Intertwined by Gena Showalter

Aden Stone wishes he was just a normal guy. Instead, he’s spent the majority of his life shuffled in and out of various foster homes and mental institutions, all because for some reason, he’s got four souls living inside him aside from his own. Aden doesn’t know how they got there or how to get rid of them, so in the meantime, he just has to deal with four distinct voices constantly babbling inside his head and the side effects of each soul’s unique ability, to time travel, predict the future, raise the dead, or possess other people. When Aden moves to Crossroads, Oklahoma, it’s like brand new start for him, although not without its own complications. Aden finds himself with an unusual set of companions: Mary Ann, a girl completely unlike himself who somehow quiets the voices inside his head; a shapeshifter who’d rather see him dead; and Victoria, a vampire princess Aden can’t get out of his mind. All too soon, Aden finds himself the center of an otherworldy conflict with danger flying at him from all sides. The oods are stacked squarely against him, and it’s unlikely everyone will come out unscathed.

There’s no doubt that Intertwined is an exciting novel, filled with action and a galore of supernatural threats to keep any reader on the edge of their seat, but at the same item, there was something about this story that was quite irksome to me. I didn’t mind the plethora of supernatural creatures or even their rather unoriginally interpreted characteristics. Aden’s background of being constantly institutionalized and psychoanalyzed also made sense. Where the story started to break apart for me was the convenience of it all. I’m not saying everything was always sunshine and rainbows; that wouldn’t make for much of a story. It started with the main characters’ physical perfection; bodies sculpted like Grecian statues tend to become unrealistic. And it wasn’t just each of these character’s prettiness. Many major plot events I could correctly guess chapters before they occurred because the clues were just so convenient. And what really bothered me the most was how convenient the ending was; after all that difficulty and struggle, it would seem the termination to this tale would be a little more complicated. It was the little things that didn’t allow me to connect to the characters, however hot and sexy they were, and completely get into the story. And especially after all the positive buzz surrounding this novel, I was frankly disappointed.

Intertwined may be enjoyed by fans of Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong, and the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I suspect there will be a sequel to this novel, but I don’t know how eager I’d be to snatch it up.

Rating: 3.5

Review copy from Amazon Vine