Review: My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent

My Soul to Keep (Soul Screamers, 3) by Rachel Vincent
Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Harlequin (June 1, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0373210053
296 pages

Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.
Until something does.

Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind. The kind that really can kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends—one of whom is already hooked.

And so is someone else…

In an effort to keep this spoiler free, I'll make this short: My Soul to Keep is better than the previous installment in Vincent's Soul Screamers series. In fact, it reminds me why I like Vincent's writing in general and this series in particular.

Ok, maybe not that short.

Seriously though, after reading the last book, My Soul to Save, I thought the series had hit a premature slump. Although there was suspense, action and a well-crafted climax, I didn't feel that Kaylee was invested enough in the goings on and, therefore, neither was I. Unlike the first book, the stakes were high but not for Kaylee. Instead, it seemed like the people with the most to lose were secondary characters - several of whom Kaylee barely knew. One of the reasons that I like reading Vincent's books is because she's not afraid to blindside her characters and drastically change their lives. There wasn't enough of that in book two so I was unsure of what to expect this time around. Vincent comes through, however. Not only does Kaylee go through some stuff this time around, but she goes through it in a major way.

MSTK begins very similarly to the last book in that Kaylee and friends are crusading for the well-being of others. It takes a while for the Kaylee's stakes to become clear, making the novel get off a to a slow start. The coming changes are hinted at throughout the novel but nothing is clear until the end. If you're like me, you may guess some of it before all is revealed, but that won't detract from overall devastation that Kaylee, and readers, feel in the end. The genius behind it all though, is how Vincent put everything into play. Seemingly inconsequential and forgotten events that took place in the previous novel are the catalyst for all of the drama in MSTK, making everything all the more affecting. Some might call the end of this book a cliffhanger of sorts but it's not. Yes, it ends on a dramatic note, but there's no sense of things being left unresolved. Kaylee definitely makes a major decision here.

Once again, we get to see everything Kaylee knows get turned on its head. It's only been a short time since her monumental introduction to life as a bean sidhe and now, as she's just beginning to come to grips with it all, she's faced with more to seriousness to handle. If you're new to the series, you definitely will want to start at the beginning to avoid being lost. Readers that have followed the series thus far, you won't be disappointed with this one.

Grade: A-/B+

Review of book one, My Soul to Take
Review of book two, My Soul to Save

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