My Soul to Take (Re-Read Review)
My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
Soul Screamers #1
(Re-Read Review)
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.
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.
Let me start off with a warning that this post is NOT a traditional review, and will be quite spoilery. Also there will be a whole lot of ranting and bashing. I'm participating in the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge hosted by Fiktshun. You can either read the books for the first time, or re-read them, and I am doing the latter. I thought it would be fun to do a post of my thoughts about things the second time around with all of the knowledge of the following books. So again, I really would not recommend reading this review if you are not caught up in reading books one through five. You have been warned. ;)
What most surprised me while reading My Soul to Take was the anger I felt at Kaylee's treatment. I remember it bothering me at the time, but not to the extent I felt this time around. It just made me absolutely furious at her family for putting her through the horrors of the mental institution when they knew good and well she wasn't even the slightest bit crazy. I'm rather shocked at how quick she was to forgive them. The aunt and uncle earned a good deal of my fury for their actions and for enabling Kaylee's father to shirk his responsibilities. In my opinion he gave up his right to decide when she should be told about her heritage when he left her. I don't care if he thought he was protecting her. He wasn't. In all reality he was just trying to escape the pain of losing his wife. I bet Kaylee's mother has been "rolling over in her grave" in fury at his abandonment.
Perhaps my annoyance at Sophie wouldn't have been quite so high if I hadn't just read her novella, Never to Sleep. But I found myself wanting to strangle the selfish wench. When I originally read the book, I found her to be a spoiled annoyance, but in the grand scheme of figuring things out, she kinda fell to the background. This time, now that I knew what was happening, it wasn't so easy to ignore her. Right now I'm living with the hope that she will get knocked down a few pegs. (or a lot of pegs, it's all good).
Now, onto the romance. So many more things jumped out at me this time. When I first read My Soul to Steal, I was wrapped up in the mysterious sexiness that was Nash, and Tod was just a guy. Now however my rose tinted glasses have been thoroughly destroyed and I really couldn't stand him this time around. Even if I tried to "forget" all of the terrible things Nash does in the following books, I still couldn't get into the relationship between them this time around. Everything just felt fake and forced. He's known her for so long, but it isn't until he realizes that she is a bean sidhe that he is all of a sudden obsessed with her. It just really lessened the romance for me, because it felt like she could have been anyone else, as long as she was one of his kind. I understand that there might be an innate draw between them due to being the same, but that doesn't make it romantic. I wanted her to want her for who she was, not what.
Now onto Tod. Oh how could I have ever looked at him like he was just a sidekick and not the absolute yumminess that he is? I couldn't help but smile when Harmony told Kaylee to watch out for bean sidhe brothers. Turns up she was right. So, again I found myself really disgusted with Nash as his behavior towards Tod is despicable. Knowing now that it was Nash who was actually supposed to die, I just want to strangle the boy. His behavior and treatment of Tod is completely inexcusable. I realize Nash doesn't have this information, but that doesn't really make it any better. Nash just seems whiny and spoiled, and overall, unworthy. There I said it, He is UNWORTHY!
So, now that I have the rants out of my system, I still have to say that I enjoyed My Soul to Take just as much the second time around. It was really fun to see where everything began with all the new knowledge as "power." I saw so much more this time, and it was quite entertaining, even if I was furious for most of the book. That isn't a bad thing, as the book had to be fantastic in order for me to be so emotionally attached. I'm looking forward to next month's installment, My Soul to Save. I wonder what else I will catch this time around that I didn't the first.
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My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers Book 1)
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