booker hooker

The blurb says: Mason would die to be with Rose... 
Well that's just silly. If you die to be with someone, you wouldn't be able to be with them, cause you'd be dead! Plus, like everything else in this book, that's such a melodramatic statement. 

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what the big deal over this series is. It’s recommended all over the place, the star average for this is really good, and it’s really popular – maybe I got my hopes up too high? I read the first one, was indifferent to it, and then I heard about this series everywhere. It was a series that got better as it went along. There was character development. The heroine was multi-dimensional. Good, strong romance. Interesting characters. So, after a year, I picked up the second one to see if I had missed something and ... eh. 

On one hand, I do see some positives, like the vampire lore. Most paranormal teen books are painfully simplistic, and I’m glad to say this book does have some world building going on here. I know nothing of vampires, so when I was researching fictional creatures and came across the types of vampires that were in these books, I was quite impressed. Using real mythology to work in your story and giving your own twist on it in a modern setting? Not bad, Mead. If I’m being painfully honest, I thought she just made those words (Strigoi/Dhampir etc) up completely. But hey, come on, some authors don’t even know what happens to vampires when they walk into the sun, not naming any names. 

And .... that’s pretty much what I liked. 

I have to laugh when I hear the characters of Vampire Academy being called complex or “deep” – I mean really. Come on. Read a real book. I get what the attraction to Rose is – big mouthed, outgoing, snarky – the exact opposite of the whiny dish mop YA heroines we’re used to, amirite? No, let’s instead make her ANOTHER stereotype and now she’s oh-so-original! Don’t actually bother to make her a three dimensional character, that would be SO MUCH WORK. Just make her the exact opposite of the dish mop heroine, and teens will totally fall for it because she’s so speshul and different – except they DO fall for it! URGH. Rose is just so exaggerated I don’t even really hate her; there’s not enough of her to feel much of anything for. She’s just too obnoxious, too loud, too self-absorbed to really be taken seriously. And to top it off, she’s kind of an idiot. This girl is some kind of guardian for a PRINCESS and she’s about as slow as a heard of turtles racing through peanut butter. Mead has a hard time planning surprises well, because nothing comes off nearly as shocking as it is intended because any semi-discerning reader is smarter than Rose. The secondary characters are all right I guess – I like the witty remarks and all, although none of them make me laugh out loud. Still, it’s nice to have a group of teenagers speaking like teenagers for a change without quoting Latin and Shakespeare. Except Dmitri, who’s about as fun as watching “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” without a bathroom break.

Speaking of which, this series is soooo predictable. Can someone please tell me why all teen authors do this? I wouldn’t mind a love triangle, I really wouldn’t, if there was actually a point or at the very least a surprise along the way. If we have three interesting, complex characters, and you like all three of them, then a love triangle can make you ache for them. If you have a hard time choosing between the two boys (or girls, I suppose, but you never see a girl-boy-girl love triangle) then that’s a sign you did it RIGHT. If you don’t know who the girl is going to pick because both boys are so awesome and she sincerely loves them both, then you’re doing it right. WHY DOES NO AUTHOR EVEN ATTEMPT TO DO THIS? Answer: because that would actually require some tough decision making. 

How do YA authors REALLY write love triangles? You’ve got the main girl, the soul mate, and the poor other guy who you know is going to either end up miserable and alone, dead, or hooking up with some secondary character you barely even remember the name of by the end. I haven’t even read the rest of the series and I don’t have to – I KNOW Rose will end up with Dmitri. I know it the way I knew Bella would end up with Edward, Clary would end up with Jace, Ever would end up with Damen, Luce would end up with Daniel, Tessa with Will (view spoiler), Donna with Xan ... just a few off the top of my head (some of these series aren’t done and I have no intention on reading them, but trust me, I KNOW – I HAVE NEVER BEEN WRONG YET). Even the Hunger Games, which on most days I think is a good series, was painfully obvious with the love triangle – did Gale ever really have a chance? The author can never help but hinting at who her favourite is, and when you know who the favourite is, you’ve got who the girl will end up with. When you know who ends up together, it’s boring. It makes the angst pointless and annoying to read because you know everything is going to end up alright. She’ll end up with the lame, mysterious, brooding guy, because she always does. Screw the guy with a personality and sense of humour. 

