Sunday 20 June 2010

My Soul To Keep by Rachel Vincent


"When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies. And Kaylee is about to scream her head off...

Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.

Until something does.

Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind. The kind that really can kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their their friends - one of whom is already hooked.

And so is someone else..."

This is the third book in the Soul Screamers series and while I liked the first two, a lot, I didn't love them. No specific reason, they're well written, good well rounded characters, good plot, but just didn't fully grab me like some YA series can. But I still wanted this book a lot, especially after a few people said it was the best one yet. They weren't wrong. I adored this book!! I was hooked from the start and couldn't put it down. I had a lot of trouble getting a hold of a copy but once I had it, I read it in a day easily.

MSTKeep is darker than either of the books before it, Kaylee does a lot of growing up, loses a fair bit of the innocence and naivety that surrounded her, and it's not pretty. Which is probably why I love it so much. Life isn't easy, and growing up in particular is painful, ugly and unavoidable. Why shouldn't fictional characters have to deal with that too? The form it takes is more or less irrelevant for me, I just can't take fictional characters seriously if they're everything is easy for them. Kaylee has never had it easy, but the events of MSTKeep are much rougher on her. It picks up a month after the end of MSTSave, when Kaylee's grounding for passing in to the Netherworld has just ended. Her first night of freedom sees her at a party where she finds a friend with the scent of Demon Breath on his. Kaylee is shocked and scared. The forbidden Netherworld substance shouldn't be in the human world and certainly not being taken by high school jocks. But it is and she's determined to get to the bottom of it.

It's fast paced and had some great twists. I did guess one big thing before the book was out, but that was fine, it didn't stop it being a painful emotional ride that had me just about in tears at times. I felt so much for Kaylee as she tried to make sense out of what was going on and how to fix things. The Netherworld is dark and creepy as it should be, but I think I felt it more this time around. Nash and Tod are of course big parts of the story as well, and I love how the brothers react to each other, but also how they both play off Kaylee. Tod is one of my favourite side characters ever, for a grim reaper he's a lot of fun. He's dark and sarcastic, I love his friendship with Kaylee (and that it is a friendship, not a possible love interest) and I love seeing what he does for those he loves. Overall, a really great read, great character development and the ending was awesome, painful but awesome. I can't wait for book 4, My Soul To Steal!! 9/10

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