It was supposed to be a fun day, shopping at the mall with her best friend. Then the panic attack started and Kaylee Cavanaugh finds herself screaming, unable to stop. Her secret fears are exposed and it's the worst day of her life.
Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit.
She tries to convince everyone she's fine--despite the shadows she sees forming around another patient and the urge to scream which comes burbling up again and again. Everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, that is. Another patient with some special abilities....
"An eBook exclusive prequel to Rachel Vincent's SOUL SCREAMERS series."
***
Okay, this book is really weird. Not the bad kind of weird, of course. Being the bestselling series means the writing skills of the author is good enough. But not the very awesome kind of weird either. I mean, okay. Screaming and somebody dies is kind of new to me (Hate to admit I'm kind of outdated). I know this book was released in 2009. But there are two reasons I haven't read until now. 1) I'm too busy at reading something else and 2) I have doubts about this series. Turns out I regret not reading this series SOONER.
It's really good for a prequel novella. The set up is perfect. Very original. I mean, screaming is the whole point of this series. How can you find other series that is about souls AND screaming? I believed that this series will not disappoint me (and I'm right after reading My Soul To Take).
The characters are a little weird. But no big deal. Kaylee is just a typical girl (at least, as typical as she can manage) in the novella. But the screaming thing really got me there. I have a feeling that I will like her sooner or later (I still don't have any good or bad feelings towards her even though I finished My Soul To Take).
The best part (or the most intense part) of the novella is probably the screaming. I mean, you might think describing somebody screaming isn't that hard (And I thought that, too). But describing a screaming in a intense, even unearthly way? Not so easy. I realized this at that moment. And I also see how well the author can manage this. No wonder Soul Screamers is a bestselling series. Thumbs up for the author.
Rating: 7.5/10
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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.
***
This book starts with Kaylee bumping into Nash and discovering a girl who is about to die. This is just wow. I mean, who would've thought about starting a book like that? Even though I read the prequel novella and knew something about Kaylee, her freaking out in front of Nash (right at the start of the book!) is the last thing I imagined. The author really got my attention right there. Not many authors can do that, which means this is a thing to be appreciated.
Kaylee and Nash... well, I have to say I'm a little surprised that Nash is so bold when the book starts. Yeah, I've seen no reason for Nash to push Kaylee away or anything bad behavior towards her. But in chapter 3 or 4, he CONFESS that he likes her. Yeah, I know this book is relatively short (considering how long City of Bones is). But you know what? I don't think their relationship will happen so freaking fast. Very original, maybe because I've been getting used to those pushing away and bad behaviors from hot boys.
Emma is my favorite character in this book. Not because she has any supernatural powers or extra helpful to Kaylee or any other characters. But she seems to take the whole Kaylee-screaming-and-somebody-dies thing really well. I mean, being caught up in some supernatural thing that she doesn't quite understand isn't something anyone can handle well. And surprisingly, she doesn't freak out that much in the book. She IS calm. Point one for her.
And here's Tod. The reaper. Or the bean sidhe- reaper. I know he is Tod HUDSON before I read the book. But being a bean sidhe AND a reaper at the same time? Not so predictable. I mean, they are somehow enemies, right? And bean sidhes' abilities kind of go against reapers' abilities. How Tod can be both is beyond me. And yeah, I have no idea why he treats Kaylee so good when he seems like he hates Nash in the guts (Not to mention Kaylee is the same as Nash. Well, kind of, at least).
The supernatural being in the series is bean sidhe and reapers so far. Okay, reapers are not really the newest thing to me considering I read Undeadly before even though the whole reaper thing in Undeadly isn't quite the same as in Soul Screamers. But bean sidhes? That's totally new to me. I have no idea how the author can come up with such awesome idea. There are all kinds of creatures out in legends. And she chooses the right one. I'm so gonna read the sequel of My Soul To Take.
Rating: 8/10
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Extra: (You can ignore this if you want to)
I mentioned in the review of My Soul To Lose that I had doubts about the book before I read it. And then I read it and the doubt vanished. Will I do the same to Vampire Academy and Bloodlines? (Because I seriously doubt the awesomeness of VA and Bloodlines)
Maybe, I can only say. Because they are so popular and I'm constantly tempted by my fellas to read the series. But I have two problems here (not just my doubt). One is the whole vampire thing. I mean, House of Night kind of ruined the taste of a vampire school. And somehow Vampire Academy sounds like House of Night. Two is the summary of Frostbite. You heard me right. I mean, look at this:
Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose... --- synopsis of Frostbite
Just looking at it gives me a headache. And I'm still not ready for a love triangle or even a love box.
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