(Sidenote: Have you noticed the readers always seem to like the underdog guy? I wonder why that is. Maybe the author is so busy trying to make everyone love the brooding guy, and she isn’t trying to make the other guy swoon-worthy, that his personality comes out easier. Because Brooding Guy never seems to have a personality.)

The writing is terrible by the way. I know, I know, it’s written in the narration of a rather dimwitted teenage girl, but it’s still irritating. The prologue, explaining the story so far was so corny I was grimacing the whole way through. It gets a bit better after that but everything is explained – unfortunately – through Rose, so naturally, it’s all telling, no showing, explaining the most obvious things, the vocabulary never extending past that of a sixth grader and ruining sentimental moments with cheesy, misplaced comments only a stupid teenage girl would say. 

Look, it’s not the worst book in the world (silly, “Marked” is!) but I can’t slog through what, four more of these? I know what’s going to happen in the end, so I don’t see much of a point in going through hackneyed, predictable trials of these bland characters when I KNOW. Will Rose and her mother reconnect? Will Rose's father be revealed? Will Lissa end up a powerful royal? Which boy will Rose end up with? Will good conquer over darkness?

Gee, I have NO FRIGGIN IDEA

Okay....so i am going to write down my opinion and i have some pros and cons as well.....

PROS TIME!!!

i am swooning . like actually SWOONING with the whole damn word in capital. This is a good book .....nowadays surprisingly i am getting to read many books which i like .Whatever...the book has an original plot. i mean i have NOT read about any device which injects holy water into the vampire's body if there is a rise in the body temperature ....until this book. well ms. white.....nice imagination and creation. the female protagonist is:-
1)smart ass
2)witty
3)has sheballs (she has guts)(there is a difference between stupidity and braveness.....jumping in a mucky shallow quicksand swirl to save your girl???that is brave.....nose diving into a shallow pond because of some bet you make is STUPID)
4) pretty

eveie is not the stereotype that other author make the females in these kinds of books .....airhead. stupid (wandering-into-dark-alleys-alone kind of stupid)

     I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship between Evie and Lend. Not only did they have some witty and fun banter. There’s also that rare feeling that I have when I read novels, that these two could actually make it. I’m serious in that I could actually see these two getting married and the whole happily ever after too. They really make a lovely couple.
Unlike some people…



Anita and Jean Claude know how to have a good time together… no really!

The plot and pacing move nicely throughout the story and whilst it was easy to guess who the bad guy was and what the eventual outcome would be, it didn’t annoy me like it has in other novels. Can I help it if I’m, like, practically a genius or something? 
No, no I can’t!

So over all this novel was a breath of fresh air. I completely enjoyed it and I absolutely can’t wait to read the sequel! I highly recommend it to most people, except for anyone named Bob and I think that out of most of the other YA paranormal lit out there, this one is definitely the best.

CONS TIME!!!

 The only part that bothered me was the bleeping : 'bleep ' . that was kind of stupid ...maybe?  and yeah....yeah....the name of the male protagonist bothered me to no end ......come on .....LEND???? as in hey baby lend me your body!!! that is immature ....to the eyes of a sixteen year old (me).
           i personally do not approve of the use of the word LOVE in the first damn book ....i mean you do not know the guy enough to love him in the first book. this was no different. Evie is lonely and when a PRISONER who is about the same age comes in ...she goes to him and spends time with him.....that is quite unreal and unusual behavior.
 i mean any random guy who has VIOLATED the laws of the place that practically raised her is supposed to generate some kind of repulsive feeling.But it is totally the opposite here,even if you are working out in a gym and a random unknown guy comes up to you and tries to talk to you a normal person would give him a 'who are you ?? weirdo' kind of look. but if a guy who works out there regularly and you have seen him there comes up to you to start a conversation , you would smile and be polite. that is normal human behavior.
 here, lend is a total random guy and there is no way evie can get so comfy with him.there should have been more building of the relationship ...like the kate daniel series by ilona andrews..... kate and curran do not have a relationship until the third book.....three books of anticipation....and anticipation is GOOD...then suddenly BAM!!!!! that is how a book should go.evie also runs off with lend ....IN THE FIRST BOOK!!!! heights of unreal....she ditches her HOME and goes away with lend??? in the first book??? do i need to say how unrealistic that is ???
     

on the whole? i liked the book not LOVED it it takes me some time to LOVE a book....three books later ...lets see if it manages to make me fall for it....
suggestion to everybody : "books are like guys.....you cannot fall in love with them at he first sight or reading the first book of the series..... and as i said ANTICIPATION IS GOOD" no pun intended 

Hmmm I wonder what this Magic Burns book will be about

What?? I mean.. What?? This can’t be right

Why isn’t she being stupid?? Wha- How???

