Review: With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent

With All My Soul

Author: Rachel Vincent

Release: March 26th 2013

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, YA

#7 in the Soul Screamers series

Series: My Soul To Take (#1), My Soul To Save (#2), My Soul To Keep (#3), My Soul To Steal (#4), If I Die (#5), Before I Wake (#6)

Plot:

What does it mean when your school is voted the most dangerous in America? It's time to kick some hellion butt...

After not really surviving her junior year (does "undead" count as survival?), Kaylee Cavanaugh has vowed to take back her school from the hellions causing all the trouble. She's going to find a way to turn the incarnations of Avarice, Envy and Vanity against one another in order to protect her friends and finish this war, once and forever.

But then she meets Wrath and understands that she's closer to the edge than she's ever been. And when one more person close to her is taken, Kaylee realizes she can't save everyone she loves without risking everything she has....

Goodreads | B&N

Review:

Wow, this series finally draws to a close, huh? It's been a while, and a lot of books. Now, to be honest, I bought this right away back when it came out but I have absolutely no memory of what I read back in Before I Wake, although Goodreads claims I've read it back in August. I didn't re-read it though, and everything that happened in book #6 came back to me slowly while reading this final installment, fortunately.

Characters

They truly make this series. If you don't like the cast, you're doomed. Personally, though I do love them, I'm not extremely attached to them. However, I still love reading about them and accompany them on their adventures. Kaylee is a great narrator and very nice heroine, although she has the annoying quality of being too recklessly selfless and sacrifice herself for everyone else... I can turn a blind eye on that one, because I generally like her attitude and her personality. Tod was great as always, his humour and confidence are a great asset to the atmosphere. Nash was a good character and one with a lot of development. He's gone a long ways since the first novel, and it shows. I especially liked him in the very end, and I'm glad he finally settles his differences with both Kaylee and Tod. Emma was, well, decent. I didn't like her as much as in the previous installments, but I can forgive her for her whiny-ness, since she had every reason to be bitching about. Sophie, though, probably underwent the most development of them all. She is hardly comparable to the snobby, stuck-up girl we met in My Soul To Take and I loved where her character actually went. She has become such a better person, while still maintaining her defining character traits. I think Vincent did this brilliantly.

There's also one new character in this one, namely Ira, and I really enjoyed him. He was simply awesome and kickass.

I am still mourning my poor Alec, but I think Luca made a good substitute. I think they are a bit similar in character and all, even though many may disagree with me there. Still, Luca was another great character.

Plot

The plot was a little slow-moving in this one. There was a lot of drama (some of it quite unnecessary) and kissing and relationships until everything got rolling. But, if you enjoy the characters — which I obviously did — it's okay. It's bearable. Plus, With All My Soul has a clear structure and I was never left completely bored. 

Writing

I adore Vincent's writing style. Vivid descriptions and generally smooth and nice style, with some nice prose here and there as well as nice and funny humor. While she still lacks the lyrical, musical quality I admire in most of my favorite authors, Vincent's writing style is still one I vastly enjoy, too.

Romance

Ah, well. This is where the book, maybe, went a bit melodramatic and exercised my eyerolling. I mean, I can understand why the characters felt the way they did. Still, it was a little too much. A bit too sappy, you know... I usually melt into puddle of goo when it gets mushy but only at the perfect dosage of fluff. Unfortunately. However, it's okay, especially since the melodrama wasn't this pronounced in all the other books. (At least, not that I remember...)

That ending, though, was the ideal way to end this series. Well, maybe not the ideal, but one of the most ideal. Perhaps I would have preferred a nice epilogue instead as well, but I can make do with what I was given. A very satisfying, nice end to a satisfying, nice series. While this ending was a bit too happy for my tastes, considering what they all went through, I'm not complaining. I mean, I never like to watch my characters suffer, but it all ended a bit convenient, if you get what I'm saying. In the end, everyone's lovey-dovey and it's all rainbows and sunshine and butterflies, sort of, and it reeks a bit of Twilight. Only a little, though. And yes, okay, maybe Kaylee did go through hell and back to get the happy ending, but still... Ah well I won't contradict myself further. It was still decent.

I'm kinda sad to let all of this go and watch this series come to an end, but at the same time, I'm also a little relieved that this book won't be staring me down from my shelf anymore, screaming "READ ME OR I'LL MURDER YOUR FAMILY." It's definitely a nice and recommendable series, nothing too deep or too shallow, but simply an engaging and gripping read with a great set of characters. Be my guest to read this, if you want to.