Review: Before I Wake, by Rachel Vincent + 2 GIVEAWAYS (INT)

I was so excited for this book! I was glad that I didn’t read If I Die before late May, so I only had to wait for about a month… Also, I won a signed copy of If I Die in the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge hosted by Fiktshun (yay!), so I am GIVING AWAY my unsigned copy (perfect condition, no bends/broken spine) AS WELL as a copy of Before I Wake to two lucky winners! So if you haven’t read If I Die, this is your chance to win it and catch up with the series :) You might want to skip my review for BIW though…

Check the bottom of this post for more information on the giveaways.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR IF I DIE

goodreads

Published June 26, 2012 by Harlequin Teen

Paperback, 339 pages

Blurb from goodreads:

I died on a Thursday-killed by a monster intent on stealing my soul. The good news? He didn't get it. The bad news? Turns out not even death will get you out of high school...

Covering up her own murder was one thing, but faking life is much harder than Kaylee Cavanaugh expected. After weeks spent "recovering," she's back in school, fighting to stay visible to the human world, struggling to fit in with her friends and planning time alone with her new reaper boyfriend.

But to earn her keep in the human world, Kaylee must reclaim stolen souls, and when her first assignment brings her face-to-face with an old foe, she knows the game has changed. Her immortal status won't keep her safe. And this time Kaylee isn't just gambling with her own life...

Review (no spoilers for BIW):

The ending of If I Die marked a turning point in this series. What would happen after Kaylee’s death and reanimation was anyone’s guess, but saving souls from being stolen and sold on the hellion blackmarket definitely sounded like her kind of job. However, it was also clear that experiencing and remembering her own murder, killing her math teacher (no matter how evil he was), and the Afterlife would change her and her relationships with her friends, family, and boyfriend.

Kaylee feels very disconnected from everyone around her, especially late at night when no one else is up. Everyday life and school seem pointless when she will never age, never graduate, never go to college or have kids. She also has trouble to stay visible and corporeal – especially at school. The circumstances of what to the rest of the world was her almost-death are mysterious enough to attract a lot of media attention as well as unwanted gawking and questioning by her fellow students. Her new popularity is awful to her and makes her want to disappear – which makes it hard for her not to do just that…

In addition to that, Thane the rogue reaper is back and stealing souls once more – and Kaylee now has the job to stop him by reclaiming them with the help of Luca the Necromancer (and Sophie’s new boyfriend). Of course, Thane in the real world means Avari is back at his scheming… and the consequences for humanity should he succeed are worse than ever before. Talk about raising the stakes. You thought possessing Kaylee’s friends was bad? You have no idea…

Then there is, of course, the Tod-Kaylee-Nash-Sabine love-knot. And it is still… knotty. Nash is still furious about Kaylee framing him for murder. However, Tod and Kaylee’s relationship is absolutely beautiful. I love how they interact with one another, and I promise you scenes that will make you fan yourself with your bookmark and dry your eyes with your sleeves.

The plot in this installment of the series unravels wonderfully and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s very very hard to put down. Also, I would not have thought it was possible to cram so much plot and drama and heartbreak into the last two dozen or so pages. Kaylee’s trials in If I Die could never have prepared her for this, and I cannot wait to see how it all turns out in With All My Soul, the last novel in the series. I thought that If I Die was hard to top, but Rachel Vincent definitely did it with Before I Wake!

Personal thoughts (SPOILERS AHEAD):

*sigh* Kaylee and Tod… seriously one of my favorite couples ever. And all that without being mushy-gushy super-sweet! Because that kind of stuff makes me gag… but here it’s just sincere. It’s realistic. It’s bloody, and desperate, and tender, and perfect. Not to mention hot. I loved all the scenes of them together. Tod finds the perfect words. And I love the snark of course (also Sabine’s).

I was really worried about Kaylee at the beginning because her state of mind read like depression. I don’t know what I expected and it actually makes sense the way it is in the book, but I was unprepared for the effect that the afterlife and facing eternity would have on her. Just because she didn’t die (well, not for very long) her problems are not solved all of a sudden. She still has her soul. Avari still wants it. And he knows just how to make her suffer…

I expected Avari-problems, but I never thought he’d find a way to actually cross over and wear the skin of the people Kaylee lost (people she thinks she failed) in a mockery of resurrection. I never expected Avari to make Kaylee ‘kill’ him/them over and over and over with her hellion-forged dagger. It was nauseating. The thought that someone could just pick one of your friends, kill them, then wear them like a suit…

And then Alec… oh god. I actually thought something was off. But there was no way Kaylee could have known. Still – she was the one who killed him, and I don’t know how she will ever deal with that… on another note, I really liked Avari’s speech about what he has planned for Kaylee. It was beautifully written, and I wouldn’t have expected such almost poetic thoughts from a hellion.