She’s going to fuck up

Any second now

aaaaany second now.........

 .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

this book is perfect!!

I mean, amIrite? AM-I-RITE???

One thing I love about Ilona Andrews is the fact that she didn’t make Kate a sappy character. Not once did she have a "love" thought about any of the hot dudes in the book. Not once. Sure, she thinks about banging them but that’s the normal thing to do. No unnecessary crap about love at first sight and all that shit means a happier me. Plus her relationship with Curran is so good. I’m enjoying every minute of it. And you know what? They’ll be together in the future (DUH) so seeing how they develop their relationship is so much fun. It’s almost as good as playing Sims 3. But Sims 3 is way better because it makes you god. Being god beats everything else. So nah, close but not close enough!

Speaking of which, wasn’t Ghastek awesome? He’s taking RPG games to the next level. How cool would it be to be able to control your game character in real life? That would be so fucking awesome! What would I do with it? Conquer Earth, of course. Kill everyone who pisses me off. Spy on people. Lurk in dark alleys and scare the shit out of anyone who walks by. And loot everything. I’m the looting type so can’t help myself, sistah!

But back to Kate. I love Kate. I love Kate so much my heart hurts. I love Kate so much I started writing poems just for her. I love Kate so much I started baking cakes for her each morning. 

Yes Kate, go samurai on their sorry asses! Yes Kate, give them the middle finger!! Yes Kate, ride your horse into the sunset!!! Yes Kate, spank me one more time!!!!!!

Wait. What?

I LOVED THIS BOOk! and i love the author as well. okay so....enough of swoon-age and all ....lets talk essence.

i was sweating bullets when i was in the middle of the book..i it was an awesome experience. the book was logically arranged and had a fantastic plot. the first impression i got from curran was ...whoa!!! macho man ! then i thought "hey curran you are so full of shit you could pass for an effing toilet!" 

curran sometimes hot and bossy but kate and curran basically abhorred each other like two bitches pining after the same guy. they avoided each other like the plague. where curran was all controlled speeches and control freak and is an authority (pack alpha) kate even if she is intelligent and smart she has a big mouth , cannot control herself and is always is in the centre of a problem if there is any ....mostly neck deep.

        i shat a brick when i came to know who the uprir was BONO!!whatever . so i just want to say that this book is NOT  overrated at all....i thought twice before picking it up from the book store, but ladies and gentlemen this book is not a disappointment it is worth every penny you give away .....

             okay so greg was kate's only guardian . he was killed ,and kate wanted revenge and so she set out to find the killer and then her friend jim asked her to meet up with the beast lord and that happens to be he aforementioned curran!! oh god they hate each other ....kate loves to annoy the living shit of the man and he retaliates violently......quite funny if you ask me and very very amusing .....i am not going to disclose any mure than i already have ....read the book guys....

I gave this book 3 stars on my first read. I raised my rating after reading and liking it more on my second read.

Addition : Why I think you should read VA 

The before : September 2010

I was a stubborn brat when it came to reading Vampire Academy. Part of me honestly thought that a vampire series couldn't impress me after experiencing how oversaturated the genre had become with depressing and lackluster characters and stories. 

Because of this, I went into my first read of VA begrudgingly and with a bad attitude. It didn't make any sense to me why so many people were rabid fans of this series. I think I pre-programmed myself to want to hate the books. 

So I read the first book and ended up liking it. But I still didn't see what the big deal was. My review reflected the attitude that it was an easy read and somewhat entertaining - but what was the big deal?

Apparently, there must have been something sparked because I started book 2 shortly thereafter and then found myself blazing through the rest of the series, getting more and more addicted with each book.

