Review: Never To Sleep, by Rachel Vincent

This was my last post (originally published on my tumblr for lack of a blog) for the Soul Screamers Reading Challenge hosted by Fiktshun. I’m sad it’s over :( It was a great way to feel part of a community of people all reading the same books. I also regret not getting around to posting reviews of all the books and novellas / short stories.

goodreads. amazon.

Goodreads description:

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...?

Review:

CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR IF I DIE

It was strange being inside Sophie’s mind and seeing Kaylee and everything that’s going on from her perspective. I don’t like her any more than I did before (I still think she’s a spoilt egocentric brat) but I understand her better. Her boyfriend is at the psych ward, her Mum is dead, and she knows there are things concerning her death, and just in general, that everyone else in her family seems to know about but no one is telling her. Blaming Kaylee for everything just gives her a target for her fears and frustration.

The novella also made me realize that Sophie has her own kind of strength. It takes a lot of effort to stay part of the in-crowd – loads of planning, loads of elbow action. She does not hesitate to go after what she wants, be it a certain position, a pair of shoes, or a boy.

But HOW does Sophie travel to the Netherworld?! She was supposed to be all human! And she had no intent to cross – she just, well, screamed. Banshee style. Which landed her and Luca, the not-quite-human (not that she knows) guy she just met and herself in the Netherworld – a place which will force her to re-evaluate both Kaylee’s sanity and her own.

When she meets everyone’s favorite hellion and is separated from her newfound crush, she needs to toughen up an face her fears if she ever wants to get back home…

This novella was as great as the rest of the series and helped setting the stage for what’s to come in Before I Wake. Apart from Sophie’s added perspective, her Netherworld trip will also make it much more difficult to keep herself, and impossible to keep her out of the loop. What are Avari’s plans for the Cavanaugh cousins? How do all the other part-human part-Netherworld species fit into the mix? There’s more of them in every installment of the series! Who is Luca anyway, and why did he come to that school? I don’t believe in coincidences…

Great read. Interesting developments for the reader, even though or maybe because Sophie is only aware of about half of what’s going on. I’m glad that BIW comes out in less than two weeks!