Review: Intertwined

Title: Intertwined
Author: Gena Showalter
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 440
Series: Intertwined #1
Rating: 4.5 stars
From the book jacket: 
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, as long as he's near 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. Still, the four will enter a dark underworld of intrigue and danger - but not everyone will come out alive...

**********

Before you start reading this review and think that I'm trashing this book, I want you to know that I really enjoyed it. It was excellent, and I'm definitely going to have to read Unraveled (the sequel) as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. But...

I'm going to start off with the stuff I didn't like. There were so many things that reminded me of Twilight! Vampires and werewolves involved in forbidden/impossible romances with humans, and a vampire + bodyguard named Victoria and Riley. Really? And I hate what the jacket flap says. It's way too long winded and it doesn't even get to the point about what the story is about.

What I loved, though, was the story itself, and the characters, and the paranormal elements. They even mentioned dragons at one point, although we didn't see them. For a long time, one of my Random Literary Goals has been to find a book that mentions vampires/werewolves and dragons, because I love dragons but they never appear in the same stories as the others, even though vampires and werewolves and dragons are all paranormal. So this book gets major points for that.

But getting back on track: the story was great. A little predictable in places (the whole Eve thing - you'll understand if you have read it or decide to read it, but I don't want to say more because it's spoilery), but one of the most original storylines I've found in a long time. Aden has these four souls living inside of him, and somehow he did something that called all the paranormal creatures to him - including the vampires, led by Vlad the Impaler, and his daughter, whom Elijah (one of Aden's souls) has seen in a vision. And then there's Mary Ann, who feels just as weirdly drawn to Aden as he does to her, and somehow negates Aden's powers. I really want book two to find out what's going on!

And the characters. It's not often that an author can create this many characters and give them all such distinct personalities - especially with two narrators - but not only do Mary Ann and Aden both feel separate and real, Victoria and Riley and the souls (Eve, Elijah, Julian, and Caleb) are also distinctive, particularly Eve.

Other random asides: I love the idea of the je la nune vampire-killer, and I love the name Aden.

Long story short: READ IT. You may initially draw a few parallels to Twilight but it goes away quickly. It's great!

Links: 
Gena Showalter's official fan page