My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent

My Soul To Take is this month's read for my church book group.  A couple of the women in my group had read it before it was suggested a couple of months ago, and their enthusiastic responses about the book were all it took for me to want to read it.  Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the book as much as they had, and from the Goodreads reviews of other women in my book group, it appears that we have the full spectrum of opinions about the book this month.  Some loved it, some thought it was okay, and some just plain liked it.  I fall in the latter group.

Starting out, I had a difficult time getting into the book because I just didn't have much time to read, and I didn't find what I was reading all that interesting.  I read the first 50 or so pages over a span of 3 days, and had to reread pages to remember what was happening.  The story itself is intriguing:  16-year-old Kaylee Cavanaugh senses when people around her are going to die.  When the premonitions of death overcome her, she begins uncontrollably screaming at the top of her lungs.  Kaylee doesn't know why she senses death, and she's afraid to tell her aunt and uncle about it because they had her committed to the psych ward of the local hospital the last time she screamed like that.  When three teenage girls suddenly drop dead on three different days, with two of the deaths 'predicted' by Kaylee, Kaylee knows something is amiss.  She overhears her aunt and uncle talking about her, and realizes they're keeping secrets - they know why she screams.  With the help of hottie Nash Hudson - who curiously seems to know so much about her experiences - Kaylee learns the reasons why she has the screaming attacks, as well as the history behind them.

I enjoyed My Soul To Take, but it obviously wasn't a book I couldn't put down.  I truly liked the characters (there wasn't a single character I had a problem with, which is unusual), and the mythology behind the story is really interesting, but it took me a long time to get into the book.  I admit, though, that the last 35 pages left me intrigued enough to possibly want to continue with Kaylee's story.

My rating: 3.5/5 (and the extra .5 is because of the ending!)

P.S. There is a prequel novella to My Soul To Take, called My Soul To Lose.  I haven't read it yet, but I found it online, and I will most likely read it, if only to get a bit more backstory on Kaylee.

My Soul To Take is #1 in the Soul Screamers series.

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Three angels--Bethany; her brother, the archangel Gabriel; and sister, Ivy--are sent to earth to fight the dark forces that are taking over.  Their mission is an important one, and keeping their secret proves too difficult for Bethany, who falls in love with human Xavier Woods and discloses everything.  Gabriel and Ivy fear Xavier will be unable to keep their divinity quiet, but Xavier proves his value when the Agents of Darkness invade their little town.

I really, really wanted to love this book.  And I actually did love the first half, but the second half left me with such feelings of disappointment and dissatisfaction that any good feelings I had about the first half were overpowered.

Bethany drove me crazy.  A lot of reviews I've read have compared her to Bella Swan from Twilight, only worse.  Bella has never bothered me, actually, but Bethany's helplessness and feebleness really rubbed me the wrong way.  It seemed that all she was capable of was worshipping and swooning over Xavier.  Pages and pages were spent with Bethany remarking on how perfect and handsome Xavier was, and how she knew she'd be safe with him around.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Bethany an ANGEL?  And wouldn't she'd be more than capable of defending herself should the need arise?  Apparently not.

Okay, I have to get something off my chest.  Stupid as it is, I can't even tell you how much it bothered me when everyone started referring to Bethany as "Beth."  Honestly, I don't know why it bothered me, and in the scope of things, it doesn't really matter that her name was shortened.  But every time I read it, a little shudder escaped me.  Thanks for letting me get that out.

So, where was I?  Oh, yes.  Let me move on to religion.  The religious overtones in Halo bothered me somewhat.  It is clearly evident that the angels are Catholic, which I'm not.  I wish the author had tried harder to keep the religious themes more impartial.  She's free to express her opinions (it is her book, after all), but I just felt uncomfortable at times.

I was also disturbed by Bethany's human shortcomings.  I know she's a relatively 'young' angel, but partying and lying naked in bed with a boyfriend don't seem like very heavenly/angelic things to be doing.  I felt like she should have tried harder to stay true to who she was.  I think too much time was spent on the love story.  I also thought the villain was introduced much too late in the story.

I did love the lushly-detailed world that Adornetto described.  The first half of the book was so well-written, so rich in description.  And the cover is absolutely gorgeous.

Halo started out as a promising read, but it left me disappointed.

My rating: 2.5/5

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Sixteen-year-old Violet Ambrose has a secret...she can sense echoes of dead people.  When she was 8, she discovered her first dead body buried in the woods near her home.  Besides the echoes of the dead, Violet can sense the imprints that are left on the killers.  Living with her "power" is difficult enough, but Violet is also struggling with new romantic feelings for her best friend, Jay.  When teenage girls begin disappearing with an alarming frequency, Violet decides to use her powers to find the killer.  She may be the only person who can stop him.  But finding him may come at a high price--the loss of her own life.

