Review: My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent

Even though the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge is officially over, since I wasn't able to reread and review MStS and IID during the Challenge, I'm going to now!!

My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent

Released January 4, 2011

Source of my copy: Library Loan

Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can't just pretend nothing happened. But "complicated" doesn't even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back. 

See, Sabine isn't just an ordinary girl. She's a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people's fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives. 

And Sabine isn't above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.

------ 

Everyone's favorite teen bean sidhe is back, and this time she's facing more than just hellions, a Netherworld addiction, and general evil--well, all that stuff, too--she's facing a real, literal Nightmare: a terrifying creature who can use your own greatest fears against you, and feed off your terror.


Oh yeah, and she's Nash's ex-girlfriend.


Keeping with the pattern of my other reviews for the SSRC, I'm going to be talking about character development. And with the introduction of such a complex and awesome character as Sabine, she's absolutely going to be the focus. 


BEWARE OF SOUL SCREAMERS SPOILERS UP TO MStS! NO IID OR BIW SPOILERS.


*******************************************


Sabine Campbell. Teenage girl. Nash's ex. Nightmare.


I don't remember precisely how I felt about Sabine the first time around (I probably liked her and very much disliked her simultaneously. Not because I wanted Kaylee and Nash together--I was just as unable to forgive him as Kay--but because she's just so IRRITATING), but going back, I LOVE her!


She's snarky, tough, and hilarious, and I love her for it. She's had a tough time of it, being a Nightmare and scaring everyone she meets. And while that's left its scars, it's made her stronger, the same way Kaylee's struggles have helped her.


Besides that, she's so supremely LOYAL to Nash, even when he kinda doesn't deserve it. And while I can't exactly say I think their supremely codependent relationship is exactly HEALTHY, I want them both to be happy, and they make each other happy, in their weird way.


There's also a part in Sabine's short story Niederwald (included in the Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions anthology) that really helped me connect with her character and choices (I'm including it because it takes place--I think--either between MStS and IID, or POSSIBLY during IID, I'm not sure, but the part I'm talking about isn't spoilery) where she talks about Nash and Kaylee's relationship.


She talks about Kaylee's desire to "fix" Nash, to buff out the dark bits of his soul, the ones she can't connect with. Sabine, on the other hand, notes that she can love all of him, because she recognizes the dark side of him that matches hers, and loves him for all of him. 


It's no one's fault, and it doesn't mean Nash and Kay don't love each other. But I don't think they're right for each other. (I'll talk about this more in my If I Die review, because there are a couple points from it I want to cite. And you people who've read it, I don't mean the obvious one from the math hall ;D)


Anyway, Niederwald is one of the many factors that helped me sympathize with, and, yes, start to love Sabine. I haven't read her other short story, Fearless, but I so want to!


I'm not going to talk about Emma or Sophie, because I don't have much to add to their character analysis at this point that I haven't said in earlier reviews, and I don't have much more to say on the topic of Nash and Kaylee until If I Die, except maybe to note the struggle for trust between the two of them since Nash's addiction. 


So that leaves us with Tod.


<3 Obviously I love Tod. I probably don't even need to mention that. Tod's role in the books keeps growing, and by MStS he's very clearly close and loyal to Kaylee. And we, the reader, aren't the only ones who might have noticed his feelings growing. [Highlight for a note that maaay be a bit IID spoilery, if you're really concerned about that]. 


Rereading, I was surprised at how quickly Sabine noticed. She dropped some hints about Tod and Kaylee I didn't catch last time around.


Anyway, Tod is just as awesome as ever, delivering death, pizza, and unsolicited relationship advice. And speaking of that advice...Does Tod's insistence that Kay and Nash don't belong together driven by something other than his desire for both their happiness and well-being, and they belief that they don't fit together? Or is there another reason for his intervention...?


Altogether, My Soul to Steal gets <*><*><*><*><*>


(:D)
~Mag

Teaser Tuesday: Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play, and the rules are simple:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I GOT BEFORE I WAKE TODAY!! This is thanks to the super fantastical Rachel over at Fiktshun, and her super awesome Soul Screamers Reading Challenge.


Anyway, I'm about a third of the way through already, and there are SO MANY awesome quotes!! It was hard for me to pick ;P

1.
     "I can't believe they even bothered filling that faculty position again. They might as well rename the class Defense Against the Dark Arts. I mean, seriously, who would answer an ad for this job?" 

-Page 27

2.
     "She just got out of the hospital. Why don't you go gossip behind her back, like decent people?" 

-Page 31

HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I FREAKING LOVE EMMA??


