Review: With All My Soul

Author: Rachel Vincent
Date of Publication: March 26 2013
Pages: 377
Source: Library
Series: Soul Screamers #7

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....

Review:

Now that the tears have stopped falling and I have a massive headache, maybe I can coherently convey how exceptional this ending was to the series. For the past many years, I've turned towards Soul Screamers as one of my most trusted series. These books made me laugh and cry and I think the biggest theme they explore is love.

There is so much love going on, and it's so profound. It's not just about romances. Those are pretty fantastic, but the friendship and the family bonds are just as powerful. Kaylee cares so much for her friends and family and they adore her too. They still have issues, but like all people, they're making it work.

That being said, I can't even explain how much I ship Tod and Kaylee. Their love is beautiful and so meaningful. They have complete trust in one another and they understand each other. I loved that they never got into fights over the petty things. They are both so supportive and this is what soulmates should be like.

The plot in With All My Soul is mostly tying up loose ends for the series, but it's still entertaining. I've grown to love the characters deeply and like all good finales, With All My Soul did its best at being fair to every character. The ending was hard to read because you just knew that something awful was going to happen.

There were some scenes between Kaylee and Tod that had me bawling because gosh those two are just so perfect for each other and I want them to have eternity but their lives are so unfair. Tod manages always to say the right thing, and when the book did end, it ended appropriately.

I don't think With All My Soul is my favourite of the series. That honour still goes out to If I Die. That being said, it was still a pretty damn good book. If there is any real critique I have, it's that Rachel Vincent's message early on in the book is so sweet but spoils the ending a little. Nothing major, and I know some people would appreciate it, but I honestly want to know nothing about what's going to happen.

I'm sad Soul Screamers ended but I'm happy that it's done with dignity. With All My Soul on its own gets 4 stars, but the series itself is worthy of five stars.

-P.E.