The After : September 2012

Two years later and this remains one of my favorite series of all time. Even though book 1 had a few glaring errors, each book got better by massive leaps and bounds. The end of book 3 had me crying, the second half of book 4 had me on pins and needles, and after I finished book 5 I joined the crew of people who were throwing out theories about what could possibly happen in the upcoming release of book 6. Since then, I've devoured the graphic novels and spinoff series Bloodlines (featuring a cast of extras from the original VA books). 

I had become obsessed. 

Dimitri is one of my all-time favorite heroes. Period. There is no one I've come across in my book reading history quite like Guardian Belikov. He is bad-ass and lethal. He is loyal and honorable. He is strong, vigilant, and protective. He is the man you want to take home to momma before dragging him off to bed (he is 24 and all man, so I do not feel guilty about admitting this!). He is every characteristic that I'd want to see in a hero, without being turned into an arrogant and controlling asshole like you see in so many books featuring a larger-than-life male lead.

Rose is one of my all-time favorite female leads. What? Both the male and female in the same story are great? She is mouthy, stubborn, determined, loyal, brave, and can also kick major ass. If you ever wanted a friend who would go to bat for you, Rose is your girl. 

Rarely, does a couple balance one another in a story. Now, this isn't to say that these two are an actual couple (I will neither confirm nor deny that they end up together, since another potential love interest does enter the picture in book 2), but the chemistry between Roza and Dimka is off the charts because they are able to challenge each other. 

Oh, but wait. There's a complication. Rose is being trained to become a guardian by Dimitri. That's right - they are teacher and student. Now, this isn't in the disgustingly creepy pedo way. Rose is almost 18 and Dimitri is 24. Their values and ways of thinking often show them more as equals than mentor and student, so the lines become blurred. But yes...this has the potential to become a forbidden and dangerous love story...if they ever allowed it go there.

I'm not telling, of course!

Final analysis from then to now :

My first read complaints were that I didn't understand why Rose was so down for the cause and had such unfailing devotion to the ruling class. Even after going through a complete series read, I still struggle with this, even though I liked some of the attitude shifts in the later books. 

Lissa didn't impress me back in 2010. She still doesn't impress me in 2012. 

I didn't recall book 1 having so much silly teen drama. Because books 3 through 6 are focused so much on fighting and real-life struggles outside of the school, those are the memories I carry with me. This is an extremely mature (and sexy) series for YA because of the older characters and content. So I was surprised to go back and realize that book 1 read younger and sillier than the rest of the books. It was still good. In fact, I appreciate it more now, knowing how much it set up the series, so I'm raising my rating a full star. Make no mistake though, this is the weakest book in the series. If you're unsure about book 1, keep reading because it gets INCREDIBLE from here on out. The world building in the first 30% of the original book was overwhelming imo. Initial info-dumping is one of Mead's only flaws as a writer because otherwise she is a master at getting me to care about her characters (regardless of series).

The action and adventure balances the romance excellently. I should have mentioned this earlier, but this is not a paranormal romance series. It is a high-octane Urban Fantasy. Expect adventures in every book. The sexual chemistry is just a bonus, but it doesn't choke out the fun aspect of the series.

I have no doubt now that this will stay in my top 3 series for a long time to come. Re-reading only cemented this for me.

Oh my Dimka, my Dimka...

Dimitri hovered over us, alert and ready for any threat, his body coiled to attack. I felt safe with him beside us.

In that horrible moment, with him raging like a storm, I knew why Mason had called him a god.

He regarded me with utter seriousness, like he always did. "I think you're beautiful."
"Beautiful?"
"You are so beautiful, it hurts me sometimes."

Are you a fan of Richelle Mead? Come join the chat as we get ready for the release of the first VA movie : Blood Sisters!

barbie world heidi D'costa

HILARIOUS BOOK....lol it is kinda kinky and all but overall i loved the book because of its humor and not the kinky part i am not the 'kinky'kinda person :D you could try the book it is HILARIOUS but there is mature content as well...so choose it only if you are fine with the mature content and everything else is AwEsOmE :D ,.....must read scene :brazilian Wax scene and the BB.... lol lol lol lol lol lol


THATS MY REACTION WHEN I READ THIS HILARIOUS BOOK
WARNING : DO NOT READ THIS BOOK DURING SCHOOL BECAUSE THIS SHIT IS SHIT WHACKING HILARIOUS .. THE book is all about gigolos and all .....one night stand women .....alli....a cougarhow she met who she loved...he BOSS....YES BOYS AND GIRLS her BOSS!! and guess what ?! the guy who she was using as her gigolo was her boss's son!!!!!! hahahahahahahahah guys read this effing book !!!! READ IT !!

