Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Reading Level: Ages 14 and up
Hardcover: 336 pages
Release Date: December 8, 2011
Publisher: Philomel
Genre: Paranormal/Souls

Book One: Shattered Souls
Book Two: Scheduled for release for early 2014

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Amazon Summary:

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.

My Review:

17 year old Lenzi Anderson isn't your typical teenage girl. Why? Because she can communicate to the Hindered, lost souls who require her services to move onto the afterlife. In the beginning of the novel, Lenzi has no idea who or what she really is and what she's destined to do. She is perfectly human, until her seventeenth birthday that is. That's when the voices start. At first she thinks she's going mad just like her father did, but soon finds out that all of this is normal when she meets her Protector, Alden. Alden explains to her that she has been reincarnated for generations and is famous among their people as the most talented Speaker there is. The problem is, is that instead of getting her memory back bit by bit, she has no memory of her past lives at all.

Let me start off by saying that this is the first ghost/soul based book I've read. I haven't read them before because ghosts and spirits usually creep me out and have a tendency to curve into the horror zone of YA novels. There are many things that I both like and dislike about Lenzi. Dislikes: I can't get to in depth about it without giving away spoilers, but I didn't like how she handled her romantic problems. Likes: Lenzi had a very believable voice. Instead of just believing right away that she was a Speaker and that it was meant to be, she had doubts just like any other person would. She asked the same questions that I would ask if I was put in her position. In fact, the reactions of all the characters were rational and not hastily thrown together in order to let the novel move along faster. Another thing I liked is that she was a fighter. Maybe not in the physical sense that I usually read about but she was a fighter in the mental sense which I appreciated as well.

Lenzi has two love interests and this makes the well known love triangle romance. Zak, her current boyfriend is likeable and sweet in the beggining, but soon turns territorial and possesive as the story progresses. You can tell that Zak really does care for Lenzi, but even though he does, he can't help her with who and what she is like Alden can. Alden is honarable, trustworthy, and always puts Lenzi's needs before his own. They have a unbreakable connection from the time they meet even though Lenzi has no memory of her past lives.

The storyline of Shattered Souls is not one I see alot in YA Paranormal. It was fresh, unusual, and one that I enjoyed alot. There are still some creepy aspects of this book like the exorcisms and possessions, but other then that it was amazing! I will be definitely reading the sequel to this riveting debut!

Heroine- 4/5
Romance- 4/5
Action- 4/5
Comedy- 3/5
Overall- 4/5