Author: Mary Lindsey
Published: Philomel/Penguin, December 2011
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance, 336 pages
Rating: 4/5
Even though the publishing industry is moving on from the paranormal romance craze I still enjoy reading a novel from this genre. I purchased Shattered Souls because reincarnation is part of the story and I am working on a novel that deals with several reincarnated characters. I was interested in seeing how another writer handled the character's psychological reaction and development after learning they have been reincarnated. I was not disappointed in Lindsey's approach in both character and plot.
Lenzi can hear voices. She is afraid of becoming a schizophrenic like her father, who has recently died. She attempts to hide the voices from her mother and her boyfriend but the volume only increases. The voices are not in her head. She is hearing the voices of the dead who cannot pass on. Alden comes to her wih great understanding and friendship. He knows what is happening. They are bound as Speaker and Protector and have been for several lifetimes. Lenzi is not sure she wants to be a Speaker and help the dead move on. Even more, she does not want Alden to compare her to "Rose", the person she has been. Lenzi must come to terms with her forgotten past lives as a malevolent spirit comes to try and claim her current life.
Lindsey is a talented writer and I read this whole novel in one day while riding the trains to and from work. Lindsey's characters are three-dimensional and Lenzi is an engrossing character whose strong voice pulls the reader completely into her story. The only part I did not like about Lindsey's novel was the "showing" of Lenzi's past lives from other characters. I felt as if it ruined the plot element that Lenzi is a "blank slate". Perhaps, this novel might have been rendered differently had the character faced an even greater struggle by never being allowed to see parts of her past lives.
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