Reaper

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

Rachel Vincent???s Reaper is a novella set in her SOUL SCREAMERS world. I read it because it was free for members at Audible during one of their promotions. I haven???t read any of the SOUL SCREAMERS novels, but I???m familiar with the premise because I???ve read Kelly???s reviews (at FanLit) of the series.

Reaper is the story of how Tod, sacrificing himself for his impulsive younger brother Nash, became a reaper. We get to know Tod, Nash, and their mom pretty well. We also learn a bit about Sabine, Nash???s girlfriend, and Addison, Tod???s ex-girlfriend-turned-pop-star.

Fans of the SOUL SCREAMERS series won???t want to miss Reaper because it contains a moving background story. However, this novella can stand alone for those who haven???t started the series yet, and it may be a quick and easy way to discover if you want to venture further into Vincent???s world.

Personally, I struggled with Reaper ??? not because there was anything wrong with it (there wasn???t), but simply because it was devastatingly emotional. I don???t like stories where the crux of the plot involves children or teenagers getting hurt. As the mother of two teenage boys who are very close to each other, I thought this story was especially disturbing. It was a lot like reading the famous Dear Abby column called ???Please, God, I???m Only 17.??? If you don???t mind that sort of emotional gut punch, you???ll like this one better than I did.

Reaper is available on Kindle or audiobook. The audiobook version was read by Anthony Haden. His performance was good except that I didn???t like the slimy voice he used for Nash. However, Kelly, who has read the series, thought the slimy voice was appropriate.

I <3 Tod. That is all.

The cover:

So this is Tod!! I'm glad I can finally see how my favorite character looks like .

The storyline:

So I was supposed to read this before My Soul To Keep but decided otherwise since It is just a novella and it wouldn't affect the story of the series. After finishing MStK, I decided that I needed to read this one. I had to know how Tod became who he is in the series.

This novella was short, accurate and good to read. I found a different Tod than the one in the series, acting like a selfish, non-human reaper but I found out why soon enough.

So to not spoil this review, I'll just say that unlike what Nash says all the time, that he's brother owes him, in fact, he owes Tod a lot!! You'll be so shocked to find out!

The characters:

Tod is an awesome brother and Nash is obviously blind not to see that.

Levi, whom I was supposed to guess that he'll be here, is an awesome dead kid reaper! I'm a fan of him!!! .

Conclusion:

This was a very good quick read from Tod's point of view. As always, I love Rachel's writing .

This is a favorite.