This book has been a great one. But I think that you can get more fun books out there. But yet this book was great :) it is about harley and her neighbor Jason....they hate each other at the beginning but then proceed to become friends when Jason invites harley to his party at his home...... Harley has seen a lot of his parties from her Window....naked girls in pools and all......she expected a party which was animal like wild....but she found the party to be quite normal.....Jason and harley proceed to be best buddies.......Jason does not admit the attraction he feels towards harley right away but th not when he realizes then BOOM BOOM BOOM HOOM and all kinds of unmentionable things happen :) 

Harley's brownies and baked stuff : yummy





jason ♥♥♥

Harley <3


The tied to the bed. Scene lol......






Butter cream frosting part......I almost orgasm-ed 





this  book was hilarious and I was laughing so hard that I was surprised that I did not piss in my pants!!!!!!@!

  

sssssssssooooooooooooo......i read this overrated book by ms calyton........and guess what ......i kinda liked it .......yet it is overrated ....
so, this book is HILARIOUS in the beginning ..... and trust me ladies and gentlemen it it shit loosing funny.....CAUTION : in the first part be careful not to pee yourself :D
in the latter part the humor hits rock bottom and sexual tension and all the touchy touchy things happen then ..... it is about reviving the friend of all women "O" and by that i mean ORGASM.

5 Wow Me Stars

Warning: All I can say is, have book 2 ready.

what I loved:
1. NO regular HS b.s. drama. 
2. NO major drama with the "mean"girl.
3. Wyatt - what's not to love ?
4. Pagan's posse of friends. 
5. Dank!!! 
6. Pagan
7. Sometimes I was in love with Leif too
8. The unexpected Gee
9. No major teenage HS drama/angst with Pagan.
10. Dank singing Pagan lullabies.
11. The deep connection between Dank and Pagan.
12. Loopholes


Why did it take me so long to get to this book? Seriously kicking myself over here.

I couldn't put it down. I read this book in one night. I absolutely loved it. I don't care what anyone else says, it was pure awesome. It was totally what I needed as I was starting to hit a book funk. It captured my attention the entire book. It was well paced. And for once I loved being only in one persons head the entire story. And I never felt the desire to peek ahead. This book pulled me in so much, played on my heart strings and let my emotions flow too many times through tears. I definitely didn't anticipate such an awesome story, one that was different from everything I've read lately.

Okay. I'm going to give you some friendly advice, Kaylee, because I like you. I really, really do. But I also want to slap you. Hard.

Yes, your ex-boyfriend did something horrible. Yes, he treated you badly. Yes, he lied, he kept secrets and tried his Influence on you. I get that you are pissed.

But when his hot ex-girlfriend comes into town, and tries every possible way to get into your ex-boyfriend's pants, who you still love like crazy, you just don't sit there and complain about it. Would it hurt to at least try and make things right? To try to forgive him and see what a great guy you have there, just waiting for you? Cause that's exactly what he's doing. 

You left him to rot for 2 weeks straight, while he was trying to fight his addiction FOR YOU. He was trying to get better FOR YOU. He was working so damn hard to keep himself together FOR YOU. And what did you do? Right, ignore the shit out of him.

Then the ex pops up, openly declaring a war. And what do you do? You try to hurt Nash as much as possible, you throw back everything in his face AND assume he'll just go back to Sabine. You almost want him to fuck up. I cannot understand why you are trying to push him away when all he's trying to do it get close to you, EVEN WITH SABINE BREATHING DOWN BOTH YOUR NECKS. 

It's not like he hasn't have girls lining up to be with him. The fact that he's sticking around, even while he can get some someplace else, SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO PROVE HIS LOYALTY. GOD. GET A CLUE.

It's your turn now, Sabine. You are beyond pathetic. Yes, you didn't have an amazing life. Boohoo. I understand that Nash is the only 'good' thing you've ever had in your life (at least that's so in your delusional mind), but for god's sake, it was just sex. Lots and lots of it, apparently, but still. Your insecurities and your attempts at trying to scare Kaylee away are just hilarious. I reached for the popcorn several times while watching you in action.