This book has such an interesting premise, and I was immediately drawn in to Violet's world.  The descriptions of how she sensed the echoes of the dead were rich, and I felt like I could sense the echoes myself.  Likewise, the chapters written in the killer's voice were deliciously creepy.  The mystery of who killed the girls seemed a bit too drawn out, but I didn't figure out who the killer was...and I like that I didn't figure it out.  It's no fun to read a book already knowing who the killer is.

My favorite part of the book was when Jay and Violet finally admitted their feelings to each other.  Jay seemed like a perfect guy, and I love that he and Violet were best friends from the age of six.  They were so adorable together.  Even so, I felt like too much of the story focused on their relationship.

While I ended up not loving the book, I did like it quite a bit.

My rating: 3.5/5

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood)'s life has been anything but ordinary.  The shopaholic wooed the debonair Luke Brandon, Finance PR Extraordinaire, while devising a way to throw a certain bank manager named Derek Smeath off her track.  Then she moved to Manhattan, became host of a financial segment on a popular TV show (even though she can't handle her own finances), and shopped some more.  Then there was the fiasco of the two-weddings-on-the-same-day, one in NYC and one in England.  And of course, more shopping.  After a fairy-tale honeymoon, Becky arrived home to discover that she has a half-sister she never knew about, a sister who hates to shop!  Let's see... what else?  Becky got pregnant, scored a celebrity OB, and then hired a P.I. to follow said celebrity OB and her own husband, Luke, because she swore they were having an affair.  (All links are to my reviews of the other Shopaholic books.)

Now Becky and Luke are parents!  Mini Shopaholic takes place two years after Shopaholic and Baby left off.  'Mini Shopaholic' herself, Minnie Brandon, is now a rambunctious two-year-old, and Luke and Becky are at wits' end; they don't know what to do with little Minnie, who wreaks havoc wherever she goes.  Becky's mum is willing to help with Minnie--she's been doing it for the two years Becky and Luke have been living in her house anyway--but Becky and Luke decide to hire an "Ultimate Nanny" instead.  (After all, it'd be great if Minnie could learn Mandarin!)  Becky is less than forthcoming about Minnie's behavior, though, and said Ultimate Nanny begs off after a few hours in Minnie's presence.  Can anything go right?  Not only has their fifth try at buying a home fallen through, but there's a huge financial crisis in England because one of the major banks failed.  Luke is putting in so much extra time at work that Becky decides to throw him a surprise party for his birthday.  Of course, she has trouble staying on budget, so she accepts help from an unlikely source...Luke's birth mother, Elinor, whom Luke isn't speaking to at the moment.  As with any book featuring Becky Brandon, chaos ensues, lies are told, and shopping is done.

I was super excited to get my hands on this book.  I really enjoyed the first five Shopaholic books.  Becky makes me laugh.  She gets into so much trouble, and of course her scrapes are all a bit unbelievable and outrageous, but she's just such an amusing character to spend time with (even when I want to pull my hair out and shout at her that she better not buy that dress/purse/scarf/pair of shoes, no matter the sale price.)  Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this latest book as much as I'd hoped to.  Sure, I still liked it and Becky still made me laugh (though not as much as in the other books), but I'm left feeling slightly disappointed.

3.5/5

Mini Shopaholic is #6 in the Shopaholic series.

Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz

It's difficult to review this series without giving anything away!  This is what the synopsis from the front cover of the book says:

Schuyler Van Alen's blood legacy has just been called into question - is the young vampire in fact a Blue Blood, or is it the sinister Silver Blood that runs through her veins? As controversy swirls, Schuyler is left stranded in the Force household, trapped under the same roof as her cunning nemesis, Mimi Force, and her forbidden crush, Jack Force.

When one of the Gates of Hell is breached by Silver Bloods in Rio de Janeiro, however, the Blue Bloods will need Schuyler on their side. The stakes are high; the battle is bloody; and through it all, Schuyler is torn between duty and passion, love and freedom. In the end, one vampire's secret identity will be exposed in a revelation that shocks everyone.

The title of this book really fits.  (In fact, I think Ms. de la Cruz has done an excellent job in choosing titles for the other books in the series, as well.)  The 'revelations' in this third book were totally unexpected.  I thought I had some things figured out, but I was completely wrong.  After a slow start with this book, things really picked up.  The twists and turns make reading this series a lot of fun.  They're not the greatest books ever written, but I enjoy reading them.  Revelations has definitely left me wanting more, and I can't wait to see what happens with Bliss, Schuyler, Jack, Mimi, and Oliver in the next book!

My rating: 4/5

Revelations is #3 in the Blue Bloods series.