Pop Culture Curmudgeon

Book Review: My Soul to Take, My Soul to Save, and My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent

I bought My Soul to Take when it first came out, but I confess that I didn’t get around to reading it until a couple weeks ago. And, once I read it, I immediately had to buy the sequel, My Soul to Save, and the prequel short, My Soul to Lose.

My Soul to Take is extremely fast paced, as one expects from a young adult novel. It follows a young girl’s discovery that instead of a mental case, she is a bean sidhe (aka banshee) who is just coming into her powers. She, her best friend (Emma), and her new boyfriend (Nash) work together to solve unexplained deaths in their local area.

In My Soul to Save, Kaylee and Nash fight the evil influence of a media conglomerate that catapults its stars to fame and fortune with the help of some demonic influences. It’s a fun story and a great way to explain the rise and fall of some of our recent tween idols, but I wasn’t as enthralled by the Britney Spears/Lindsay Lohan-esque character.
Both books contain a believable level of teen angst, as Kaylee wonders why a boy as popular and handsome as Nash would want anything to do with her. And, they contain a believable but appropriate level of sexuality. The lack of sex is one of my problems with many young adult books—sex isn’t necessary for a romance, but I’m pretty used to it and its absence is usually notable.

I was less pleased with the prequel, My Soul to Lose. It gives good character background to Kaylee be recounting an episode mentioned in the first book, but I was disappointed with how short it was. That is probably my biggest complaint with young adult books. They are so fast-paced, and I always read them too fast.

The next installment, My Soul to Keep, comes out June 1, and it does not appear to have an annoying pop star element. I will be pre-ordering the Kindle edition so I can read it on my iPod Touch.

Note: This review contains affiliate links.