My Soul to Take

Kaylee Cavanaugh has a problem - sometimes she just can't stop screaming. She's already been hospitalized for it once, and (understandably) she never wants to experience that humiliation again. Why does she scream, you ask? Because she is utterly convinced that somebody near her is going to die really, really soon... And it was way easier to convince herself that none of it was real BEFORE a girl she screamed about actually dropped dead. So she's not crazy - she can predict death. Maybe she'd rather be crazy, especially when girls start dropping like flies... Pros: I liked Kaylee a lot and sympathized deeply with her predicament - when you're a teenager, life is hard enough already without the added strain of being more than human. All things considered, I thought she handled things admirably, and she came across as a smart, strong young woman. The author maintains a nice balance with her: she's not too perfect, but she's far from average. I also liked Kaylee's love interest, Nash - and how interesting and refreshing to see a supernatural YA novel where the girl is the one who's inherently more powerful! Not to mention that it's nice to see a novel centered around certain beings from mythology that have NOT been used in a million novels already. (I don't want to spoiler you! Kudos to you if you've figured it out already!) Come to think of it - Kaylee's gift is one that seems more like a curse than a gift, at least at first, and that's also something I've seen rarely. The supporting characters are very convincing and ring true: from her bitchy, spoiled cousin to her loyal, (over-)confident friend. My favourite is Tod, the not-so-grim reaper, though. (And to be honest, I giggled a couple of times about the fact that his name means "Death" in german - how fitting!) Learning how bureaucratic the after-life is was definitely a "huh" moment... The "villain" behind it all caught me completely by surprise - looking back, I can clearly see the hints, but I thought they meant something else all along... I like it when a book does that! It's nice that there's a real mystery at the core of the story, not just something to help along the romance! Contras: Despite the original ideas and the unusual mythological beings the novel brings to the table, it doesn't have a lot of depth - but to be honest, I don't necessarily expect that from a supernatural romance, YA or not. ;) Kaylee and Nash fall in love very quickly. But maybe that's understandable, being what they both are. It must be a relief to be with somebody who can truly understand you and support you. And in my opinion, Nash more than makes up for this by NOT being a clingy, controlling stalker...;) An aside: I've seen this book compared to Twilight a number of times - some people think they are similar, some people think they are completely different... Personally, I'm one of those who think that Soul Screamers bears little resemblance to Twilight, other than the fact that it's centered around supernatural beings and written for teenagers and young adults. In my opinion, that neither speaks for nor against this novel - read it without expectations and see if you like it for what it is! ;) Summary: All in all, I really enjoyed this novel and I already bought the rest of the series. You will probably like this if you like: * (supernatural) YA romance * a modern, unusual take on mythology * a fun, easy read (without much depth)