While I had an inkling about Alec, I was completely caught by surprise when it comes to Emma. When she died, I just… it was too awful. I was so glad that she now lives on in Lydia, but I can’t imagine that she’ll be thrilled about having a different body, and having to share it (from what I understood anyway). Did Lydia’s siphon abilities survive and transfer to Emma?

Also, there are still the unresolved plot strands about Emma’s sister who is pregnant with Beck’s baby. That is sure to come up again. In addition, I am still wondering why Kaylee’s mother’s lifespan ended after only 13 years. Why did Thane pick Kaylee in the first place all those years ago? I would love to know more about the older banshee generation…

Time to bring my rambling thoughts to a close. I absolutely loved Before I Wake! It had me guessing, and hurting, and scheming, and laughing, and missing tram stops while I was reading. I cannot wait to read With All My Soul to see how the larger, overall arc of this series turns out! I really have no idea how it could end, how to bring closure to it. But I’m sure Rachel Vincent has it all figured out ;)

Have you read BIW? What were your reactions? Comments make me happy :)

Now on to the giveaways!

Rules:

• Giveaway ends on July 16, 12:01 a.m. (EST)
• One entry per person. I will check the IP addresses and multiple entries will be deleted.
• You must be 13 or older.
• Since I am just starting out as a blogger, I require you to follow me in some way. I might make this optional in later giveaways.
• The BIW giveaway is INTERNATIONAL as long as The Book Depository ships to you.
• The IID giveaway is restricted to Europe, the US and Canada because I will have to ship this copy myself.
• I will contact the winners by email. If they do not respond within 48 hours, I will pick a new winner.

Good luck, and feel free to spread the word! If something doesn’t work or you have questions, tell me in the comments. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Never To Sleep, by Rachel Vincent

This was my last post (originally published on my tumblr for lack of a blog) for the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge hosted by Fiktshun. I’m sad it’s over :( It was a great way to feel part of a community of people all reading the same books. I also regret not getting around to posting reviews of all the books and novellas / short stories.

goodreads. amazon.

Goodreads description:

Don't Close Your Eyes.

Sophie Cavanaugh is not going to let her freak of a cousin's strange psychiatric condition ruin high school for them both. Not after all the work she's put into cultivating the right look, and friends, and reputation. But then, Sophie sees something so frightening she lets out a blood-curdling scream—and finds herself stuck in a bizarre parallel world where nothing is safe and deadly creatures lurk just out of sight, waiting for her to close her eyes and sleep...forever.

Could this world be real? Or does insanity run in the family...?

Review:

CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR IF I DIE

It was strange being inside Sophie’s mind and seeing Kaylee and everything that’s going on from her perspective. I don’t like her any more than I did before (I still think she’s a spoilt egocentric brat) but I understand her better. Her boyfriend is at the psych ward, her Mum is dead, and she knows there are things concerning her death, and just in general, that everyone else in her family seems to know about but no one is telling her. Blaming Kaylee for everything just gives her a target for her fears and frustration.

The novella also made me realize that Sophie has her own kind of strength. It takes a lot of effort to stay part of the in-crowd – loads of planning, loads of elbow action. She does not hesitate to go after what she wants, be it a certain position, a pair of shoes, or a boy.

But HOW does Sophie travel to the Netherworld?! She was supposed to be all human! And she had no intent to cross – she just, well, screamed. Banshee style. Which landed her and Luca, the not-quite-human (not that she knows) guy she just met and herself in the Netherworld – a place which will force her to re-evaluate both Kaylee’s sanity and her own.

When she meets everyone’s favorite hellion and is separated from her newfound crush, she needs to toughen up an face her fears if she ever wants to get back home…

This novella was as great as the rest of the series and helped setting the stage for what’s to come in Before I Wake. Apart from Sophie’s added perspective, her Netherworld trip will also make it much more difficult to keep herself, and impossible to keep her out of the loop. What are Avari’s plans for the Cavanaugh cousins? How do all the other part-human part-Netherworld species fit into the mix? There’s more of them in every installment of the series! Who is Luca anyway, and why did he come to that school? I don’t believe in coincidences…

Great read. Interesting developments for the reader, even though or maybe because Sophie is only aware of about half of what’s going on. I’m glad that BIW comes out in less than two weeks!