And because I am weak (CAUTION--IF I DIE SPOILERS):

3.
     "The school sent you flowers. I'm sure that totally makes up for the fact that they hired the psychotic, soul-stealing pedophile who murdered you in your own home." 

-Page 100

 I shall attempt to use some self-control and stop there. I had a couple awesome lines from a certain awesome reaper, but they're kinda spoilery, so...


What are you reading this week? Leave me your TT links!!


(:D)
~Mag

Review: My Soul To Keep by Rachel Vincent (SSRC)

Well, I'm running really late on this because my library's only copy of My Soul to Keep was checked out until yesterday, but luckily I'm a fast reader and finished today!

I reread MSTK for the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge being hosted by Fiktshun! It's super awesome and super fun, and if you haven't joined yet you most definitely should!!

My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent
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 friends—one of whom is already hooked.

And so is someone else…

------

At the beginning of MSTK, Kaylee is finally free of the grounding she received for all the crazy stuff that went down in the last book. But she hasn't been free very long before she discovers the Netherworld is still leaking into the human work and threatening the lives of everyone she knows.

Of course, Kaylee being Kaylee, she can't possibly take that lying down, or leave it up to those older and stronger than her. Kay always wants to protect others, which is what simultaneously makes her one of the stupidest and most admirable heroines around these days.

When she discovers humans are getting addicted to Demon's Breath (remember that nasty crap from the last book?) she knows she has to stop it. And THAT is when things start to go downhill again.


Ok, so, like the last few months, I'll finish up by talking about character development! This stuff will be spoilery! Read at your own risk!

************** ************** ************** **************

So first we have Kaylee. As I mentioned above, in MSTK she's still just as selfless and brave as she was in the first two books. But she's also becoming more realistic, and realizing that she can't save everyone. But at the same time, this knowledge only makes her more determined to save those she can. She can accept that there's nothing more she can do for Addison, but she wants to save others from that same fate.

Then there's Nash. Anyone who's already read all the books knows that this is the one where the Nash-hate really starts. Nash has made PLENTY of mistakes. And while some of them are understandable, that's never been enough for me to really love him past the second book. Yes, going back to the first book, I loved him again and remembered why I had loved him before, but reaching this book, those feelings are gone again. Which really is tragic, because he was such an awesome guy. And now he's acting like a total butthead.

Emma. Kaylee's best friend has to go through a lot again in this book. Yet she stays strong, and doesn't abandon Kay. I think that's really all that has to be said about her character.

Sophie. Oh, man, Sophie's so obnoxious. Yet as I've said before, I can't bring myself to hate her. I've said it six zillion times, she's just so CLUELESS. But in this book, you start to see behind the mask, that behind her Ice Queen appearance she's still capable of being hurt.

Alec. He only makes a brief appearance in MSTK, but there's something interesting about him, isn't there? Of course, I've already read past this book, but even the first time I was intrigued by him.

Addison. She's only briefly in this one, but she was brave and selfless, too. She gave up the only good thing left in her existence to help Kaylee and Tod and Nash, which is pretty incredible.

And I've saved the best for last: TOD. Oh, Tod! I love that guy so much there aren't even words to express it. And just like last time, he's even better in this book. He's still grieving Addy, but at the same time he's finally recovering. This is the book where we really start to see that he'll be there for Kay when she needs him. In the first book, Tod was pretty much...well...dead. He wasn't very human anymore. In the second book, he's getting better, and Addy being in danger really jump started that, but really it's Kaylee who's bringing him back. He's alive again, and a sarcastic and obnoxious and awesome. But more than that, he's loyal, and protective, and GOOD. And also, I love him. But that's mostly irrelevant.

************** ************** ************** **************

Altogether, I looooved it (again!) and it gets <*><*><*><*><*>

(:D)
~Mag

Review: My Soul To Save by Rachel Vincent

So, you may recall that I'm participating in a lovely event (hosted by Fiktshun) called the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge. (In fact, it was part of the inspiration for the Maximum Ride Reading Challenge Ella and I are hosting. That one starts today! Go sign up for it? Pretty please?)

Anyway, this month is all about My Soul To Save, the second book in the fantastic series. (Remember, it's not too late to join the challenge, whether you've read the first book yet or not!) I loved My Soul To Save, and, like My Soul To Take, I loved it even more the second time around.

My Soul To Save by Rachel Vincent

When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies. 

So when teen pop star Eden croaks 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….

------

OOOH, man, here we are: Another review of a fantastic Soul Screamers novel. I can't tell you guys enough how much I absolutely ADORE these books (And not JUST because I'm in love with Tod, though I most definitely am).


