Early Review | Tour Stop | Shattered Souls

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey | Published: December 8, 2011

The {Teen} Book Scene: Tour Stop

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.

From Goodreads

Shattered Souls, by Mary Lindsey, is a great addition to the paranormal genre. Like the catch phrase says, Shattered Souls is a book about “death, love, destiny, and danger.” Not necessarily in that order, but all of these are definitely in this thrilling debut. A book that requires readers to be open-minded and very thoughtful is just about near perfect.

When Lenzi begins hearing voices and having strange visions, she first believes she’s losing her mind. Her father suffered a mental disorder, so it would be only natural that she, too, would inherit his illness. As the story progresses, her graveyard visions soon turn real when one of them appears to her, in person.

We can say CRAZY all in caps, because things get so real… and so freaky.

Enter crush worthy Alden to the mix. He’s the boy Lenzi has dreamed about. He’s also the boy that chose a graveyard to make his grand entrance. I don’t know how many stories end well when random guys appear next to a tombstone. I’d bet it would be okay as long as Alden is the one showing up. Insert a wink wink for obvious purposes.  Although I like Alden showing up, poor Lenzi had no idea what to think, especially when Alden started sprouting off crazy talk about Lenzi being a reincarnated Speaker. A person who talks to lost souls and helps them cross over. Oh yeah, Alden also threw in that he’s her Protector, and has been for centuries.

The premise of Shattered Souls is refreshing and a lot of fun to read. Some of the details are a little hard to understand at first. I think Lindsey wanted to keep the mystery building before the big reveal towards the end; however, there were a few times I was confused and not wanting to read on. I kept with it, thankfully, and was pleasantly surprised in the end. Minus a few hiccups here and there, Shattered Souls is a great book. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

Book lovers of paranormal, fantasy, and romance will be sure to love Shattered Souls.

Expected publication for Shattered Souls is December 8, 2011 | Philomel/Penguin Publishing.