Publish Date: December 08, 2011
Source: The {Teen} Book Scene
Format: Advance Reader Copy
Pages: 336 (hardcover)
Series: Unknown
Others in Series: Shattered Souls (2011)
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis from Goodreads:
A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny and danger
Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.
Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.
Lenzi's father used to hear voices. Those voices subsequently led him to end his own life. Lenzi has been hearing static in her head for quite some time, and it's only getting worse. What happens when the noise begins turning into voices? Lenzi believes she is well on her way to ending up like her father, until a mysterious boy shows up offering her a different explanation... one where she's nothing near crazy. His explanation leaves Lexi thinking he may be more delusional than she is.
The hype surrounding this novel is well deserved. Mary Lindsey wrote one of the most fantastic debut novels I've read this entire year! Shattered Souls is a story so haunting and beautiful, I could not put it down! From the first to the last page, I could not put this one down.
The concept was incredible and captivating. Speakers and Protectors have been around for centuries. Lenzi is a Speaker, someone who talks to lost spirits and helps them move on after death. Every Speaker needs a Protector. The Protector's sole purpose is to safeguard the Speaker, to keep their bodies from being unwillingly possessed by malevolent spirits and, ultimately, dying. Lenzi has been doing this for a long time but has absolutely no recollection of the past and the many times she has been reincarnated with Alden at her side. Learning more about these roles and how Lenzi helped the spirits was fascinating. I love learning about the hierarchy in different organizations, it's really intriguing. Mary Lindsay came up with a great premise.
The setting is very compelling. Shattered Souls takes place in Galveston, Texas. A lot of lives were lost in the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, so Lenzi has plenty of spirits to work with. I enjoyed the way Mary Lindsey wove such a great story around a well known piece of American history. The setting built beautifully on the plot.
The characters in Shattered Souls are some of my favorite, by far. Lenzi was absolutely relatable. She wasn't perfect, full of flaws which made her real! She's funny, compassionate and entirely unique. She doesn't believe a world Alden says right off the bat. I liked that she didn't just jump right in and say, "OK, you know best!" I appreciated that she took her time piecing together these pieces of her life that didn't seem to have any pattern in the beginning. Watching her learn from Alden was wonderful. Alden, of course, was such a stinking awesome gentleman! How could you not love this sweet boy? Everything he did was for or about Lenzi. In his eyes, his sole purpose in life was to be there for her.
Which leads into the romance. *sigh* The romance that Mary Lindsey portrayed in this book was so achingly beautiful but utterly heartbreaking at the same time! I mean, these are two people who have been together for many lives and have been through so much... but Lenzi remembers absolutely none of it! I can't imagine feeling what Alden must have been feeling.
Shattered Souls is an absolute MUST READ! I laughed. I cried. The cover is stunning, the story inside it breathtaking. Incredibly well written, fantastically creepy and heart-warmingly romantic - Mary Lindsey will have readers falling in love with this debut! Fingers crossed that there will be a sequel to this story.
Be sure to stop back in on November 25th for a special character interview with Lenzi!
Shattered Souls Playlist
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3 comments:
Sounds good! Adding it to my to-read list!
If you gave it 5 stars, then I'm definitely reading it!
I have been looking for this book everywhere, but I really want to read this one. Great review:)
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