My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers #1) by Rachel Vincent

My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers #1) by Rachel Vincent

Release Date: August 1st 2009

Publisher: Harlequin

Page Count: Paperback, 279 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Author: Website, Good Reads, Twitter, Blog

Buy This Book: Amazon, The Book Depository 

She doesn't see dead people. 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 her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next. - Good Reads

This is one of those books I wished I would have discovered ages ago. I absolutely freaking loved it.  Until recently I'd never even heard of Rachel Vincent. Funny, I know, because she has a lot of books out and more than one series. It all started about a week ago when I saw a review for a book named Blood Bound - I thought the book sounded good based on the review and added it to my TBR list. A few days ago I was creeping around on Good Reads and saw this cover (it's gorgeous) and the summary seemed really interesting. A girl who senses when people die? Soul screamers? Is this book about bashees? I had another book by that author in my TBR list and both had fairly good ratings. Long story short, I went and picked it up at the library. And ladies and gents, I'm so glad I did.

Yes, there are some of the typical elements involved here: insta-love to a degree, girl with a dead parent, while the remaining is absent, the mean girl who loves to rain on our heroines parade, the alluring, mysterious stud with deep-rooted issues, whom you'd love to comfort as he quietly cries at your feet in fetal position, a heroine who learns she is "special" and so on and so forth. But in all honestly, despite all of that seemingly typicalness, I was hooked and it felt fresh and new and I became emotionally invested. Which is what to me, reading is all about. 

I loved Kaylee. She was a fabulous heroine. I loved her reasoning with herself about her ability. After researching the internet in a panic to understand more, it clicks... She must have brain cancer. I think I loved that mostly because that is totally and completely how I'd react to something strange. I've been known to to fly into a panic attack after self diagnosis after scouring Web MD. I won't lie! And Kaylee has a good heart. Nothing beats a good heart.

The pace of the story might start out a little slow for some people, but I felt it picked up quickly and I was so intrigued that I couldn't put it down. The end held a big shock for me - I saw and see a few things coming, but one of the twists I would have never imagined. And it's one of those shocks that makes you think and consider. Not exactly about the outcome, but what drove the outcome. In this book, what drove the ending was mostly apparent, but it was fueled by emotions and those emotions still weigh on my mind as I write this.

Overall, this book was definitely one of my favourites out of the year. Right up there with Shade and Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready. If you love young adult paranormal romances, I'd absolutely recommend this!