Never To Sleep (Soul Screamers Novella)

by Rachel Vincent
Released:  January 1, 2012

4 stars (out of 5)

Don’t Close Your Eyes.

Sophie Cavanaugh is not going to let her freak of a cousin’s strange psychiatric condition ruin high school for them both. Not after all the work she’s put into cultivating the right look, and friends, and reputation. But then, Sophie sees something so frightening she lets out a blood-curdling scream—and finds herself stuck in a bizarre parallel world where nothing is safe and deadly creatures lurk just out of sight, waiting for her to close her eyes and sleep…forever.

Could this world be real? Or does insanity run in the family…?

*******************************************

Well, the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge (hosted by Fiktshun.com) is coming to a close with the short story Never To Sleep from Rachel Vincent.

Vincent held the information about the point of view for this novella close to her chest, so it was a shock to find out that our narrator is Kaylee’s cousin Sophie Cavanaugh.  Sophie seemed like the least likely choice (I was hoping for Tod’s reaper boss Levi), but she turned out to be a very enjoyable narrator!

If you’ve read the Soul Screamers series (and if you haven’t yet – stop reading this, buy the first book and start reading NOW!) you know that Sophie is one of those characters you love to hate.  She is a “mean girl” who is sarcastic and a pain in Kaylee’s rear end.  But Vincent managed to add in a few good qualities to Sophie that made me see there might be more to her than meets the eye:  she is totally dedicated to the school dance team and would never think of letting them down; she was devastated by the loss of one of those team members in the first book My Soul to Take; and she seems to really love her parents.  So, not a totally bad person.

In Never To Sleep Sophie finds herself attracted to a new boy at school named Luca, who ends up accompanying her on an unexpected trip to the Netherworld when Sophie screams.  The Netherworld takes guts to survive, and that is something Sophie does not lack.  When she becomes separated from Luca and trapped on a Netherworld playground, she is visited by a tortured soul from Kaylee and Tod’s past who provides her with the key to escape.

This book is meant to be read AFTER book five, If I Die.  One of the characters Sophie and Luca run into in the Netherworld would not be recognized if you have not read If I Die, and Sophie actually witnesses a scene involving Kaylee that would be spoiled if you read this novella first.  Never To Sleep also sets a few things up for book six, Before I Wake (due out June 26, 2012), that you may not recognize the significance of if you haven’t read the books in the correct order.  You have been warned…

Never To Sleep gives us a first look at Luca who will be playing a part in book six and, I have to say, I like what I see.  He appears to be a handsome, friendly young man who is obviously familiar with the Netherworld, which is a good thing since Sophie hasn’t got a clue.  I get the feeling, however, that he may have an agenda we know nothing about yet.  We also see for the first time that Sophie has a power of her own – what it is exactly I’m still not sure, but it looks to be a variation on Kaylee’s soul-scream.  I’m very anxious to see how this is developed in the next book.

I found Sophie’s head a surprisingly easy place to be; she is more acerbic than Kaylee, but not to the point you can’t stand her.  For such a short book, Sophie has an incredible amount of growth.  At the beginning of the story it looks like she is unwilling to stand up for a friend, but by the end she has found the strength to do it.  I loved that about her.  I don’t see her and Kaylee ever becoming fast friends (she hasn’t grown THAT much), but I could definitely see her as someone who might have Kaylee’s back under the right circumstances.  When she finds out how much has been hidden from her by her family, though, I think her fury will be a sight to behold.

With its different point of view, strong heroine and glimpses at what the next book might hold, Never To Sleep is a must-read addition to the Soul Screamers world.  For such a short book, there is plenty of action and even a touch of romance.  Sophie may not have been my choice of narrator, but Rachel Vincent knew what she was doing and managed to provide an extremely enjoyable read that foreshadows what is to come in the series.  June 26th can’t come soon enough.