And now you, Tod. WTF? Are you that desperate for Kaylee's attention or do you secretly hate your brother that much? GOD. I don't even understand what your deal is. You try to make Kaylee see the nature of the relationship between Nash and Sabine, and then a few chapters later you are telling Kaylee to let Nash go if she really cares about him. I'm really not in the mood to deal with you right now.

And last but not least: Nash. I love you. Never stop being awesome. 

The ending was weird, with the puppy-ish things etc. I can't wait to find out their names for some reason XD

____________________________________________________________-

"Whoever said it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved was full of crap."

I cannot believe I finally caved in. After the drama of the third book and what it did to my state of mind I declared it unsafe and potentially harmful to myself to read this book. But I am weak. So so weak. *hangs head*

See, I am absolutely crazy about this series. Just how crazy I am might become obvious after I have given you a glimpse into my twisted little mind. Even while my review and status updates might convince you otherwise, let me be clear about something right from the start. I am Team Nash. All the way. I know he messed up pretty badly in book 3 and, well, also in book 4, IMO, but nevertheless, I love that guy. Now there are people who think Kaylee should end up with Tod in the end - I will come back to that again later on - but I strongly disagree. And do you know what I think whenever I see people mentioning how they want Kay and Nash to break up? I wish they would just shut up -

[image error]

- and hope that Rachel Vincent doesn’t read these reviews and take it to heart that there are so many people who obviously prefer Tod over Nash and I’m afraid that because of this she's going to let Kay end up with Tod instead and OMG that would just about kill me. Does that make you understand how far gone I am? I am turning into a freakin’ troll. But admitting your problem is the first step on the road to recovery, right? RIGHT?

Oh and just for the record: There is no Kaylee-Nash-Tod love triangle. Dammit!

So, why am I this obsessed? For one thing, I like the whole banshee concept. It’s a breath of fresh air, at least I haven’t seen anything like this in YA before but even while I think the concept is refreshing, I also feel like the existence of banshees is kinda pointless. I mean, what good is a banshee? They can tell when somebody’s about to die, big deal, but what’s the use? It’s not like they’re getting anything out of it, right? Or can do anything about it, for that matter. Because whenever they interfere, somebody else has to die instead. And let’s not even talk about the male banshees. They are utterly useless. I know what they can do with their abilities but still, I don’t really see the point. Nevertheless, the banshees, the reaper, the Netherworld, the whole borrowed time thing...it’s all pretty cool, IMO.

Now about this particular installment of the Soul Screamers series...(it might get a little spoilery now but if you have seen my status updates you are already "spoiled" so no need to worry...)

I am so unbelievably pissed off that I really don’t know how to rate this. On the one hand, I should give it 5 stars for making me scream, for making me cry and for basically driving me insane but on the other hand, I should only give it 1 star because of the exact same reasons. That was just a bit too much drama for me. No wait, drama is not the right word. This was torture. I was dragged in so many different directions, emotionally speaking, that I felt like I would tear. Rachel Vincent stretched me to, and beyond my personal breaking point. I went from feeling sorry for Nash, to hating him, to loving him, to wanting to rip his balls off and ending up feeling betrayed, hurt, sad, angry and being totally confused. Same with Kaylee and Tod. Not with Sabine, though. I just plain hate her. She can go drown somewhere for all I care. It’s like Kaylee said. "Nash and I were like the wreckage of two cars that had hit head-on. We were tangled up in each other so thoroughly that I could no longer tell which parts of us were him and which were me. We could probably never be truly untangled – not after what we’d been through together – but I had serious doubts we could ever really recapture what we’d had." The whole situation is such a big stinking mess and it just hurts So.Fucking.Much. And you know what the worst part is? Rachel Vincent took away my hope because I honestly don’t see how Kaylee and Nash will ever make this work again. And I am very unhappy with Rachel because of that. 

Now it’s getting really spoilery so stay away if you haven't read the other books!


