Intertwined by Gena Showalter
Paperback, 304 Pages
2010, Harlequin
ISBN: 0373210124
Series: Book 1 of Intertwined
Synopsis
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 possess another human.
One can tell the future.
Everyone thinks he's crazy, which is why he's spent his entire life shuffled between mental institutions and juvie. All of that is about to change, however. For months Aden has been having visions of a beautiful girl—a girl who carries centuries-old secrets. A girl who will either save him or destroy him.
Together they'll enter a dark world of intrigue and danger…but not everyone will come out alive.
Review
Intertwined is very crowded. Aden has four extra souls residing in side of him and they all have their own dialogue - making the main character more like five characters at once. In addition, we must keep track of Aden's friends, the people he lives with and the characters associated with is friends. There are a lot of different personalities and all must be kept track of to understand the story.
There are also way too many types of supernaturals introduced for a first in a series. Aden has the power to pull supernatural creatures to him and each the souls inside him has their own unique ability. Mary Ann seems to quiet Aden's power with her own. In addition, the book contains werewolves, vampires, fairies, goblins, witches, demons and zombies. The possibility of additional supernaturals - dragons among others - was mentioned as well.
As a character, Aden is definitely intriguing. The premise of a boy, thought to be schizophrenic, actually having souls living inside of him is very different, and has much potential. Each soul having an ability that Aden can utilize allows much room for future story lines.
Beyond the supernatural components, Intertwined includes some young romance, some mystery, some action and a huge amount of background information. The book lays a lot of groundwork for the future, but left me wishing for more present day action.
Intertwined has a lot going for it. Aden and those he becomes close with in the book are all unique characters that could provide a lot of interesting twists in the future. As the first in a series, some allowances have to be made for the overcrowded and overwhelming character list. I've have high hopes that the next book, Unraveled, will take advantage of the groundwork laid here and really let loose with the action.
Rating
Links
Yep, I hope Unraveled presents some good stuff too! Nice review. =)
ReplyDeleteYour review sounds so much like mine did...I was completely overwhelmed by the number of supernatural creatures and the number of voices in the story. I just found it was SO busy that it overwhelmed the plot. Great review :)
ReplyDelete@Dazzling Mage - Thanks!
ReplyDelete@Melissa - Exactly. I'm used to keeping track of multiple characters in long running series, but it was a lot to take in for a single book.
This is almost exactly how I felt about it. I'm not even sure if I'll read the second. I'll probably just try to get it from the library.
ReplyDelete@Tara SG - That's what I would have done if I hadn't gotten a copy at BEA. I definitely don't like the series enough to buy copies of the books.
ReplyDelete