{Review} Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent

Title: Before I Wake
Series: Soul Screamers #6
Author: Rachel Vincent
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Synopsis:

I died on a Thursday-killed by a monster intent on stealing my soul. The good news? He didn't get it. The bad news? Turns out not even death will get you out of high school...  Covering up her own murder was one thing, but faking life is much harder than Kaylee Cavanaugh expected. After weeks spent "recovering," she's back in school, fighting to stay visible to the human world, struggling to fit in with her friends and planning time alone with her new reaper boyfriend. But to earn her keep in the human world, Kaylee must reclaim stolen souls, and when her first assignment brings her face-to-face with an old foe, she knows the game has changed. Her immortal status won't keep her safe. And this time Kaylee isn't just gambling with her own life....

Sigh Rachel, Rachel, Rachel! How could you do this to me??? I literally screamed ARE YOU INSANE at your picture at the back of the book. Before I Wake is the best in the Soul Screamers series so far. I finished the book in 5 hours. I couldn’t put it down at all. It is intense and soul stealing (pun intended) and it smacks the coherent thought right out of your head! This stays one of my favourite series ever!

It starts off a month after the events in If I Die and things are almost just as intense as where we were left off. Kaylee is up against a mysterious soul thief as well as dealing with being separate from the living world. She feels herself slipping away when she is not with Tod, so the reader ends up getting very worried about her, I know I did. I just wanted her to be herself again but she’s not so do not read this expecting to read about the Kaylee that you know. Even though she is different, it’s not a major change. She still has a hero complex and she still puts everyone before herself, but she has lost a part of herself that she may never get back. She still does the job that has been set out for her to do. If I could describe Kaylee in one word it would be determined. This girl is so strong and I honestly admire her strength because who could go through all that and just keep going?

The events in Before I Wake are a turning point for all the characters and I found this so refreshing. You see growth in most of the main characters and not just the leads. Nash gained back some of my respect and I felt that the boy is finally starting to grow up, granted it only happened later into the story. Even though he grated on my last nerve I understood that he was also hurt very badly and people tend to forget that because some of us only saw what he did to deserve it you know? Now with Sabine, I finally do not want her to die a horrible death. I actually kind of like her now. She makes me laugh and she honestly wants to be Kaylee’s friend and she has a very vulnerable side that she only shows to Kaylee for some strange reason that I have not figured out yet. Emma is still the same strong, best friend of Kaylee that she always was. Even though she is scared she stands by her friends and refuses to get left behind. Sophie is still a bitch and think she is the princess of America, she hasn’t grown at all in my opinion, maybe I missed something.

Now on to the sexiest reaper I know! What can I say about Tod that you don’t already know? He got hotter? No, that’s impossible because he has already exceeded that. That he got more swoon worthy? Maybe, because in Before I Wake you get to see so much more of Tod since he is almost always with Kaylee. You see how sweet he is with her and how much he loves her. He is very protective of her in such a way that I wish I had a Tod that wants to protect me like that. He would do anything for her as we established in If I Die but we see more of it in Before I Wake. It was so nice. Even though Tod kind of took Kaylee from Nash, and Nash hates him for that, he still would do anything for his brother and really needs his brother to forgive him. That’s why I hope Nash finds out in the last book the sacrifice Tod made for him.

Before I Wake, is captivating from start to finish. You cannot go wrong in reading it. It is a treat to the imagination and it keeps you guessing and it throws twists at you from every turn.