Kaylee is finally moving past the horrible things that happened six weeks ago, the events that led to her discovery of her true heritage as a bean sidhe (that would be banshee to the uninformed). Now things are mostly back to normal, and Kaylee can spend her time hanging with her friends, her previously absentee father, and her boyfriend, Nash.


And then people start dying without their souls.


Kaylee is just as strong, smart, selfless and funny in this book as she is in the first, and the action and mystery  is still awesome, too! The thing about Kaylee is that she refuses to back off of something she knows is right, even if she risks her own life. It's what makes her an awesome heroine and an awesome person.


Beyond that, the story itself is just incredible. Rachel Vincent has created a world that it's so easy to get fully immersed and lost in. As scary as it is, it's a world that would be awesome to live in, especially if you'd get to meet cool bean sidhes like Kaylee and Nash and supercool, superfun reapers like Tod! Well, Tod's basically the coolest/funnest reaper there is, so maybe just Tod. No other reapers. It's probably best to avoid them.


This book totally gets <*><*><*><*><*>


Now, I'd like to take a little time to talk about the characters and their development, as I did with my review for MSTT. So just beware that this next bit could be a bit spoilery for the entire series. (I'll try to keep later-book spoilers vague).


Either way, though, read at your own risk.


******************************************************************************


First thought: TOD TOD TOD TOD TOD! I'm so glad he got a bigger role in this book. I didn't realize until the rereading how little he's actually in the first one. And as an absolute Taylee shipper (and simply a Tod lover), I'm always glad to see some Tod :)


Then there's Kaylee and Nash. As you guys probably know, in the later books, I don't like Nash. I really, really don't like him. But I have to admit, going back to the beginning it's hard not to fall for him again. Even though I know how everything is going to go down, I still remember why I loved Nash, and why Kaylee loves Nash. That makes this hard. 


I really admire Addison's character, too. Even though she's made some mistakes, she always did the wrong thing for the right reasons, and I can't hold that against her. In the end, she made the proper, selfless choice to try to set things right. Some people might try to compare that to what Aunt Val did in the end of My Soul To Take, but it's not nearly the same thing, in my opinion, because while Val's choice tried to negate the bad things she'd done out of selflessness, Addy's sacrifice was just the final in a line of many.


Moving right along, we have Emma. Ah, I love Emma. She's the same tough, cool chick from My Soul To Take, and that's a good thing, because dealing with Kaylee's bean sidhe business isn't exactly EASY. But Emma can handle it! She's always there for Kaylee, even when Kaylee can't be entirely honest with her or give her all the details. Really, she's as much of a heroine as Kaylee.


Now I want to go back to Tod. Watching him in this book is so sad. Tod's made mistakes, too. He makes them with good intentions, though, even when he knows he's wrong. It's so heartbreaking to watch him suffer and try so hard to save Addy. But despite that, I can see that Kaylee's wrong, and that he isn't still in love with Addison. He loves her as his friend, yes, and he wants to help her, but I think he's being 100% honest when he tells Kaylee he's not still in love with her. And I'm not just saying that because I know what's going to happen. I remember thinking the same thing during my first read.


Anyway, those are my thoughts on reading My Soul To Save the second time.


******************************************************************************


(:D)
~Mag

Novels 'n' Notes #1: Falling In by Lifehouse

Ok, so, today I'd like to try out a new segment here on Geek Chic called Novels 'n' Notes. Basically what I'd like to do is showcase a song that reminds me of a book, usually two characters' relationship in a book.


For the first NN, I've chosen one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, because it makes me think of one of my favorite parings in one of my favorite books. :)


*Warning--teeny tiny spoilers ahead for Soul Screamers. I'm trying really hard to keep it clear. Then again, the pairing itself is kinda spoilery.*

Falling In by Lifehouse: Tod and Kaylee from the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent
There's a lot of things about this song that makes me think of Taylee around My Soul To Steal/If I Die time. When I listen to the lyrics, it sounds, to me, like Tod talking to Kaylee. I can find a connection from almost every line in the whole song, but I'll just highlight a couple:


-"This heart that I've followed has left me so hollow, that was then, this is now, yeah you have changed everything." 


When Tod made the choices he made--the rather spoilery ones we find out about in Reaper and If I Die--he gave up being alive and human, and it took its toll on him, made it harder for him to feel things. But when he meets Kaylee, that all changes.


-"Won't be easy, have my doubts, too, but it's over, without you I'm just lost, incomplete."


They both know that being together would be hard (for various, rather obvious reasons), but it would be harder not to be. 


-"All those nights I stayed awake, thinking of all the ways to make you mine."


