Wednesday 29 July 2009

My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent

"Something is wrong with Kaylee Cavanaugh

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..."

My Soul To Take is the first in the young adult Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent. Kaylee is an almost completely normal teenager, and as far as she knows, she is normal. Except she knows if someone is about to die. And when that happens, she starts to scream and she can't stop it.

She's gone almost a year without it happening, but now it's happening all to often and she doesn't know why. At the same time, the hottest guy in school has started showing a lot of interest in her. And that's what she'd rather focus on, if she can trust him. Nash is hiding his own secrets, like everyone else around her and Kaylee begins to realise that maybe everything isn't as simple as she always thought.

Rachel's first delve in to the young adult genre is a successful one. She's done a good job of capturing the younger mindset and emotions of typical teenagers. But her characters still have plenty of depth to them, and more dimensions appear as the book unfolds. The writing is as good as that of her adult series, Shifters, but has a softer edge to it. It works for the characters and the world they exist in, without taking anything away from the quality of the book.

The story starts off pretty quick and continues at a good pace, revealing twists and turns along the way. It blends together folklore, romance and the paranormal with Rachel's own imagination to create a story that's hard to put down. A great young adult series that could be enjoyed by teens and adults alike. I look forward to the next book with anticipation. 8/10

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