of raising the tension and the stakes in the story, bringing the deaths closer and closer to home until the suspense makes you want to — well, scream! I also liked the mythology she has created. The parts based on folklore are well-researched and feel "rooted," and the parts invented by Vincent make sense and hang together well with the folklore.

I'm not quite sold on the Kaylee/Nash romance yet. Nash is presented as this love-'em-and-leave-'em type who only dates conventionally beautiful girls, yet he goes from player to perfect boyfriend in 2.5 seconds when his life intersects with Kaylee's. I'm just not quite convinced that Nash would be so into Kaylee if the metaphysics were taken out of the equation. On the positive side, these are questions that Kaylee asks herself, and asks Nash, throughout the novel. And, there are a few hints that Nash's past might not be as lurid as school gossip paints it. As the series continues, I hope this turns out to be the case.

Overall, Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Take is a solid YA fantasy featuring an original mythology and a strong heroine. If you liked Amber Kizer's Meridian, you will probably like My Soul to Take, and vice versa. —Kelly Lasiter

My Soul to Save

My Soul to Save begins at a pop concert. The opening act is Addison Page, an up-and-coming singer who dated Kaylee's reaper friend, Tod, back when he was alive in the normal sense. After her set, superstar Eden takes the stage. When Eden collapses mid-concert, Kaylee doesn't feel the urge to scream, so she's sure the pop star will be fine. But Eden dies, and when Kaylee sees the sludgy substance that wafts from the body, she learns that Eden didn't have a soul.

Turns out that Dekker Corporation, a children's media conglomerate (obviously based on Disney), is promising young hopefuls fame and fortune in exchange for their souls, and that Addison, too, has taken Dekker up on the offer. Tod can't bear the thought of Addison suffering Eden's fate, and so he, Kaylee, and Nash set out to break Addison's contract and reunite her with her soul. Now, Kaylee must learn to navigate the eerie, dangerous Netherworld, while dealing with normal teenage annoyances like being grounded.

My Soul to Save is a quick read that moves along at a brisk pace, and it's an OK book, but not as good as My Soul to Take. One disappointment is the romance. I still haven't fallen for Nash. He's a flatter character here than in the previous book, and he doesn't do much to convince me that his feelings for Kaylee run deep. Sure, he's angrily protective of her throughout the book, and the several scenes of makeoutus interruptus make it clear he lusts after her. But only in his rant to Addison, near the end, does he really seem to speak from the heart rather than from the id.

I'm also realizing that I simply don't like books in which innocent people get stuck in Hell permanently. Sure, send them there if the plot needs it, but then make with the rescuing, OK? Toward the end, Kaylee narrates: "My dad said that I couldn't save them all, and on my good days, I have to admit that he was right. Eventually, people have to learn to make their own choices, and to deal with the consequences." Which is fine when you're talking about people who knowingly sold their souls. But what about those girls from the first book? They're explicitly said to be suffering in the Netherworld, but they didn't do anything wrong, and one of them was actually sent there because of a choice that Kaylee made. My inner idealist was hoping that Kaylee's trip to the Netherworld would include saving those book-one girls. My inner idealist was disappointed. —Kelly Lasiter

Reaper

Rachel Vincent’s Reaper is a novella set in her SOUL SCREAMERS world. I read it because it was free for members at Audible during one of their promotions. I haven’t read any of the SOUL SCREAMERS novels, but I’m familiar with the premise because I’ve read Kelly’s reviews of the series.

Reaper is the story of how Tod, sacrificing himself for his impulsive younger brother Nash, became a reaper. We get to know Tod, Nash, and their mom pretty well. We also learn a bit about Sabine, Nash’s girlfriend, and Addison, Tod’s ex-girlfriend-turned-pop-star.

Fans of the SOUL SCREAMERS series won’t want to miss Reaper because it contains a moving background story. However, this novella can stand alone for those who haven’t started the series yet, and it may be a quick and easy way to discover if you want to venture further into Vincent’s world.

Personally, I struggled with Reaper — not because there was anything wrong with it (there wasn’t), but simply because it was devastatingly emotional. I don’t like stories where the crux of the plot involves children or teenagers getting hurt. As the mother of two teenage boys who are very close to each other, I thought this story was especially disturbing. It was a lot like reading the famous Dear Abby column called “Please, God, I’m Only 17.” If you don’t mind that sort of emotional gut punch, you’ll like this one better than I did.

