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

One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

I apologize for reviewing the second book in the series before first posting the premiere novel, but in this case I read the book so long ago I feel I cannot post an accurate or fair review, particularly after reading the second book in the series.

Since I haven't told you about the first book, let's start there. First I'll say, it's fantastic. So far this series has been an absolute stunner to me. In the first book we meet Cat, a half human half vampire who's mother hates nothing more than vampires themselves since Cat's father raped her before drinking her blood. Cat is an amateur vampire hunter, who's greatest advantage is surprise, since none of them expect a human with the strength of a vampire. Enter Bones, an extremely powerful master vampire bounty hunter who kidnaps Cat and forces her into an alliance with himself. Basically they fall in love, and their romance is truly fantastic. But of course life goes downhill and fast forward to the end; the only way for Cat to save her mother and Graves is to leave Bones and go to work for a branch of Homeland Security specializing in the undead.

Now on to the second book. It's four years since Cat left Bones, and she hasn't been with anyone since. She has friends, but of course isn't happy with her life. Luckily for her Graves tracks her down–because someone put a bounty on her head. The rest of the book concerns them trying to find out who is trying to have her killed, as well as Bones' sire trying to take her as her own.

I know I really summarized the second book up, but I really don't want to spoil the story. Sound boring? Absolutely not. It is nonstop action and romance. Cat is truly a badass, and I love that she can really fight. But then there's Bones, the absolutely perfect boyfriend, Of course he's mad she left him, but he is still in love with her. Instead of holding a grudge he focuses more on keeping her safe, and getting her to fall in love with him again.

There's definitely some growth from the first book, and I really enjoyed that. There is more development on the vampires themselves, which keeps it interesting. In the first book we don't really see the extent of the vampires, and in the second Cat deals with some much more powerful vampires. I also enjoyed the expansion on Bones' past and his own powers. We definitely find some more things out about his powers, as well as meet some characters from his past.

Throughout the whole book there was never a lull. I read it all in one seating if that tells you anything. The plot flows so naturally that before you realize it, you're at the end of the book!

I do have one thing (only one!) that I did not like about this book. Normally the sex scenes are pretty great in this book, and there's no question that they get even more intense in this one. But here's the deal. I won't state explicitly what happens, but let's just say Bones is showing Cat the skills he acquired as a young gigilo, and one of them is rather distasteful. For what it was Ms. Frost did a good job of making it sound less perverse than most people view this act, but it still made me feel rather uncomfortable. That scene however, was quite long, and the before and after parts were interesting and exciting.

So in light of this I will strongly encourage you to look into this series. However this is a very adult series, so if you're younger please consider your maturity level as well as if you would want your parents to know that you're reading it before you dive in.

Four Stars

Yours Truly,

Rosalie

One Foot in the Grave on Goodreads