Released: 12/29/09
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0373210046

The follow up to My Soul to Take, let me feeling a little eh. Kaylee finally knows what she is, she expects that when someone is close to death she's gonna scream her head off, except when teen pop sensation Eden falls over dead right in front of her and not a single screech escapes her lips something is wrong.

Enter in Addison, former girlfriend of Tod, who is about to experience the same fate, if Kaylee can't stop it. The premise of the story was wonderful. The plotting superb. The visuals, especially those of the Netherworld were excellent, and very creepy.

What was lacking was feeling, it didn't evoke enough in me. Tod's character in the first novel, was very snarky, and entertaining, likable though he acted like he didn't care, which he had none of this time around. And Addison, I didn't care for her plight at all. She was shallow, and she got what she deserved, no need to try to save her, under the pretense that she was really a good person who was just trying to help out her family. I just didn't feel it.

On the other hand, Kaylee and Nash's relationship felt less rushed. There's still plenty of work to be done here, and not just exploring the differences in their social standings. Kaylee was a little over the top in her displays of teenage rebellion, that were suppose to bridge the gap between normalcy and supernatural. Nash seemed little more than her lap dog, his protests feeble and easily set aside. The characters seemed a little flat, they've lost their spark, which I hope is regained in the next one.

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Released: 08/01/09 384 pages

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 978-0373210039

The first full novel in Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers is a fun ride, with plenty of twists and turns that leave the reader wanting more.

This time we find Kaylee, again with Emma, sneaking into a dance club. She's enjoying herself, somehow managed to snag a hottie jock from school, Nash, and everything is going really well, right up until the point she begins to have a panic attack. She's trying not to scream her head off, trying not to embarrass herself, as Nash instills her with comfort, driving away the need to scream, to announce the impeding death of a stranger. There's an attraction to him, a desire to confess her soul and her fears, even when she'd never even done so with her best friend, Emma.

But Kaylee is different, and as her death premonitions are confirmed, and fellow students begin to drop around her, she delves into a world she never knew existed, to stop more deaths, with Nash at her side. He has more answers, and unlike her uncle, he's willing to give them to her.

Rachel Vincent always surprises me with how tight her plotting is, and this one was wonderful. The twists along the way were delightful, and the characters well fleshed out. Kaylee's reaction were very much those of a teenager, her emotions running a true gauntlet of fear and excitement over the unknown and untried.

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As if writing weren't hard enough already, my muse is being difficult today. Even moreso than usual. She's testy, and demanding, and so inconsistant today that I'm ready to scream. She's envisioning so many different scenes that my fingers are having difficulty keeping up.

When I was originally bombarded by her, I tried to push her from my mind, tried to keep my distance, but she flooded my head with thoughts of the perfect story, and lulled me into submission. The beginning and the end were layed out, and only the events leading were left to fill in. And fill them in we did. She took me by the hand gently showed me the way. And I wrote, but the characters made decisions that led them onto paths they were never suppose to tread upon. Secondary characters became main characters seducing me into giving them more page time. And main characters pouted, refusing to tell their story. Ultimately I lost control of the little world I created, and that was just the first book. But she wasn't angry.

She wanted more, and faster. And I struggled to keep up. Now, every time I think that book two is flowing nicely, all the pieces are falling into place, the muse steps in and rips it all apart. Will she never be satisfied and just let me tell the story instead of taunting me with the next one?

And I'd say the heck with this one, lets just start on the next one, but she firmly shakes her head, and says "No, you will finish this or I'll not come back!"

I tell myself that I should let her leave, maybe this whole writing thing isn't for me, but I have to know what comes next, and the only way to do that is to calmly sit at her feet and do as she says. Even when I want to run screaming for the hills. So sit I do, and wait for the whispered story. Maybe she'll let me finally finish this story, maybe she won't change everything I already have written, or maybe tomorrow's the day she'll start to behave. I can't go any faster, and she refuses to go any slower. But we do what we must, and I must finish.