Reaper is available on Kindle or audiobook. The audiobook version was read by Anthony Haden. His performance was good except that I didn’t like the slimy voice he used for Nash. However, Kelly, who has read the series, thought the slimy voice was appropriate. —Kat Hooper

My Soul to Keep

My Soul to Keep deals with the issue of drug abuse, but if you’re worried it will be a preachy Very Special Episode type of story, worry no more. Rachel Vincent raises the book above that level — both by allowing the damage to strike very close to home for Kaylee and by placing the issue in an enthralling plot — so that it never feels like a simplistic “drugs are bad, mmmkay” fable.

In My Soul to Save, Vincent introduced readers to Demon’s Breath, a sought-after intoxicant among the denizens of the Netherworld. Kaylee now emerges from her month-long grounding to find that someone has brought Demon’s Breath to her high school and that several of her acquaintances are using it. And for human kids, using Demon’s Breath is a nearly inevitable ticket to insanity or death. Then, Vincent makes terrific use of a tiny, forgettable detail from book two and puts Kaylee through a wrenching betrayal. Now she has to deal with the repercussions of that betrayal while thwarting a hellion’s sinister designs.

The human (and bean sidhe) characters have believable shades of gray that inspire compassion even when their behavior is reprehensible. For example, one Demon’s Breath user became addicted by accident; that initial event was not his fault at all. Yet he is still morally culpable for what he did after that to feed the addiction. As for the hellion, he’s horrifying; My Soul to Keep features so many chilling ways a hellion can destroy lives and relationships.

Kaylee shows admirable strength at the novel’s end; I’m reminded of Albus Dumbledore’s words about the courage it takes to stand up to one’s friends. I am so tired of wilting heroines and it’s so gratifying to see one who calls people on their bad behavior and stands up for her own needs.

This ending leaves the Soul Screamers series in an uncertain place — but at the same time it’s blown wide open, with so many interesting directions Vincent could take it. I had been slightly disappointed in My Soul to Save and unsure whether to continue — but after My Soul to Keep, I’m eagerly along for the ride. —Kelly Lasiter

My Soul to Steal

At the end of My Soul to Keep, the relationship between Kaylee and Nash was in limbo. My Soul to Steal opens with Nash recovering but guilt-ridden, Kaylee not quite ready to forgive him, and Nash’s ex-girlfriend Sabine arriving on the scene. Nash and Sabine had an intense relationship two years ago but parted without closure after Tod’s death. Now, Sabine is determined to take advantage of the rift between Nash and Kaylee, and take Nash back for herself.

Oh, and Sabine is a mara, or Nightmare, who feeds by giving people horrible dreams and soaking up their fears. When Kaylee learns this, she’s sure Sabine is behind a new string of tragedies at their high school. The truth, however, may be worse still…

My Soul to Steal is literally painful to read at times. If you’ve been following Kaylee, it hurts to see the way she’s treated here, and to see the way this strong character is manipulated into doubting herself. I can’t say I ever really liked Nash, and in My Soul to Keep he messed up severely — and he doesn’t do much to redeem himself here. It’s not so much that he’s attracted to Sabine. I get why he’d have conflicting feelings. It’s the way it takes far too long for him to stick up for Kaylee in any meaningful way against Sabine’s bullying and manipulation. Tod has a huge agenda, but he’s right. Kaylee and Nash don’t belong together. I will retroactively like this book better if it’s the precursor to Nash not turning out to be Kaylee’s eventual love interest — and I will retroactively like it less if it leads to a mushy happy ending between the two. I’m not sure Rachel Vincent could make me “buy” a mushy happy ending for this couple at this point.

But enough about the romance. There’s another plotline here, though the structure of my review reflects the relative prominence of the two plots pretty accurately. If I have a gripe about My Soul to Steal, it’s that the balance is off. The romantic triangle drowns out the “evil forces invading the high school” story a bit too much. As wrenching as the love story is, I can’t help but think that what happens to some of Kaylee’s teachers and classmates is worse, and more irrevocable, and could have used more development. When this plotline does move to the front burner, though, it’s terrifying and well executed. It’s always enjoyable — in a creepy sort of way — to travel to the Netherworld and see what horrors Vincent has cooked up for Kaylee and for us.

While My Soul to Steal isn’t the strongest of the Soul Screamers books — so far I’d have to grant that title to Keep — this is still one of the better young adult paranormal series out there. Vincent gives us intense emotion, plenty of scares, and a wonderful heroine to follow. I can’t wait for book five, which will be titled If I Die. —Kelly Lasiter