Shattered Souls

What can I say? Shattered Souls was terrific. I’m not known for dabbling in the YA paranormal side of the book world, but people like Mary Lindsey are showing me that not all of it is trashy smut. (I'm not sure why, but I always thought of the majority of it being that way.)

I bought Shattered Souls without having looked into it. Generally speaking, I read reviews for books written by authors I’ve never read before. This one was a gamble for me, but the cover was beautiful and the synopsis on the back was just too hard to resist. I could’ve picked ten books at B&N that day. I limited myself to two. It didn’t take me long to realize there was no way I was leaving without Shattered Souls.

Put yourself in a world where your father died of schizophrenia, and now you’re hearing voices. Pretty scary right? You’d start thinking that you’re going insane. But, thank goodness for Lenzi, she has Alden (*swoon*), who explains everything. If you’ve ever seen the show “Ghost Whisperer” with Jennifer Love Hewitt, you kind of have an idea of what Lenzi’s job is. Hold on though. Lenzi can hear the dead but her job is also ten times cooler than Hewitt’s was in “Ghost Whisperer.” Like Hewitt, Lenzi has to help the dead move on but occasionally, she comes across a very angry ghost, and that’s when things get dicey…. I found the process of her helping the dead move on to be much more interesting. Honestly, the change brought the danger up to a significantly higher level, which made it much more entertaining.

Lenzi was a wonderful narrator. I found her to be very realistic every step of the way. The inner battle she had between believing she was insane and believing she wasn’t, was perfect. She had just the right mix of doubt that made her eventual belief in the latter realistic but not too much that it seemed unrealistic. Her interactions with Alden often made me smile. Here’s a boy she barely knows who is telling her something impossible and she’s thinking he’s crazy but hot. The author didn’t go overboard with this though. Most of the time, Lenzi was a protagonist who was very focused on the mystery in front of her. Noticing how hot Alden is was just a coincidence.

Alden was wonderful and he’d do anything to keep Lenzi safe. His knowledge brought new depth to Lenzi’s character (not that she was shallow before), which served the plot very well. He was a very pleasant character to follow and read about and I think he and Lenzi are both characters that people will easily identify with.

One thing I really like about Shattered Souls is its similarity with other YA books while also being different at the same time. The author handled the love story perfectly. Watching Lenzi and Alden fall in love was such a treat. And the writing flowed very nicely and was easy to understand. I really don’t have any complaints.

P.S. I really love this cover. The details of individual rose petals add so much depth. The background adds an imaginary texture to the cover that also really appeals to me.

This is one of those books that when I finished reading it, it was all I could think about. I'm not really sure why but I found it impossible to get it out of my head. I'm not sure what made me love this one, maybe it was the characters or maybe it was the idea of immortality or possibly the ghosts.

The idea of a girl who hears ghosts isn't exactly new in the YA genre, but I have never read a book that's done it quite like this one. Lenzi does hear spirits and it is her job as a Speaker to help these spirits find peace and move on from Earth. Along with her protector, Alden, she completes these spirit's last wishes. Sometimes though they come across a Malevolent, which is an evil spirit fueled by hate.

I really liked Lenzi, she was stubborn and went for the things she really wanted no matter what anybody tried to tell her. She didn't let her gift ruin her life and even though she was dealing with the supernatural she seemed pretty normal. We also have Alden, who is caring and intelligent. He follows rules to a fault and is willing to risk his life to protect his speaker, Lenzi. I absolutely hated Zak, Lenzi's boyfriend in the beginning, he seemed like he was bad news and I just couldn't deal with him. We are also introduced to Race and Maddi, two protector friends of Alden's, these two are funny and I loved the scenes that they were in, even if it was serious they still came across as fun.

This book has everything in it, action, suspense, some mystery and even romance. If you're a fan of any of these things I definitely suggest you give this book a chance, it's a quick and fun read.

Shattered Souls isn't just a book that you read, it's a book that you experience. I'm going to start out with that. Honestly, from page one I was completely hooked into Lenzi's struggle, her world, and everything going on. This is a haunting tale, with so much suspense that it sinks it's teeth into you and carries you along as things develop. What I'm saying is that this is a book that you need to read. It's addictive.

