It all begins with Kaylee and her best friend Emma sneaking out into a club for the night. While at the club Kaylee is approached by Nash Hudson, one of the most handsome and popular guys at her high school. She cannot begin to believe her good fortune, but it is short lived. Kaylee soon locks eyes with a female patron at the club and suddenly a wave of devastation and misfortune washes over her and with it a scream that threatens to bring down the house. Luckily Nash is there to calm her down and bring her to her senses before her "panic" attack overwhelms her. Kaylee saw the girl awash in dark shadows and knows that girl is going to die soon. She confesses this realization to Nash and Emma and thinks nothing of it until then next day when a news reports confirm her premonition.
Kaylee is racked with guilt. She knew the girl was going to die and yet she did nothing about it, but what could she have told the newly departed girl? Honestly? Without being thought she was crazy....again....for she had been down that road before with a previous "panic" episode. One that caused her Aunt and Uncle to have her committed. It is this reason that she cannot confide in them again and in turn Nash becomes her sounding board. Yet, for reasons that Kaylee cannot understand she feels that Nash knows more than he is willing to let on.
Before Kaylee can get over her guilt another death occurs with unexplained circumstances and as Kaylee begins to try and make sense of it another occurs right before her eyes at school. Again she is overcome with grief and the overwhelming urge to scream, to release all the pent up emotions threatening to consume her. Nash is able to help her and Kaylee cannot believe that another girl has died and she again did nothing. Something has to be done and they know that the recent string of unexplainable deaths is way out of the ordinary.So, Kaylee and Nash join forces to investigate the deaths and with this truths need to come out. Nash informs Kaylee of what she is and in turn what he is and his role in Kaylee's life. They are both Bean Sidhe's and each have an important role in dealing with a person's soul.
As they seek the answers to the recent deaths Nash decides to take her to visit a "friend" who is a death reaper, and he may have the answers they are searching for. That choice seems to be too dangerous and as her Uncle finds out about it he decides to call Kaylee's long absent father to come in and tell Kaylee everything about her being a Bean Sidhe.
Death comes for another soul, but this next attack proves to close for comfort as Kaylee and Nash join forces. Their collaboration does not go unnoticed and another pays the price for their efforts. Again Kaylee is overridden by guilt that is soon extinguished upon seeing her father. Yet before she can let her anger get the best of her his confession to her existence changes everything she had known and shakes her very foundation.Until death comes into her house and nothing is ever the same again....

MY THOUGHTS
I am a HUGE fan of Rachel Vincent's Were cat series and when she announced that she had a YA SOUL SCREAMER series, focusing on a Bean Sidhes teenage protagonist I could not wait to get my hands on it. I am very pleased to say that Rachel did not disappoint with this new mysterious paranormal genre interwoven with folklore and romance. My Soul to Take had me gripping the edges of my dear book and I did not want the story to end.
I enjoyed Kaylee's story and the realization of whom she was and her and Nash's role at saving a soul. I had never read a story involving Bean Sidhe's and I liked the fact that the both of them are needed in this process. The descriptions of Kaylee's affliction were so spot on that I could sense her "attacks" I could literally feel my emotions of grief over wash me and the need to release was palpable.
My Soul To Take is a great book for the first of a series. You get enough information about the Bean Sihde and Reaper culture that is fascinating and fresh, amid all the currant stories in print about vampires, werewolves and fairies. My Soul to Take gives you enough so that it ensnares you and makes you want more as your reading it and gripping the edge of your seat the entire time. It is this that makes me appreciate Rachel Vincent all the more. She is a wonderful story teller that gives you bits of literary wonder that keeps you coming back for more.
I recommend My Soul To Take for YA and Adult readers. The story is great and now I cannot wait for My Soul To Save, coming out in 2010. Gah....I don't think I can wait that long

What a fantastic book to mark the launch of the new Harlequin Teen line!

Rachel Vincent, author of the Shifters series, has found another "new" and original subject in her Soul Screamers series. Kaylee Cavanaugh has just learned that she is the latest in a line of bean sidhes (banshees) -- that she can not only sense death, but also sing for the dying soul and help it pass to the other side. Course she thinks she might be losing her mind until she finds out why she has the uncontrollable urge to scream around the dying. And when she discovers that girls in her town are dying from no apparent cause, she knows that her newfound ability may be the only thing that can stop it.

Loved it! I'm a fan of Rachel Vincent's Werecats series, so I'm glad to see that she has done such a great job translating to the YA genre.

Kaylee Cavanaugh, having been pawned off by her father following the death of her mother, lives with her Uncle Brendon, Aunt Val, and bratty cousin Sophie. Despite her unique home life, Kaylee is a great teen heroine: comfortable with who she is, yet not immune to typical teenage anxieties. She's the kind of girl that you could easily see as your best friend. Considering her family situation and the powers that she's only beginning to understand, she's pretty level-headed and well-adjusted too...
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