Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Blog with Bite - Intertwined Review



Intertwined
Gina Showalter
440 pages

Synopsis - 8/10
Plot - 9/10
Characters - 10/10
Overall Story - 9/10
Conclusion - 6/10

*Overall Score - 42/50


Synopsis: 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, for as long as he's with 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... doomed. Still, the four will enter a dark underworld of intrigue and danger... but not everyone will come out alive...








I had heard a little bit about this book on a couple of different blogs and forums before I stumbled upon Blog with Bite. At first I was a little iffy on reading it because it's not something that I would normally read....Honestly I'm a big ole sap for a sappy love story. But I'm really glad that I decided to read this book. The first chapter was a little creepy in my opinion but that's exactly what it is...my opinion. The main character Aden Stone is viewed by society as a "troubled" teen but in actuality he is possessed by 4 souls...LOVE the souls...There's just something about them I just really liked. Aden wants to go public high school so that he can spend more time with Mary Ann...who has a couple "issues" of her own. Heck there is even a little forbidden romance thrown in for both Aden and Mary Ann. I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to give away anything. I really only had two gripes with the book....Just a tad bit too many paranormal characters make an apperance in the book and the rushed ending. Overall, I'm SUPER happy with the book and I'm glad that I decided to purchase a copy instead of wait for a copy from my library.

Discussion Questions:

#1 Do you feel the ending was cut short and needed more to be resolved before the book ended? I feel that the ending was pretty rushed...It wasn't the worst ending in the world but I wasn't particularly happy with it.

#2 Regarding Question #1, what are your thoughts on series books? For one you get more and more and more - depending on how long the series drags on - for another some series leave you with very little resolution at the end of the novels, i.e. the Merry Gentry series where only a couple of hours pass within the time span of one book. Do you find this is just an authors way of having guaranteed book sales - or do you really enjoy series and love reading about your fav characters over and over again? There are some series I feel that have been written just to get the books sold...Others I have enjoyed immensly...Overall I LOVE a GOOD series and enjoy reading about my favorite characters over and over again.

#3 Which "trapped" soul was your favorite and do you see potential in the future story lines with the remaining three? I liked Eve a lot....I felt that sometimes she was the "voice of reason" for Aden.

#4 When a larger-than-life character such as Vlad Tepes aka Dracula is used as a side-plot character do you believe it gives the story a more factual base, or makes it less real? I liked that Gena used actual characters in the story...I think it made the story more "real" for me personally.

#5 What did you think of the side plot involving Tucker and Penny? Do you think the issues from that plot were adequately resolved? Honestly, I didn't care for Tucker or Penny.

#6 What is your best guess as to what Aden Stone's superpower is - the power he possess without his souls? I think he's kind of got the "Jack of all trades" superpower...But that's just me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great review...:D
Glad your with us at the BWB
Look forward to your future reviews!!

Jamie said...

Thank you for dropping by Tina...I really had a great time reading Intertwined...Didn't think I would like it but I totally surprised myself...Can hardly wait for the second book to come out!

ParaJunkee said...

Thanks for participating, I'm glad you stepped out of your comfort zone and read this with us - and enjoyed it. Good review.