My Soul to Save (Soul Screamers, #2) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Sep 07, 2009 The Flooze rated it liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy-paranormal, owned, vanquished_2010, ya_teen

For some reason this book makes me feel old. Old as dirt, like no other YA has thus far.

Kaylee once again inserts herself in a dangerous situation because of her highly attuned morality and sense of duty. She can't resist helping others. She's a mixture of naivete and hope, blindly blundering through obstacles.

But she has to finegle around being grounded to achieve her goals. Has to find a way to work around both her car keys and her mobile phone being taken away. And she has to remain focused For some reason this book makes me feel old. Old as dirt, like no other YA has thus far.

Kaylee once again inserts herself in a dangerous situation because of her highly attuned morality and sense of duty. She can't resist helping others. She's a mixture of naivete and hope, blindly blundering through obstacles.

But she has to finegle around being grounded to achieve her goals. Has to find a way to work around both her car keys and her mobile phone being taken away. And she has to remain focused despite the lusty pull of her older jock boyfriend.

Perhaps my feeling old is just a testament to how well Vincent describes the teen girl pathos. For me, being well past that stage, the full immersion was a little much. Especially one scene depicting Kay's friend Emma behind the wheel. A horrible, yet accurate, representation of how distractedly and haphazardly some teens drive. It was painful to read from the adult perspective!

Nash, the delicious love interest, doesn't gain much depth here. He's mostly present as the futile voice of contention and reason. He doesn't do much more than growl in either anger or lust, though he does deliver a nice little smack-down of a speech to a hysterical pop princess.

Although I would describe Kaylee as a sensible sort of girl, she's a little too willing to drag herself into circumstances she can't entirely comprehend. I keep wanting her to ask for help, since she's so obviously in over her head and lacking in knowledge.

Yet for all her ignorance about the Netherworld and the business of souls, she seems to always know the answers and always asks the right questions. Why does she understand this world of death more than the reaper Tod? It doesn't sit well with me. I can't figure out what makes her so special.

The most intriguing aspects of the book deal with the Netherworld. We get to visit that alien landscape and the misshapen creatures residing there. We also meet two more reapers--they are probably the most fascinating characters of the piece. Were Vincent to write a novel dealing solely with these death-dealers, I think I'd be enthralled.

Overall, I like Kaylee, but her do-gooder attitude frustrates me. I plan to read the next because the glimpse into that hazy grey Netherworld promises more surprises. I want to know more about the unhappy reaper, Tod, and his boss Levi. And I get the feeling that Nash is not all he's cracked up to be. But Kaylee...I don't really care what happens to Kaylee, and that's the real problem.
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Aug 13, 2009 Steph rated it it was amazing

Shelves: series-completed, year-read-2010, author-웃, series-ended, age-group-ya-na

My Soul to Save starts off with Kaylee and her boyfriend, Nash, attending a rock concert. Tod was able to get them great seats because he used to date the singer, Addy.

I don't want to give anything away, that's part of the fun of reading this series ... you never know what to expect. I was happy to see Kaylee and Nash together, to get more info on Tod (such an interesting character) and of course the forever excepting and understanding best friend, Emma. (RE: Tod, Reaper - Wouldn't it be awesom ...more

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Dec 07, 2009 Literary Ames rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2010, death-reapers-zombies, do-not-own, fae

Let's start positive. I loved the Netherworld with it's distorted space and time in relation to the human world it's tethered to. The scary things like the literal "blades of grass" and the fiends were inventive. The evil soul-stealing Dekker Media reminded me of Disney with the insane amount of control they have over their stars. Seeing more of Tod and his life before his death was a real bonus, his character really interested me in the first book.

I disliked Kaylee's goody-goody act. Over and ...more

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