Intertwined by Gena Showalter

Intertwined, as suggested by the title, is about the lives of four teenagers, who all seem to be mysteriously linked. Aden, the main character, has four souls trapped inside of him, who can do numerous paranormal acts such as time travel, raising the dead, body possession and seeing the future.

Unfortunately I cannot give a plot summary because this book was highly complicated, as well as deceptively long. But basically Aden falls in love with vampire Victoria, Mary Ann falls in love with werewolf Riley, and Aden and Mary Ann feel a strange connection like they are siblings. Aden is a troubled teen being kept at the D and M Ranch because of his diagnosis of schizophrenia, and violent history. That's about as basic as I could possibly go, because there are so many elements in this it would be impossible to explain the book without giving away the ending and the two climaxes.

So let's start with Aden. Overall I liked him as a male lead. He recognized Victoria's strength as a woman and a vampire, but also felt it was his duty to protect her. He was very selfless throughout the entire book, and apart from an extremely awkward beginning, he was a good friend.

Mary Ann on the other hand, was beyond annoying. Not only is she self-centered, but she's obsessed with being a goody-goody and grades and school and her job. The amount of times she said "I want to be a clinical psychologist, so I know blah blah blah" made me want to scream. Really, I'm sorry, but she was the weakest link in the story. Sort of like a Bella character, everyone feels drawn to her and love her oh so very much, but to the reader she just seems awkward and self-absorbed.

I'll take Riley and Victoria together, since Riley is Victoria's bodyguard. They were fun characters, but still didn't seem to have as much substance as Aden did. Riley was super fantastic, and deserves way better than Mary Ann. Victoria was cool, but didn't really do anything to stand out much throughout the book. Mostly Aden just obsesses about her, and then she shows up and says some things, then leaves and Aden goes back to obsessing.

As far as the plot goes I'll say it was a little predictable, but not completely. I can say I guessed one of the climaxes, but not the other. However, the story seemed really long. It took me forever to read, when I've read much longer books in a shorter time. I'm not sure why this is, but it could have had to do with how many elements were in the plot. It just felt like it would never end! And it doesn't, by the way, most of the big mysteries are left unsolved, which makes it clear Ms. Showalter was planning on making a few sequels.

Gena mostly writes adult novels, a few of which I have reviewed on this sight. Normally I really love her stories, but I think this attempt at Young Adult was a little weak, to be honest. I think it got too complicated, and there was so much plot mixed in that there wasn't time for character development. There was a lot of internal conversations going on that weren't really necessary, and that made it really drag. I'd say I definitely like Gena's adult books more than this one.

So in conclusion I'd have to say I don't recommend this very highly. I don't think I'll be finishing the series, and to be honest I'm really glad I'm down so I can move on to something better. The world and characters all just seemed blurred and grey to me, though I wish I could say otherwise.

Two Stars.

Rosalie

Intertwined on Goodreads