Review: Not bad, not great, probably not the best intro to Soul Screamers...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 18, 2010
Rachel Vincent's Reaper is an interesting story that explains how Tod becomes a reaper. While the story is moving and interesting, I felt that it fell short in a number of areas. I enjoyed the TV series Dead Like Me quite a bit, and I didn't see much here that was different from that series. Vincent mentions that Tod and his family (and another character that appears later) are 'bean sidhe', but while this is an interesting detail, it goes nowhere in this story. Surprisingly, as difficult as it must be for Tod to become a reaper, I really felt that it lacked emotional punch. Finally, Tod's new 'boss' outlines some pretty serious consequences, if Tod screws up, but Tod goes right out and breaks the rules, and nothing happens. There's an explanation for this, but it just feels weak. The best parts of this story are the actual plot and Tod's general attitude.I've heard about the series, and I keep up with a lot of the YA series (I'm a high school teacher), but I don't think this is the best introduction. I liked the main character, but now I feel like the stories won't be interesting enough to keep me engaged. Unfortunately, I think it's going to be a while until I return to this series.