Review: Shattered Souls

Author: Mary Lindsey

Pages: 326

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 4/5

Summery:
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:
I have mixed feeling about this book:  On one hand, I loved it.  On the other, I hate it.  And on the third (What?!  There's a third hand?! :P) it creeped me out.

First off, I have to say that the idea was really good.  The society that Lindsey created was very good.  The story line was great, the staging was great, and the writing was great.  There wasn't a dull moment throughout the whole book and the story flowed together perfectly.

The characters are big problem in this book:  they're all screwed up.  Lenzi is cheating on her boyfriend and lying to him about it.  Alden keeps things from Lenzi because she "can't handle it."  And Zak is a screwed-up jerk.  I really, really hate the characters in this book.  You are supposed to respect the female main character, but how can you do that when she's cheating on her boyfriend?!  Alden, as the male main character, should be irresistible.  I, however, found myself being repulsed by him treating Lenzi like she's weak.  I have no idea why Lindsey would portray females as weak.  Plus, Alden is a creep who is "turned on by fear and pain".  What?!  Zak, I would have to say, is my favorite character, and that's just because I feel bad for him.  Honestly, I don't know why he didn't just dump Lenzi's ass.  Maybe Lindsey was trying to portray him as noble and caring, but he came across as dumb and clingy.

I don't know.  For me, this just wasn't a great book.  Even the cover is creepy.  It looks like the designers cut a model in half and threw rose petals over her.  *shiver*