Review: My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

Tags: YA, paranormal, banshees, death

Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary

When the best looking guy in school, Nash Hudson, starts paying attention to Kaylee Cavanaugh, all she wants to do is to live a normal life. But Kaylee is far from normal. She can sense when someone near her is about to die—and when she does, she starts screaming incontrollably. Inhumanly.

Then, Kaylee learns the shocking truth from some unexpected sources: she is actually not human, but rather a bean sidhe, a mythical creature who scream when death is near. Before Kaylee can have time to digest the truth, however, her abilities are needed to help find out why girls are mysteriously and suddenly dying every day.

Review

Rachel Vincent blends mystery, romance, and magic into a series starter that will definitely find an audience with teen readers. With so many paranormal novels out there, the idea of MY SOUL TO TAKE is refreshingly unique: I haven’t read many books concerning bean sidhes (banshees), those who announce death, and Rachel Vincent’s take on the mythical creatures is satisfying and intriguing. The explanation behind the existence of bean sidhes is well spun; I always appreciate a well-wrought backstory.

The characters and writing, while not too noteworthy, were still interesting enough to capture the attention of a less discerning reader than me. Kaylee reacts like most teen girls in her situation would probably react: with horror and lots of hand-wringing, but not much action. The romance was tame, the attraction between Kaylee and Nash a little too sudden and forced for my taste, but it was okay because of the high interest levels of the world this book describes. It’s not the romance that’s the focus here, but the paranormal world.

Even though the plot is slow in the beginning and not much in terms of action really happens throughout (frustratingly enough, a lot of things seem to occur in conversations), my attention was still captured. MY SOUL TO TAKE is a good beginning to a series that will attract who are new to YA paranormal fiction. A decent introduction to a diverse genre.

Similar Authors

Amber Kizer (Meridian)

Maggie Stiefvater (Lament)

Gillian Shields

Writing: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Plot: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

Cover discussion: 3.5 out of 5 - I like it. I think it's sexy and exotic, and I love all the red. This is a cover that would attract me for sure.

Harlequin Teen / Aug. 1, 2009 - Thank you, Harlequin Teen!