I think this one goes without saying...:)


Anyway, if you stayed with me on my rambling, thanks. If not, I can't say I blame you. Either way, if you love Taylee, check out Falling In below and keep Kaylee and Tod in mind as you do.

Please note that I do not own this song, the lyrics, or anything related to Lifehouse or Falling In. I also did not post this video, nor am I affiliated with "DazzleMeForevr", who did. *Insert other legal stuff here.*


I hope you enjoyed the first edition of Novels 'n' Notes. I don't have a set schedule for these yet, so they could pop up at any moment. 


So, let me know: Does this song make you think of Tod and Kaylee? What other songs make you think of books? Sound off in the comments! Also, feel free to make your own Novels 'n' Notes posts (with the logo above) and link them here! I'd love to check them out!


Also, special thanks to CJ for his help with the NN logo!


(:D)
~Mag

Review: My Soul To Take (Soul Screamers) by Rachel Vincent--Soul Screamers Reading Challenge

Ever since I finished If I Die by Rachel Vincent, I've wanted to reread the entire series in preparation for the release of Before I Wake. I got the perfect reason to do exactly that with the awesome Soul Screamers Reading Challenge hosted by one of my absolute favorite blogs, Fiktshun.

This is a super awesome reading challenge chock full of awesome opportunities to win awesome prizes that are just AWESOME. You still have time to join! Check out the details here!


So, without further ado, my review of the first book in the series, My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent.

My Soul To Take  

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 her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next... 

------

This book... I'm not sure if there are words. I loved this book the first time I read it, and I love it now. For starters, It's such a unique idea. These days, everywhere you go in YA World you're very, very likely to bump into a book about vampires or werewolves or faeries or fallen angels. And a lot of times I like or love those books, don't get me wrong. But a book about bean sidhes (banshees, to the uninformed) is something I had never seen before these books and haven't seen since. The world Rachel Vincent has created is just SO INCREDIBLE. And the characters are deep enough that you can fall in love with them or hate them or at least feel SOMETHING about any of them. 


Kaylee is an awesome heroine, a great main character. She's simultaneously an average girl with no idea what's going on and a strong, brave hero who will risk everything for others. Then there's the boys. Nash...and TOD. The best parts of Tod and his personality aren't fleshed out until later books, but even in this one he made me smile. Toss in Emma, the best friend, Sophie, the frenemy, and the secret-keeping aunt and uncle and it's impossible to read this book without feeling SOMETHING for all the characters.


If you haven't read this book, I VERY STRONGLY recommend you fix that as soon as possible. And if you have...well, read it again! I assure you, it's just as good the second time, if not BETTER!


I give this book a full <*><*><*><*><*>


Now, since this is my second time reading this book...


Down below is what was intended to be a short paragraph or two and turned into a monologue about what I found interesting about reading My Soul To Take again. Please bear with me as you read it, though it's long and ramble-y, and be aware that it contains some spoilers for My Soul To Take and the other books in the series.




*******************************************************************************




Reading My Soul To Take for the first time, I'd known Tod would be awesome, thanks to the fantastic post advocating him in the YA Sisterhood's Crush Tournament. And I did like him. And I do love him. But I did notice a few strange things about him reading this book through again.


At first, he kinda sorta seems to very much dislike Nash. And obviously (as we know having read Reaper and If I Die) that is not the case. (Of course, by the later parts of the book, he's showing more concern about Nash's well-being.) But not only that, he seemed to very much hate bean sidhes in general, which is weird, because, reaper or not, Tod was once purely bean sidhe, and in the other books, as far as I can tell, he never gave any signal of disliking his fellow bean sidhes. He seems angry in this book, kinda jerkish. He doesn't exactly seem like the same nice (if dead) guy we meet in Reaper and get to know throughout the later books.


But I do have a theory on all that--Reaper takes place both right before and right after Tod becomes a reaper, so he's still retaining his human opinions. Then, by If I Die, Tod's met Kaylee and she makes him feel alive again, and happy. But in My Soul To Take, Tod's been dead for two years and he's pretty much become full reaper, just better-looking and with a better sense of humor.


I think Nash says something to that effect to Kaylee--something about Tod not having the same values and opinions as a human. In If I Die, Tod himself says it. Something like, "Only two years dead, and already it was getting harder for me to feel anything."


But deep down in there, I still see the Tod I come to love. And by the dramatic ending, he's definitely shining through the cracks of Tod's reaper-ness.


