Intertwined by Gena Showalter
Series: Intertwined #1
Published: September 1, 2009
Publisher: Harlequin
(440 pages, hardcover)
Summary: 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.
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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.
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My thoughts: Intertwined may be one of the best titled novels I've ever read. The story starts out as simple as any supernatural thriller/romance can: Aden has 4 souls living inside him (Eve, Julian, Elijah, & Caleb) and since they all harbor supernatural abilities, Aden has been stuck with the labels schizophrenic and violent. Then he meets Mary Ann, who shuts the voices off in his head and gives him the peace he's been seeking since he can remember. But with Mary Ann comes a web of secrets and lies that is, to put it plainly, intertwined with basically every element of the supernatural, including a werewolf (Riley) and vampire princess (Victoria). The story line was definitely kind of crazy and hard to follow at times. In fact, I spent a little bit more time than I would have liked to trying to figure out what exactly was going on. But so did the characters, so I won't complain too much.
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Aden was my favorite character (and no, it wasn't because I have a crush on him, even though I do). He was strong, protective, and honest. He was a strong protagonist, and while he definitely had character flaws and made huge mistakes, he always had good logic and good intentions. His fierce loyalty to Victoria and Mary Ann made me smile a lot and he was just a really easily likable, strong lead. Mary Ann annoyed me a little bit more: she seemed too goody-two-shoes for me. Plus, she accepts the whole supernatural world gone crazy theory way too easily to be believable to me. She just kind of follows blindly as the rest of the characters drag her along. She was sweet and innocent and kind of relatable, though. And I liked finding out what her connection to Aden really was.
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Victoria was the character that really bugged me. It wasn't so much her (though she was a little annoying) as much as it was her relationship with Aden. It seemed rushed and contrived. Despite the heat between them, it seemed like a completely superficial story line and like the characters had no real chemistry. On the other hand, I love Riley and his relationship with Mary Ann. There was heat between them too, undoubtedly, but there was also chemistry and they had a lot of conversations that showed they clicked.
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The plot line was insane. Like, almost Going Bovine-level insane. There were fairies, vampires, werewolves, psychics, time-travelers, body-possessors, goblins, witches, and more that I can't think of. But overall, I really enjoyed the story. It was confusing but in a good way, with just enough answers to satisfy and enough mystery to keep up with the intrigue. It had its overly-cheesy, or predictable moments/twists, but I couldn't put the book down a lot of the time. Showalter does a good job of interweaving a bunch of unrelated story lines and characters' lives. It was a little convenient how many supernatural beings there were in such a small space. But in general, it was a story well done and well told, and despite my grievances, it was a light, solid read and I'll definitely be reading the sequel, Unraveled, soon.
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Covering the Cover: I love the way Intertwined is written, even if the cover isn't all that eye-catching.
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars
Writing: 3 stars
Overall Rating: 3.9 stars