Review: If I Die, by Rachel Vincent

Another post which was part of the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge hosted by Fiktshun.

Sigh. I finished this one about three weeks before I wrote this post back in June and I wish I had posted the review when it was still fresher on my mind… though it still very much is. But this is a difficult book to review, because it’s almost impossible to say anything interesting and engaging about it without MAJOR spoilers. So my review will be short and I’ll talk more about my thoughts and feelings.

From the back of the book:

goodreads

The entire school’s talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee’s no ordinary high-school junior. She’s a banshee – she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee

Yeah – it’s a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee’s going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend’s needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck… before he discovers they aren’t quite human, either.

But Kaylee’s borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.

Review:

This book is heartbreaking – and it changes EVERYTHING. Seriously, this one’s an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. I wanted to read it all in one go, but alas, there are things like work and university classes…

There’s no rest for Kaylee and her friends. After quite a few of her teachers died, their posts are being filled – and one of the teachers is inhumanly attractive. An incubus. Not just that, but an incubus who would do anything to procreate… even if it means impregnating teenage girls.

But Kaylee has her own problems. The situation with Nash is still not quite sorted out when a new – and quite final – problem arises. Kaylee’s lifespan, borrowed from her mother, is running out in a few days. And it isn’t possible to make the trade for someone else’s life a second time. This time, she really will die. Even if her father would be ready to sacrifice himself for her.

If you are going to die in six days, what do you do? How far do you go, and with whom? Is forgiving your boyfriend only because you are going to die anyway a good idea? Do morally right and wrong choices even still matter in this situation? Is there any way at all Kaylee’s life can be saved? Can Kaylee find a way to stop her incubus math teacher and save her best friend before she dies?

As if all that weren’t enough, Kaylee also has her assigned reaper breathing down her neck and taunting her because he has a personal interest in her death.

And then there is Tod… and his name must put an end to the spoiler-free review.

BEYOND THIS LINE LIES SPOILERY GOODNESS

Review: My Soul To Steal, by Rachel Vincent

This post, like the one for My Soul To Keep, was part of the Soul Screams Reading Challenge hosted by Rachel on fiktshun. I am reposting all my reviews from the channel here before I review Before I Wake, the latest intallment of the series.

I really have a lot to say about My Soul To Steal, so the following will be kind of a mixture between a review and my personal thoughts and might contain slight spoilers.

goodreads

Blurb from the back of the book:

Trying to work things out with Nash – her maybe boyfriend – is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can’t just pretend nothing happened. But “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn’t just an ordinary girl. She’s a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people’s fears – and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.

And Sabine isn’t above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever – and whoever she wants.

Review:

Wow. This series keeps getting better with every book! MSTS continues two weeks after MSTK ended. Nash returns to school after the suffering through withdrawal to get clear of Demon’s breath, but he is still struggling and suffering. Kaylee is suffering too – her heart wants him back, but her head knows it would be unwise to do it. After all he did (lie to her, let a hellion possess her body in her sleep without telling her about it, the list continues) she just cannot trust him as she used to. It’s hard to determine to what extent his behavior was altered by the drug and which parts of it were hidden traits in his character that just came to the front when he was in a low spot.

However, the question whether or not she can let go of Nash becomes more urgent when his ex and first great love, Sabine, suddenly shows up at their school and wants to pick up right where they left off about two years ago. Sabine is everything Kaylee is not: confident, openly sexy, experienced, devious, with a strong dark streak not unsimilar to Nash’s own. No wonder Kaylee is worried – Sabine makes absolutely no secret of her intentions. And, again, Nash is very reluctant to tell her the truth: Sabine is not human but a mara, a species that reads people’s fears, weaves them into nightmares, and feeds from those while sitting on her victim’s chest in astral form. I loved the ‘sitting on the victim’s chest’ part – it reminds me of one of my favorite paintings by Henry Fuseli – Der Nachtmahr. See that goblin sitting on her, literally possessing her? (possedere (Latin) = literally to sit on, to possess, to own)

Sabine is visiting Kaylee in her sleep and playing on her worst insecurities, she spends lots of time with Nash, and she is more than ready to fill the position Kaylee (sort of) vacated. Basically, as a reader, she gives you every reason to hate her. And I did, sometimes. However, I had also ‘met’ her before I read this book, in a short story called ‘Fearless’ that appeared in the ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ anthology edited by Trisha Telep. Knowing Sabine’s past somewhat made me like her more. While she might be a pest for Kaylee, she is also a very strong female character. She doesn’t take shit from anyone, and she’s been through a lot. Behind the tough façade, she is also insecure and very alone – she does not really have anyone apart from Nash, and they technically never broke up before she had to go to a halfway house and Nash and his mum left after Tod’s death. Bottom line: lots of antagonism and anxiety going on.

