Intertwined by Gena Showalter
HarlequinTeen (September 1, 2009
448 pages
$10.87 Hardcover (Amazon.com, 08/23/09)
$9.99 Kindle (Amazon.com, 08/23/09)
Plot: 4
Setting: 4
Writing: 5
Originality: 5
Characters: 5
Passion: 4
Overall: 27/30 = 90% - A
Cover/Title Bonus: 4
I picked up a signed ARC of Intertwined while at BEA in May. I read it within a few days of returning home and devoured it very quickly.
Summary (Gena’s website)
There’s something about the new guy at Crossroads High…
Most sixteen-year-olds have friends. Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him:
One can time-travel.
One can raise the dead.
One can tell the future.
And one can possess another human.
With no other family and a life spent in and out of institutions, Aden and the souls have become friends. But now, they’re causing him all kinds of trouble.
Like, he’ll blink and suddenly he’s a younger Aden, reliving the past. One wrong move, and he’ll change the future. Or, he’ll walk past a total stranger and know how and when she’s going to die.
He’s so over it. All he wants is peace.
And then he meets a girl who quiets the voices. Well, for as long as he’s with her. Why? Mary Ann Gray is his total opposite. He’s a loner; she has friends. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks; she tries to make everyone happy. And while he attracts the paranormal, she repels it. For her sake, he should stay away. But it’s too late. . .
Somehow, they share an inexplicable bond of friendship. A bond about to be tested by a werewolf shape-shifter who wants Mary Ann for his own and a vampire princess Aden can’t resist. Two romances, both forbidden. . . doomed. Still, the four will enter a dark underworld of intrigue and danger. . . but not everyone will come out alive. . .
Read an excerpt!
Plot:
Aden has 4 spirits in his head. One of them can raise the dead so he must steer clear of graveyards and such. One can time travel. One can tell the future. And one can possess another human. They prove to be cumbersome yet useful. One day he travels just a few steps too close to a graveyard in his new town, raises some dead people all because he was trying to get closer to a girl. That’s where we meet Mary Ann. They feel something when ever they are in close proximity. Their attraction isn’t sexual attraction but rather brother sisterly attraction, which I was a little upset about but got over that quickly.
Aden lives on a ranch for troubled teens and bunks with a few other boys who are not too friendly.
Mary Ann is being followed by a wolf. She quiets the voices in Aden’s head.
Aden glimpses a hot girl in a line of trees near the ranch. He begins dreaming about her.
Much, much, much more happens to make this story twisted between all characters involved. It unfolds very well but it keeps you on your toes.
Setting:
Crossroads, Oklahoma is the town and Aden lives on the D and M Ranch. Most of Aden’s scenes revolve around the ranch and the surrounding woods. Some takes place in their high school. Mary Ann’s home and bedroom are visited frequently. Nothing extraordinary, except the graveyard and a few time travel expeditions, prove to be anything but a normal town.
Writing:
I love reading Gena’s books. She’s what I call a safe read for me. I know that when I open one of her books I’m going to be thoroughly entertained and finish it smiling. Intertwined did that and more. I loved that there was an abundance of characters. Aden and Mary Ann being the main characters but they each find a love interest. The book is written in third person which allows the reader to grasp a ton of information without losing the connection with each character.
The voices in Aden’s head do tend to get overbearing but they proved to be entertaining.
Originality:
I found this book to be very original. With Aden having all those spirits in his head each with their special power proved to show how creative Gena can be. Mix in a wolf shape shifter and some vampires and we’ve got a wonderful concoction of supernatural awesomeness. I love that this was a YA. It was the first YA book of Gena’s that I’ve read and it has proven to me that she’s very capable to writing both adult and YA. I will be reading her other YA books in the future.
Characters:
I’ve already mentioned a ton about Aden. He has spirits in his head that proved him with some pretty wicked super powers. He uses each of them a few times during the story and they were pretty cool. He matures over the course of the book and that’s always fun to see.
Mary Ann was also very cool. I actually liked her story a bit more than Aden’s and can’t wait to read the next book in the story, which Gena is working on now and the title is Unraveled, to see how the ending of this book is handled. Unraveled will release September 2010.
The two love interests are Victoria the Vampire and Riley the shape shifting wolf protector of Victoria. Victoria is a nice vampire who really shouldn’t be falling for a human. Riley is freaking awesome! He’s the dangerous bad boy some of us just drool over. Some of his lines, which are usually short and to the point, are to die for!
Passion:
This is a YA book so the passion isn’t hot and heavy but true to a teen romance. There’s some minor skinny dipping with Aden and Victoria and Mary Ann and Riley have some pretty deep conversations about their attraction to each other. Each relationship is handled very nicely. Each seems to happen naturally, not pushed what so ever. And I’m actually looking forward to seeing Mary Ann and Riley together more than Aden and Victoria.
Overall:
I loved this book. I was just sitting here flipping through the pages and now I want to reread it! I loved this book for the very reasons why other reviews hated it. I loved the chaos of all the characters. I didn’t find it hard to follow but I can understand how others might find it confusing or overbearing. I loved all the supernatural elements. It was a true paranormal fantasy. And lastly, I loved it because it seemed real, even though it was absolutely crazy it flowed like it really happened.
Cover/Title:
I like this cover. The text font is super cool and the coloring is nice. I don’t like that Aden’s head is cut in half. I just had a conversation with another author about this very thing. Why do that? It works on his cover because I can still see the emotion being played out on Aden’s face but I would have loved to see his ENTIRE face. His clothes depict him as a true teenager: fitted yet comfortable. And I must comment on the size of the book. It’s shorter and just slightly wider than a normal book. I find that very cool and it felt very comfortable.
And Intertwined as the title? It’s perfect. The characters are nothing if not Intertwined.
Other reviews:
Steph Su Reads – 2 out of 5
Babbling About Books, and More – DNF
The Book Smugglers – 8 – Excellent
Ravenous Reader – 3 and 3/4 Y’s
SciFiGuy
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I’ve seen Intertwined at Borders as of last week so you might be able to get this early. I also heard that Amazon.com is already shipping too. Here’s Intertwined in action at the local Borders in Hagerstown, MD.
I have an extra, brand new ARC of Intertwined. Interested? Look for the next blog post for the contest! :)
Speaking of contests! Are you signing up daily for the Intertwined Sweepstakes!? You must! Entry widget is on my sidebar or visit my blog post about it.