On the other hand, I made a startling discovery rereading this book. I don't hate Nash as much as I thought I did. And even though I still kind of am angry at him a lot and kinda hate him, I remember now why I used to love him. But he just doesn't get it. He's stubborn and angry and bitter and he won't let himself be convinced that maybe things aren't exactly as they seem. He's just a kid, honestly. The thing that's annoyed me most about his character is simply that he assumes that Tod is jealous of him or mean to him because Nash lived and he died. And Tod's just standing there knowing he loves his brother more than he will ever know.


Another thing I found cool was going back and reading Kaylee's dad's explanation of what happened the night Kaylee died. Because knowing what we know about that situation and the reaper involved (the stuff that happens in If I Die), it's really interesting to see the hints dropped and the base laid for later reference.


I know this is really long when it was supposed to be short, but I'd just like to mention Sophie and Kaylee really quick. Sophie...I'm forming new opinions on Sophie. I never really HATED her, just found her annoying. Reading Never To Sleep, I found a new respect for her, even if she was still kind of a oblivious, spoiled little girl at the end. Rereading My Soul To Take, I realized that's her problem. She's just a spoiled, oblivious little girl, so who can expect her to be brave and self-sufficient like Kaylee when she's never had an opportunity to be? 


And then Kaylee. It was interesting to go back, knowing what was to come, and read about her when she was naive and had no idea what was going on, when she was more innocent and hadn't seen the horrors the Netherworld had to offer. Or the good things...certain others had to offer. 


I loved reading this part: 

     "Reapers aren't our enemies, Kaylee. They just don't particularly enjoy our company."
     Something told me the feeling would be mutual.

Oh, Kaylee. You have no idea what's in store. :)


Anyway, those are my feelings on reading My Soul To Take a second time.




********************************************************************************




Again, a big thanks to Fiktshun for hosting this awesome fun time, and to Rachel Vincent for writing such great books!


(:D)
~Mag

Beautiful Covers

So, with the new year, there are a lot of new books coming out. And many of these books have absolutely fantastic covers. But there are three that are really sticking out to me right now. So, in descending order (from least favorite to most favorite) are those three gorgeous covers.

3. Timepiece by Myra McEntire

I really love this. It's totally complementary to Hourglass's cover, yet lovely and striking on its own. I don't even have words to say what I'm feeling about it. I mean, seriously, just look at it.

 

2. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

How gorgeous is this?? First off, FINALLY we've got Jace and Clary on the cover together! Secondly, I love this guy portraying Jace. Not only is he really good looking, somehow he just IS Jace. If I concretely pictured Jace (something I usually don't do with book characters) this is what he'd look like. And am I the only one thinking that this girl portraying Clary looks, like, EXACTLY like Amy Adams? Is that just me? Anyway.

 

1. Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent

This. Cover. Rocks. It's so pretty! And flow-y. And...I don't even know. And I kind of like that Kaylee's alone on this one. As in: I'm really glad that Nash finally got kicked off the covers. 'Cuz I kinda-semi hate him. Though, admittedly, I wouldn't mind seeing a certain blond reaper on the cover with Kaylee. Just sayin'...;)

Anyway, those are my favorite covers right now. And, honestly, I CAN'T WAIT to read the books, too!

(:D)

~Mag

Soul Screamers Reading Challenge

To start off my blogging career with a bang, I'm participating in the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge being held by one of my favorite blogs, Fiktshun. 

The idea of the Challenge is to read--or reread, as in my case--the entire Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent to date, between January 15th and June 14th of 2012, so you'd be done just in time for the late June release of Before I Wake, the sixth book in the series (not including the e-novellas).

And here's the schedule:

January 15-February 14: My Soul To Take
February 15-March 14: My Soul To Save
March 15-April 14: My Soul To Keep
April 15-May 14: My Soul To Steal
May 14-June 14: If I Die

I gotta say...I'm super excited. I was actually expecting to  explode with anticipation while waiting for BIW. Hopefully, rereading the entire series will help keep that from happening. Because exploding would kind of be a bummer.


To add to the excitement, Fiktshun is also offering some awesome incentives for participants, like the chance to win various Rachel Vincent books (including a preorder of Before I Wake!), Amazon and Barnes and Noble gift cards, t-shirts, and more! And all the participants have to do is read or reread the books (one a month) and review them on their blog or some other place on the web, then post links to the reviews over at Fiktshun, on the proper post for the month.


Plus, you can get extra credit for reading and posting about any of the three e-novellas (Reaper, My Soul To Lose and Never To Sleep) at any time during the challenge.


And there you have it. For more details, check out the posts about it here and here. Good luck, and have fun, because really, whether or not you win the prizes, you'll still get to (re)read these AWESOME books.


(:D)
~Mag