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Released: 7/1/09
Publisher: Harlequin teen
Format: E book
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3867-5

The first short story to Rachel Vincent's new soul screamer's series, and I'm really excited.
Something is wrong with Kaylee, when someone is about to die she can't stop herself from screaming literally. Kaylee is suppose to be shopping with her friend Emma, enjoying herself, when Kaylee begins to scream, and she can't stop screaming though she desperately wishes to.
And it would be the worst day of her life, until she wakes up in a psychiatric ward. She knows she doesn't belong there, but they won't let her out until she gets "better." Everyone thinks she's crazy, except the quiet girl who has a special ability of her own.
This prequel does little more than give a glimpse of Kaylee and her world. Just as with Ms. Vincent's Shifters series the writing is phenomenal, but the character is more likable. She reminds me more of Kacy than she does of Faythe. She's a little headstrong, she wants to help others, and she's a little naive. The best thing of all is that its being offered for free on Ms. Vincent's website, so there's nothing stopping you from trying it out. http://rachelvincent.com/MSTL.html

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Released 7/1/09 624 pages
Publisher: MIra
Format: Paperback
ISBN:978-0778329138

Grab your tissues, because this is one hell of a ride, that will leave you in tears, until Faythe opens up her mouth again. Book four of Rachel Vincent's shifter series packs quite the emotional punch.

Faythe has problems, surpise surprise, right? Well these ones aren't of her making. She has a teenage tabby whose afraid of shifting because she ate a bunch of people the last time she did, her father's empire is crumbling around his feet, her exiled lover Marc's missing, and she falls into bed with another man. Okay, that last is her fault, and I wouldn't really care, except that it puts that old lopsided triangle back into play with the outcome so grossly obvious its almost pointless and frustrating.

But, of course the most important thing on planet Faythe, after Faythe proving she's a badass, is Marc is missing, but she's determined to find him even though everyone else is preparing for the worst.

After the shocking death, and obvious big brother scheme, this book falls into line with the rest of them. Tabby's are valuable, Faythe can kick some butt, and Marc is her world even though she won't admit it, nor will she ever truly make him happy because that would mean she has to bend, and she can't quite do that.

The action and pace of this book are fantastic, but the bad guys are too cartoonish. No one is able to stand up to Faythe or outsmart her, and they all completely lose it when she questions their manhood. If she is the brightest in the group them I'm surprised they haven't gone the way of the wolves into extinction.

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Released: 5/26/09 240 pages
Publisher: Harper Collins
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0061718165

The wit and depth that Kim Harrison has brought to her Hollows series is superb, however a young adult series.... I have my reserves. The short story that introduced us to Madison and her death, was good and showed plenty of promise, but was it enough to kick off an entire book? An entire series?

Ye of little faith. This is Kim Harrison we're talking about, and if there was any doubt, with a few strokes of her mighty pen she demolished all my fears.

Madison is equal parts determined, and scared. She's willing to risk herself to protect someone else, all while trying to be a regular teenager. Well, almost regular since Madison is anything but normal. She's dead.

Reapers, Grim and otherwise, Guardian Angels, Seraphs, and Time Keepers all come to play in this fun romp where the lines between good and evil are blurred. Madison just wants her body and life back, but she may get more than she bargained for.

This book is about as perfect as first books can be. There's realism in the characters, you actually care what happens to them. The struggles are not so far fetched even blanketed in fantasy. It's a great read.

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Released: April 1, 2007
Publisher: Harper Collins
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0061253096

One of five short stories in the collection, introduces us to Madison Avery. It's Prom and she's just figured out that she's been set up by her dad, her date is only there as a favor. So what's a girl to do, but leave with a handsome stranger of course.

But this stranger has a secret and a job, he's a reaper and Madison is his mark. In a clash between dark and light reapers Madison may have escaped with her life, but not her body.

The story is fairly quick paced, with a likable protagonist bumbling from one mistake to another. The entire Reaper would is very complex, with its light and dark, timekeepers, and amulets. The writing is not as clean as what's come to be expected from Kim Harrison, but it's a good glimpse into the world she's about to immerse the reader in, in the upcoming Once dead, twice shy.

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