sábado, 20 de abril de 2013

With All My Soul, Rachel Vincent



My thoughts: How bittersweet to be writing about the last book in this series. It's sad to say goodbye to the characters and the world, but also happy to see them end in a good place. I'll miss Kaylee and her family and friends. But I became a fan of the author, so I know I'll be able to find what I liked most about these books in her other books. The writing. The ability to make emotions and relationships so complicated and so real. The high stakes. The mythology. The family and friendship bonds. The consequences of one's actions. The love triangle that is actually a love triangle and yet doesn't make me so furious I want to kill every party involved or myself. There was never a dull moment, and the books have been consistently good throughout the whole series, so this is a paranormal series I'd unconditionally recommend.

This time around, the threat posed by Avari (and Invidia and Belphegore) reaches its peak, with Avari hell-bent on acquiring Kaylee's soul to torment and torture for eternity. Kaylee knows her family and friends will never have peace with Avari looming over their lives; but would delivering her soul help achieve it? What an impossible lose-lose situation. I have to say, I had no idea how things with Avari could be solved. The hellions are way too strong and determined to be ridden of easily. Kaylee's original plan was good, but things changed too fast for it to work out.

Luckily, there was a new player in town, a hellion of wrath, Ira. I really enjoyed this character. As a hellion, he was evil and tricky as they come, but he seemed nuanced. (As in, less obsessed to own Kaylee's soul.) Quite an interesting character, and I kind of wish he was introduced sooner. He raised some questions that made Kaylee think about anger and righteousness, justice and vengeance, and ultimately may have led to her final decision.

I enjoyed to have closure on several loose threads from earlier books (though a couple were untouched... saved for a novella, maybe? *crosses fingers*), and my favorite was the one with the Hudson brothers. I really needed to see that happen, and I'm glad it did. Nash needed to let go of his anger (I actually thought he would be a prime candidate to make a deal with Ira) and to grow up a little, and Tod needed to have his brother back. I love to watch/read about sibling relationships, especially ones depicted like theirs, so complex and never easy.

And Kaylee... wow, how she grew up to be this secure, mature, brave young woman. She still did mistakes, and took risks without telling anyone, but I understand why she thought she had to. She had to deal with a lot of responsability, and she dealt with it so well. I imagined that she may have to go down that path she took in the end, but she was very clever about the way she did it. Well done, Kaylee.

And about the ending... it was short, and I wanted to know MORE (I always want to know more), but I liked it. It managed to show what life for Kaylee and Tod will be from now on, with their immortality and eternal youth. I'm glad they have each other. (And I adore their little moments together... I'll miss seeing them together. And I'll miss the awesome - both the funny and the beautiful - things Tod says.) They love and complement each other, they never lose themselves in the relationship, and they will keep each other grounded, for as long as they have.

Now that I think about it, how awesome it would be to have a futuristic UF with Kaylee and Tod solving paranormal crimes? Just me? Okay... But I like to wonder what their lives will be, what Earth will be in a 100 or maybe a 1000 years, if they are still around (hopefully they will... Tod was such a fanboy around Libby that I want him to get to be that old).

Pages: 384

Publisher: Mira Ink

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