Rgz Street Team: Enna and Priya Review My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent

The rgz Street Team is a group of teens who bring YA reviews to our blog, led by Postergirl Miss Erin. Find out more.

Today, both Enna and Priya review My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent (read the Soul Screamers series Cover Stories here!):

Enna's review:
"This book was pretty good, when it wasn't focusing on the sexual tension between the two main characters. Whenever it got to those parts I just found myself skimming. Luckily, it wasn't a HUGE part of the book, though it was prevalent.

"Another thing that bothered me was what they called the banshee's bean sidhes. But I don't really want to talk much about that, since I understand why the author wanted to do it.

"But, all in all, those were the only things that bothered me. I liked the story, but didn't love it. It's nothing that will WOW you, but it's not bad either. Note that it is about demons and death, and I know that bothers some people.

"It worked really well as a stand-alone book. This is the second in a series, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything (I haven't read the first). That's one of the biggest compliments I can give to a book." --Enna

Priya's Review:
My Soul to Save (the sequel to the thrilling novel My Soul to Take) is book 2 of the Soul Screamer series. As the synopsis says, "When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies." However, when a pop star dies onstage at a concert and Kaylee doesn't scream, she knows that something's wrong. She soon finds out that several girls are giving up their souls in order to achieve fame - even though they'll be forced to spend eternity in torture. With a few friends, Kaylee embarks on a journey to get the girls' souls back and find out who's behind this soul trade. (Go here for the official synopsis.)

"My Soul to Save was a fantastic sequel, full of action, suspense, and great characters. The writing was fast-paced and descriptive, and the plot was exciting. Although I felt like Kaylee had a little too much luck in some places (whenever she's in trouble, something always comes up to get her out of it), overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It's labeled as paranormal, but it's much more than that - I would definitely check it out if I were you!

"Here's the book trailer for My Soul to Save.

"You can also learn more about Kaylee by downloading the free Soul Screamers prequel My Soul to Lose here!" --Priya

Contests + Winners!

First, check out the chat with Cassandra Clare, Melissa Walker and Patrick Ness and leave a comment for a chance to win books by these authors! We'll choose a winner next week!

Second, here are the winners of the contests we've been hosting. Yay! Send your addresses to readergirlz AT gmail DOT com to claim your prizes.

1. Rachel Vincent's Cover Story:
TJ wins a copy of My Soul to Take + a My Soul To Take t-shirt!

2. Gena Showalter's Cover Story:
Dani wins a copy of Intertwined + an Intertwined t-shirt!

3. PC Cast's Cover Story:
Wendy wins a copy of My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent!
Elaina wins a copy of Intertwined by Gena Showalter!

4. Guest post by Laura Resau, author of The Indigo Notebook:
Cari wins a copy of The Indigo Notebook!

Thanks, Harlequin Teen and Laura Resau! Congratulations and good luck, rgz!

Cover Stories: Soul Screamers Series by Rachel Vincent

Rachel Vincent, author of My Soul to Take (August 2009), My Soul to Save (January 2010), My Soul to Keep (June 2010), and My Soul to Lose (free e-book prequel here) stopped by to chat about the Soul Screamers covers (and give you a chance to win some cool prizes). Read on!

"I think the coolest thing about the cover process for the Soul Screamers books is that all three of the covers were designed at the same time, so the continuity between the titles is flawless. In other words, they match each other perfectly. ;-)

"For each Harlequin title, the author is asked to fill out an online art fact sheet, which is a form full of questions about every possible aspect of the novel. Plot, characters, setting, clothing, themes, physical characteristics, title meanings, etc... But for the Soul Screamers books, among the very first of Harlequin's young adult covers, we went a bit beyond the art fact sheet.

"In addition to the forms I filled out, my editor asked me to send in pictures that best reflected Kaylee (my main character) physically, as well as other images that captured the tone of the novel. I sent in these images of Danielle Panabaker and Alexis Bledel, who both have that every-girl look I was going for:

"Pretty, but in an average-teenager kind of way. I also sent in about a dozen different creepy images to represent the eerie feel of the Netherworld (which we'll see a lot of in the second and third books).

"Personally, in the beginning, I pictured an ensemble cast shot (similar to what I later saw on the cover for Another Faust), with some creepy Netherworld imagery around them, but the art department decided pretty early on to focus on just Kaylee, which I think works, because she's the only viewpoint character.

"For a while, there was talk about a close-up of just her face, with some color swirls in her irises, but in the end, they decided to go with a full body shot. Once they'd chosen a design, my editor sent me images of all three cover concepts (mockups). Each showed 'Kaylee' in a different pose, wearing a different dress, on a different colored background. Red for My Soul To Take, blue-green for My Soul to Save, and purple for My Soul to Keep. For these mockups, they used stock images, and approximations of the final fonts.

"My favorite part of the concepts was the 'word ribbon' (see the final cover, top). On each mockup, the title was repeated over and over, winding around Kaylee's body in a continuous stream. I loved that! I'd never seen it done anywhere else.

"Once they'd scheduled the cover shoot, my editor sent me pictures of the two models they were considering for Kaylee, and they were both perfect for the part (see the chosen one, left). And since the art department already had concepts in place for all three titles, they were able to take pictures for all three covers during that one cover shoot. For me, that was a big relief, because with my adult series, we're on our third cover model, after having lost the previous two mid-series.

[Here are the three poses for My Soul to Take:]

[And here's the retouched image of the chosen cover image:]

"Unfortunately, doing the word ribbon on the actual cover proved more difficult than on the mockup, so the review copies went out with different, regular swirlies. But I was thrilled to see that the word ribbon made it onto the final cover of My Soul to Take, and that it's even more prominent on My Soul to Save (right). And soon, we should have the final cover for My Soul to Keep! I can't wait to see it!"

I love all this insider info and the shots! Thanks, Rachel! What do you guys think of the covers in the series so far?

Harlequin Teen says: We hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about Rachel Vincent's covers and that you’ll love the books as much as we love our covers. We’d also like to hear what you—truly!—think about our covers, and YA covers in general. Which are your favorites, which are your least favorites, and why?Comment here, and you might win a copy of My Soul to Take, Intertwined, or a cool matching T-shirt. Thanks for being with us today at Readergirlz!