We meet Lenzi, a troubled girl who isn't quite sure what is going on in her life. She keeps hearing voices, seeing visions, and the pills just aren't working. However Lenzi isn't the type to back down. I loved that her character was so deep and realistic. No matter how much fear she feels, she is willing to admit it and move forward anyway. It helps, of course, that she has Zak, her sweet and broken boyfriend, to keep her grounded. I fell in love with him almost instantly, despite his cracked interior. The two of them are really sweet together, until cocky and charming Alden comes along. In fact, the more time Lenzi spends around Alden the tougher things get. Do you sense a love triangle? If you do, you are correct. I'm generally not a huge fan of them but honestly? This one is done perfectly and it's delicious (and addictive) to read!

This is a book that will really keep you on your toes as you read. All the emotions in this book are palpable, and I found it so easy to feel what Lenzi was feeling. The emotional aspect of the writing in this book is done so gorgeously, that it just bleeds off the page and into your heart. Although the basic plot of Shattered Souls is rather simple, Mary Lindsey adds in her own twists that will keep you reading well into the night. There are so many beautifully executed clues peppered into the story. By the time I was halfway through I was completely enamored and engaged with the book. There is something for everyone in here. Wit, twists, anger, a slight creep factor. It's all here.

What killed me (and I loved) at the same time, was the ending. I won't spoil it one bit. This is a story you'll need to experience for yourself. I will say that the climax to this book leaves nothing wanting. Except perhaps that you'll want another book. A wonderfully written debut, Shattered Souls is a book that I would (and will once I get my own copy) read a hundred times over.

More reviews at http://www.bookworm-teen.blogspot.com/ !

Title: Shattered Souls
Author: Mary Lindsey
Format: Hardcover ($17.99 US)
Relationship Status: married to Hayden Casey

Mary Lindsey, let me just tell you right now: I LOVED YOUR BOOK WITH THE PASSION OF A MILLION BURNING SUNS. In fact, I got off the airplane two hours later with a snot-covered face due to the burning romance I felt inside. Some YA books are like "they're in love" and you're supposed to believe it. That is not the case this time around, ladies and gents. The romance in Shattered Souls is totally believable, you know, just like the Internet. (I kid, I kid.) There's actually foundation for it, which sets Shattered Souls miles above the rest of the YA Lit Marathon we're all hopelessly engaged in lately.

I'm hesitant to admit that in the beginning of the book, I didn't believe it. Lenzi was in the bathroom, breaking down, hearing voices. Oh, Allah, please not this again. How many times has the hearing-voices plot line been terribly regurgitated? Once I'd cleared that scene, I lowered my expectations. I was going to get the best possible reading experience from this book. I spent my dang Christmas money on it, for one, and I wasn't about to grind $17.99 up in the garbage disposal. The good news is that even if I would've raised my expectations up to as high as I could reach, my mind still would've been blown. See, Shattered Souls unfolds naturally. It's not forced, it's not, for lack of a better word, unnatural, what Lenzi is experiencing. You can tell it's what Lenzi wants. It's not what Mary Lindsey wants Lenzi to want. This is the most emotional book I've read in a while, and that, folks, is the reason I exited the airplane a blubbering mess, not caring about what kinds of looks I was getting from flight attendants and fellow passengers alike.

You see, from the moment I glimpsed at the cover, I knew this book was going to be great. Philomel, I applaud your design team -- they really knocked this one out of the park.

During the reading process itself, I constantly found myself switching sides as far as who Lenzi was with. From the beginning, she's with Zak, and during her scenes with him, I just fell apart. Then she spent time with Alden, and I fell for him, too. Each time she spent time with the Zak, I convinced myself Alden was not the right guy for her, and the other way around. Shattered Souls tore me apart emotionally. The love triangle wasn't made up of one guy who she totally should've been with and one guy who was just there to advance the plot. I commend Mary for constructing the foundation so well. The novel wouldn't have been as heartbreaking and fantastic had the triangle not have fit the description of said adjectives.

The car scene toward the end is when I started blubbering like an emotional fool. From then on, I just lost it. I couldn't even stand the thought of Alden's and Lenzi's romance being torn apart. The ending was magnificent, and I'm completely satisfied. I'm glad it's not a series, because it ended perfectly where it was and I couldn't have been happier with it. (I just found out it will be a series.)
Mary Lindsey is now on my must-buy list.