BOOK REVIEW - My Soul To Save by Rachel Vincent

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

IT IS PART OF FITKSHUN'S SOUL SCREAMERS READING CHALLENGE

My Soul to Save is the second book in the Soul Screamers Series and was written by Rachel Vincent. It is published in the UK by Mira Books and was released on 18^th February 2011. My review for the first Soul Screamers novel can be read here.

PLOT

When teenager Kaylee screams, someone dies...So when teen pop star Eden dies onstage and Kaylee doesn't wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can't cry for someone who has no soul. The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad's ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend's loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls: a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld - a consequence they can't possibly understand. Kaylee can't let that happen, even if trying to save their souls means putting 

her own at risk.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I loved the previous two instalments of Soul Screamers (in addition to the first novel there is a free prequel novella) so I went into this book right after listening to the first two full of enthusiasm for the series and wondering what would happen next. The very first thing that grabbed me was it didn’t go where I expected bringing Tod to the fore which can only be a good thing after his cameo in the first book.

I really like Rachel Vincent’s writing as it feels very real to me and in that way I feel like you almost fall into the book and it leaves you caring about the characters and for the most part you understand their motivations.

I can’t review this book without talking about the things that irked me about the book and that is some of the decisions that Kaylee makes. The one that springs to mind is when they are trying to convince Addison’s sister of the utter foolishness of giving away her soul they try to talk her around instead of the obvious step of having Addison remove her magical contacts and scare the ever loving life out of her. To me there is no reason in the world why that shouldn’t have occurred to at least one of them after all there is no sense in sugar coating things.

One of the things that did keep me reading was Nash calling Kaylee on her Superman complex and the danger she places herself in when she doesn’t have to. You could call it honourable but she really puts herself out there for Todd and suffers the consequences. I don’t like Kaylee just some aspects of her personality irk me and her awe of Nash is never going to make for a truly healthy relationship.

Now we come to Tod our intrepid reaper. After this episode I am not entirely sure how I feel about him, while I can understand his intentions and the fact that Addison has awaken something in him that he was beginning to lose that is no excuse to sell one of your friends down the river especially in a way that you knew was potentially lethal. At the very least you could characterise him as manipulative at the most you could call into question whether he even care for Kaylee.

I can’t finish the review without mentioning the whole allusion lambasting of the extremely Disney like corporation at the centre of this conspiracy for selling soul. I don’t know if Rachel Vincent was beaten up by a Mickey Mouse actor at Disneyland but there are certainly some old scars there. I don’t know how anyone could hold a grudge against the company who brought us Ashley Tisdale.

So in the end I have to give a mixed review taking another step into Soul Screamers world is an enjoyable experience but there were just a few things here and there that niggled at me but nothing that would stop me making this series one of the ones to watch.