Book Review: My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

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. - Visit My Soul to Take's Goodreads page.


Having read Rachel Vincent’s previous adult series, I was excited about starting this one, if a little nervous. Would this new young adult series be up to par with her previous adult one? The answer is simply, no. It actually goes above and beyond. I’m seriously impressed. 



My Soul to Take is about a girl named Kaylee, who lives with her fitness freak aunt, her young uncle and her horrid cousin. Ever since she was younger, she’s had a strange “ability”. She can tell when someone close to her is going to die. And as long as she’s near them, she has the unbearable urge to scream. 

At first, I thought this was kind of a strange topic. A story about a girl screaming? Okay, then... But after having read the book, and discovered that it’s not just about a girl screaming every time someone dies, I actually regret being so pessimistic! 

I love Kaylee, she’s such a fun main character to read about. She’s not the most popular student, and she gets picked on by her cousin, but she stands her ground and she comes out with some really witty lines. She’s also a bit of a worrier, which is probably a trait that she picked up from her aunt. I shouldn’t laugh at this, but it’s actually quite hilarious. 

There's not much to say about Nash, the love interest, other than I liked him. And I liked the mysterious air that was around him. He’s actually rather adorable. Other than that, there wasn't much development going on with him. Although I'm sure there will be in the next books in the series!

The romance part doesn’t take over the plot, which is great, yet it’s still there and still important enough to be included. Kaylee and Nash do meet and develop feelings for each other quite fast, and what seems like quite randomly. However, this is actually explained which is quite uncommon in young adult literature nowadays. I loved this. I loved having a reason behind the attraction, instead of the two main characters falling in love just because the author wants it that way. 



The thing that most impressed me with this book was Rachel Vincent’s ability to write such amazing YA. The transition she has made from writing adult books to writing YA is simply amazing. I actually think she’s more suited to writing young adult books than to writing adult! She’s brilliant at it. The story really captures you, and there’s no slow moment. 


And to top all this off, the UK cover is amazing. I think there’s something strangely beautiful about it. It’s much nicer than the US covers, in my opinion. What do you think?

Rating: 4/5

Amazon US | Book Depository

Soul Screamers #1

UK Paperback, 368 pages

Published on January 1, 2011 by Mira Books