Alright, I need to get back again to that Tod business. What is all this talk about him and Kaylee ending up together? That’s bullshit, IMO. I mean, he is a reaper, He.Is.Dead., so why on earth would it be better for Kaylee to be with him? Furthermore, he’s losing touch with his humanity. Just look at how differently he’s behaving in this book from how he was behaving in Reaper. He’s becoming less and less human. But back to what’s actually said in the book. What’s all this crap about how Kaylee doesn’t need Nash but Sabine does? What kind of argument is that? Nash LOVES Kaylee and she LOVES him and just because some people think it would be better if they were with someone else instead they should just end their relationship now? Kaylee should just send Nash back to Sabine? What the hell?



It doesn’t work like that! But ok, for the sake of argument let’s say Nash and Sabine really should be together because they both need each other and because they’re equally messed up. So, could someone please explain to me why Kaylee would need Tod? Or Alec, for that matter? She doesn’t need any of the three. This argument is ridiculous. You know, I was pretty pissed off at Kaylee in this book, I think she let Nash down and I hated how she just kept pushing him away and into Sabine’s arms but at the end of the day, I am on her side and first and foremost, I am Team Kaylee. So screw you Nash, screw you Sabine and screw you Tod.

What also annoyed me was how everybody kept using the fact that Nash only gave away memories of his time with Kaylee, to prove that he doesn’t love her all that much. Well, Avari wasn’t interested in any other memories. He specifically asked for those because in the long run, he wanted to hurt Kaylee and I honestly believe that Nash wasn’t aware of the consequences. As he said, he didn’t realize that the memories would be worthless if he couldn’t feel them anymore. The only thing that’s really inexcusable IMO is the fact that he let Avari possess Kaylee on a regular basis. 

*sigh* I could go on like this forever but I really need to put this behind me now. I'm already afraid that I need to get therapy because of this book...So, altogether I found this rather unsatisfying and the ending was not worth the torture. This was just too much relationship drama for me. 

*Happy happy dance.* For fans the Soul Screamers series, this book will either be everything you want...or everything you feared most. I fall firmly into the "incoherently happy" camp after reading it.

Soul Screamers as a whole is kind of a funny animal. The mythology is pretty unusual and I really like the unique world that Rachel Vincent creates with her banshees, maras, grim reapers, and demon breath. The stories are admittedly fairly straightforward (think Morganville rather than Chicagoland or Vampire Academy) and Kaylee Cavanaugh sometimes seemed very young in the beginning. But as Kaylee's problems became bigger and her relationships with her best friend and her family and her boyfriend became more involved, this somehow became a series that I really, really enjoy. She makes plenty of mistakes, particularly in that last agonizing book My Soul to Steal, but they are ones that you completely understand and sympathize with. 

If I Die presents Kaylee with the biggest challenges she's ever faced in her life--she suspects that attractive new math teacher may not be everything he appears to be, she's still fighting her complicated feelings for her possibly irredeemable boyfriend Nash, and to top it off, she receives world-changing news that gives her only a matter of days to put everything right.

I really love Kaylee after this book. One of the things that surprised me is that she meets all of her problems with admirable maturity and sensitivity. There are a number of really difficult situations she has to resolve before time runs out, but instead of being self-pitying or railing against fate, she immediately takes action to help the people around her, all the while remaining true to her emotional self; that's no small feat under the best of circumstances. I'm impressed by the author's frank handling of teen sexuality, which is very um, enthusiastically present in this book but written with exactly the right amount of excitement and humor and gravity. Most importantly, it's also included in the right context of Kaylee's life.

I'm also really happy with the way the author handled the tricky situation with Kaylee's relationship with her boyfriend. Nash was previously hooked on demon breath and his ex-girlfriend the evil Sabine complicated things further. Nash's behavior, particularly [how he dealt with his ex and the terrible, terrible thing he did to compel Kaylee ], changed Kaylee's perception of him irrevocably, and the author does a terrific job of showing how agonizing and sad it is when feelings and priorities change with time. Anyone who read the excellent Soul Screamers short Reaper also knows the complicated story behind what Nash's brother Tod has done for him and will be thrilled to see Tod finally being present in the book in a big way. Fangirl moment: [Yaaaay! At last at last at last. I'm so happy with where this story went. :D

If you haven't read the series, it's one that is extremely entertaining and matures in surprising ways with its protagonist. And if you're already a fan of the series, well...this latest installment hooks you from the very first chapter. It's important to read this as quickly as possible so that major plot developments aren't accidentally spoiled for you, since this is a game-changing book--so don't wait too long! You're in for an awesome ride.