Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

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.

Review:

When Shattered Souls showed up in my mailbox this past week, I could not have been happier. Not only because I adored the cover to pieces but also because the premise sounded fascinating. Thankfully, Shattered Souls turned out to be a marvelous book!

Lenzi has not been having the greatest of years. Not only because she is still reeling from the sudden loss  of her dad a few months earlier but also she’s hearing voices…ones that won’t seem to go away. Hearing voices is a big problem on its own, but for Lenzi it is extra scary because voices are the reason behind her dad’s death, and she cannot be like him…she will be not like him. However, just as things are turning for the worse, a new mysterious guy shows up in her life. Alden isn’t like anyone she’s meant before. He’s sweet, stunning, and he says he can explain the voices- that they aren’t the evil things she thinks they are. Lenzi doesn’t know what to think…should she trust him or not? More importantly, she can’t deny the feelings she has for him, but there’s one tiny problem she already has a boyfriend...What will Lenzi do? Only time and more pages can tell in this sexy and exciting new paranormal debut!

I have to admit that when I first started this book I wasn’t too sure if I was going to like it. The start was a bit too slow for my liking and everything just seemed a bit too jumbled for my taste. However, as the novel progressed, it got better and better due to several reasons.

One of those reasons was the characters. I really enjoyed Lenzi’s character in particular. I felt Mary did a great job of presenting Lenzi’s problem with the voices as well as her confusion over the stories Alden told her of the past as well as her future. Alden was another great addition, and I especially enjoyed seeing his romance with Lenzi bloomed, because it was sweet as well as sexy and its development had a decent pace for a YA novel.

The plot of Shattered Souls was also fabulous. The idea of Speakers and Protectors was creative as well as well executed, which made it an A+ in my eyes. Better yet, I loved all the tension as well as twists and turns that came with it. I was never sure what was going to occur next especially towards the end. Moreover, seeing Alden and Lenzi interact and help the ghosts was definitely fun!

Full of romance, mystery, and thrill, Shattered Souls is one of the most promising debuts of the year. So, my words of advice: if you read one book this upcoming December let it be Shattered Souls. You won’t be disappointed…that’s for sure! 

Grade: A-

Shattered Souls (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads) will be released December 8, 2011!

Source: Teen Book Scene ARC tour