Alongside all that teenage drama, there’s another problem: teachers have been dying while taking a nap at school. And since Sabine feeds from fear, isn’t it an understandable conclusion on Kaylee’s part that she’s the one scaring them to death while she feeds? Not quite it, though. Kaylee has to accept that she’s more jealous and biased than she would like, for the problem is, once more, Avari. The hellion has not given up on his designs for her, and he has gotten himself some powerful Netherworld back-up. Now Kaylee has to fear being possessed in her sleep – again – apart from just getting nightmare visits from Sabine. Also her dad and Alec come into the firing line again, as well as Emma. Apparently, the Netherworld-version of their school has become a new assembly ground for powerful hellions, and they have plans for both Kaylee and Sabine…

Okay, time to wrap it up: I love both Kaylee and Sabine. Not quite sure about Nash. I also really really like Tod, especially after reading the ‘Reaper’ novella. Kaylee spends a lot of time with him. They get on. Which opens a world of new possibilities to solve the Nash drama. Needless to say, after finishing My Soul To Steal, I can’t wait to get started on the If I Die copy beckoning to me from my shelf. My Soul To Steal is an amazing read with great twists. It’s about dealing with the consequences of your actions, about figuring out what you want and how to fight for it – or realizing when it is time to give it up, no matter how much that might hurt.

Review: My Soul To Keep, by Rachel Vincent

This post was originally part of the Soul Screamers Challenge hosted by Rachel from fiktshun. I had posted it on my personal tumblr because I didn't have this blog back in April. Reading over it again, I find parts of it a bit awkward because it's one of the first reviews I've ever written, but I decided not to change it since it's my genuine reaction to the book at the time. I think I’ve kept it spoiler free, but because of that it’s necessarily a bit vague since this is a plot-heavy book. Feel free to comment & discuss :)

Don’t know the Soul Screamers books? Check them out on Goodreads!

Blurb from the back of the book:

When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies. And Kaylee is about to scream her head off…

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…

Review:

Wow. First off, let me say that I absolutely loved this book. After the first two novels, I already cared deeply about Kaylee and about what happens to her and her friends. I love how she is both tough and caring at the same time, fiercely protective of those she loves. And once more, her friends are in danger. Her month of being grounded has just ended, and she celebrates the event by going to a party with Nash. Let’s just say that at the end of the evening her car is totaled by Doug, one of Nash’s friends, who crashed into it while he was high – as Kaylee smells, on Demon breath! Which is highly addictive – and thus shouldn’t be in the human world! So who is selling it? And how can they be stopped… preferably before Doug gets Kaylee’s BFF Emma (and the rest of the highschool) hooked, too?

What I really liked about this book is that Kaylee has learned from her past experiences – instead of trying to take care of the problem herself, she actually wants to tell her Dad and Nash’s Mum (the adult and more knowledgeable Banshees) about the it and get their help.

But Nash is against it.

Hm… and what’s going on with Nash anyway? Because he is having strange mood swings lately and is trying to Influence Kaylee even when she does not ask him to in order to help her control her wail…

Kaylee has more problems than just that, too. She’s started getting death premonitions in her sleep – and crossing over into the Netherworld unconsciously! Waking up in a field of razor wheat in your pajamas, almost too hoarse to conjure up a scream to cross back to the living world… not cool.

Additionally, this book points out the limits and flaws in Nash and Kaylee’s relationship, and it was surprising, interesting and painful all at once to see him in a different light for the first time. Kaylee has to make important decisions, knowing she will be hurt no matter which way she goes. And while she would still risk her life in the Netherworld to save Nash’s, whether he is worth staying with afterwards is a different question altogether…

So, let me try to sum it up: this book is an amazing read! It’s fast-paced without leaving you breathless, it develops its characters beautifully and lets you empathize fully with their various conflicts. Kaylee is such an amazing female lead! She is not shiny-perfect. She is not weak. She does not define herself via her boyfriend. She is tough without losing her good heart. Also, she is out of her depth but tries to deal as best she can with the crazy Netherworld business taking over her life. Ah yes, the Netherworld… another place we get to see and learn more of in this novel. Let’s just say I can’t wait to read the sequel in next month’s part of the challenge!