Review : My Soul to Save
My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent
Pages : 279
Genre : YA, Urban Fantasy
Series : Souls Screamers, book 2
My Rating : 
What it’s about :
When pop star Eden dies on stage in front of her fans, Kaylee is, of course, in shock; but even more surprising is the fact that Kaylee doesn’t feel the need to scream, as she usually does when someone dies near her.
As she soon learns, Eden sold her soul for fame and success – as did Addison, Tod’s ex-girlfriend. The thing is, Addison is going to die five days from now, and if she doesn’t get her soul back before then, she’ll suffer an eternity of pain and torture. It’s a race against time as Kaylee, Tod and Nash try to save the poor girl’s soul before it’s too late…
Although I am a fan of Rachel Vincent’s werecats series, and although I did enjoy the first book in this series, My Soul to Take, I’m a little sad to say that I didn’t think this was a great book. Entertaining, yes. A quick read, yes too! But a memorable read? A great adventure? A captivating plot? Hmm…
To be fair, it’s the first time I feel a little let down by one of Vincent’s novels. I usually find her stories to be original with lots of interesting twists. In this case, not exactly. My Soul to Save was just lacking subtlety, both in its writing and in its plot. Things felt forced and I had the impression that Kaylee was repeating herself along her narration, just in case we didn’t remember who was what. Things that had been said not only in the first book, but at the beginning of this one, too.
There were some good points, though. As Kaylee learns to control her yelling ability, she becomes more independent from Nash. In fact, Nash spends a lot of this book just following around, making sure Kaylee is okay. I guess he’s the perfect dream-boyfriend : athletic, charming, sexy, protective, understanding, etc. etc. But he’s just a little “blah” to me. I liked Tod way much more. He’s less “squeaky-clean” than Nash, but his imperfections make him a lot more intriguing. While some characters seemed flat (see Emma, a.k.a. the best friend we only hear about when Kaylee needs something), I enjoyed learning more about the Netherworld.
While I wouldn’t categorize My Soul to Save as a brilliant book, I still think those who loved the first book will enjoy this one too. It presents new aspects of Kaylee’s abilities and a story that is easy to get into. I was a little disappointed, but I’ll be reading the third book for sure!
Series Reading Order :
- My Soul to Take
- My Soul to Save
- My Soul to Keep (coming in 2010)
I listened to the 2 hour prequel to these books and I really want to read My Soul to Take. I had no idea that the series was moving so quickly and that the last would be published this year. Guess I have to get moving.
Since I haven’t read the first book in the series, I’ll probably skip this one.
thanks for that. I quite like the werecat books and always enjoy them once I sit down, but I don’t feel pulled back the way I do with some.
Great honest review. I will be reading this one soon too 🙂
Nicole : If I remembered correctly, the author signed a 6 books deal, so the one this year won’t be the last one. You still have some time to catch up! 😉
Kathy : The first book was really good though, for me, so that’s sad that this one wasn’t as good.
Hagelrat : I get what you mean! I like the werecat series, so I’m hoping this series gets better on the third book.
Juju : I hope you’ll enjoy it! 😀 I think you will, but I could be wrong!
Great review, Kay! I have to agree with you about the repetition, I did some times think “hasn’t she mentioned this already?” And I did think Nash was on the sidelines a little, and Emma practically non-existant. But I really liked it! I just think the whole bean sidhe mythos in these books is just awesome! I love it! Thanks for the review!