Review: If I Die by Rachel Vincent ~ ***The Starry-Eyed Revue***

Title: If I Die
Author: Rachel Vincent
Series: Soul Screamers
Publisher: Harlequin
Publication Date: September 27, 2011
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Rating:

From Goodreads:

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee.

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.

Review:

Hands down, this is my favorite book in the series. (So far.) Sometimes, I'm amazed at how an author can continue a storyline for more than a few books, but Rachel Vincent handles this fifth book with grace and ingenuity. The characters and the way she writes leave me hoping this series NEVER ends.

If the synopsis is to be believed, Kaylee's going to die. But rather than dwell on this, what does Kaylee do? Why, she makes it her mission to save the girls at school from the incubus who has secured himself a position as a new teacher at her school, of course. Kaylee isn't going to take this death-thing lying down, after all.

However, Kaylee doesn't always make the wisest decisions. She's got a bucket list, and Nash is on it. Things between Kaylee and Nash still haven't returned to the way they were before they encountered the demon breath in My Soul to Keep, but they're getting closer. Maybe too close? Insert one dead brother and one pi$$ed off, obsessed mara, and you've got yourself a catastrophe in the making.

I'm #TeamTod. I've said this before, I know. But his character really shines in this book. So much so that even if you didn't really like him before, you'll probably end up loving him when you've finished reading If I Die. Whereas Nash is focused on Kaylee's final days, Tod is struggling to find a way to save her. By the end of the book, I was kind of over Nash, especially after that last confrontation and knowing how easily he uses his addiction as a crutch.

Rachel Vincent has created an intensely unique world with her bean sidhes (banshees), reapers, maras, demons and let us not for get the incubi. Even more astounding is the mythology behind this world and how it makes her characters so distinctive to her story. This author's writing is fabulous, and I look forward to reading her other series (plural) very soon!