Intertwined is the first book in the intertwined series by Gena Showalter.

Summary: (from Amazon)

Most sixteen-year-olds have friends.
Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him:
One can time travel.
One can raise the dead.
One can possess another human.
One can tell the future.

Everyone thinks he’s crazy, which is why he’s spent his entire life shuffled between mental institutions and juvie. All of that is about to change, however. For months Aden has been having visions of a beautiful girl—a girl who carries centuries-old secrets. A girl who will either save him or destroy him.

Together they’ll enter a dark world of intrigue and danger…but not everyone will come out alive.

REVIEW:
I was drawn to this book because of the synopsis on the back. I thought this book was going to tell a fantastical story of a boy who wasn’t sure wether he was actually crazy or if he really was hearing voices – turns out that it couldn’t any farther from that. There is no real substance of emotional aspect to this book. It does offer a different kond of fantasy story though…

I like the settings, I like the story and I like the characters to some extent. But, the characters are just too shallow and stereotypical; they have an appearance and a role to play in the story, but no personality at all.

Ceci’s Rating: 6

Summary: (From egmontusa.com)
Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared–the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood–but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude’s high school. Despite promising Jude she’ll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel’s shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy’s dark secret…and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it–her soul.

REVIEW:
Soon to come!

Ceci’s Rating: 7

The Thief is the first novel in a series entitled The Queen’s Thief. It was first published in October of 1996, and it’s the first book by this author that I’ve ever read. It is a Newberry honor award winning book, and has been highly recommended for fans of Young Adult literature.

When Maya and I started this book reviewing site, this was the very first book she recommended to me. She told me it was one of her all-time favorite book series, and she had been trying to get me to read it for a while. And now where I have, I give you my review of The Thief…

Summary:
The Thief is hard to describe because it’s too easy to give away spoilers, but basically it’s an adventure story set in an alternate universe which is very much like ancient Greece. A young thief who calls himself Gen brags publicly that he can steal anything. He decides to steal the King’s seal, which is in the possession of the magus, a powerful advisor to the king of Sounis. Gen flaunts about what he has achieved and is then caught and thrown into the king’s prison. Although he boasts that the prison cannot hold him, weeks later Gen is still in jail, dreaming of sunshine, and swearing to himself that he will never do such a stupid thing again.

Along comes the Magus, who pulls Gen out of prison and gives him an impossible task. Journey to a hidden temple, steal a mythical artifact, and turn it over to the King. In turn he will get his freedom. Gen agrees to the terms and sets out on the journey accompanied by the Magus, his two apprentices and a soldier.

This is how the whole thing opens in The Thief. We are told about the search for the mythical artifact by Gen himself, as the group ventures across the neighboring countries of Sounis, Eddis and Attolia.

REVIEW:
On the Plot:
I’m gonna be completely honest here. After the first 50 pages I felt a bit put off by the book. The pacing and structure was weird, with a very slow beginning that spends more time than it should on the early stages of the quest, where there’s nothing much for the characters to do other than complain about their situation.
I was a bit puzzled about why Maya was so enthusiastic about the book, when the story didn’t seem to unfold at all, and I almost stopped reading it altogether.
BUT I decided to press forward because the book was so short. And I’m really really glad that I kept reading. In fact, after I picked up the book and gave it a second read, I finished the entire thing in one day. ONE DAY!
I was taken unaware by the simple introduction of the story and characters that I didn’t think to look for more depth. Hindsight I think the book deserves a top score, and I can see now just how methodically and cunningly Turner leads you into thinking it’s a simple story about a simple thief, when really… it’s not.

The book has an unconventional feel to it, thanks to its combination of adventure, Grecian-style mythology, and political intrigue. While Turner doesn’t include a map of the world, she certainly builds up the culture, complete with religions, superstitions, fairy tales and history. The history and religion in The Thief is based loosely upon ancient Greece and early medieval Europe.
After a certain event halfway through the book, the story changes its pace and creates multiple twists that are very original. This continues throughout the rest of the novel, leaving you enchanted and unable to put the book down.

The book has one major twist in the end that re-writes the whole story to that point. I find it hard to contain myself from blurting out what the twist is. But I can tell you this – This is one surprise that you don’t see coming, and it will absolutely make up for the slow start to the story. After finishing the book I was so surprised, and amazed that I hadn’t been able to catch on. That never, ever happens to me.

On the Characters:
The book is told in first person from Gen’s point of view, as he travels the lands in company with the Magus and his two apprentices, Sophos and Ambiades (or as Gen likes to refer to them: Useless the Younger and Useless the Elder), as well as a battle-toughened soldier named Pol.
Gen, the main character, is extremely life-like and a solid character that captures your attention from the start. He makes an amusing anti-hero and tour guide on the adventure and his sense of humor made me laugh out loud more than once.
Gen’s traveling companions are interesting, though not quite as fully fleshed out as they could be. The growth of the relationships throughout the course of the book is subtle and well done, as Gen gets beat up and generally mistreated a lot at first. But gradually, as they grow closer to their destination, they form somewhat of a companionship with each other.

Rating:
I’m not big on giving out 9 or 10 starreviews, but this book earns it completely and utterly. I wasn’t initially caught by this book, but after a couple of chapters I was completely sold. I LOVED it, but I do think Turner could have added some more flavor to the first half of the book.
Ceci’s Rating: 9 – I really really loved it.

Maya’s Rating: 10 – One of the best books I’ve ever read.

Books in The Queen’s Thief series:
The Thief (1996)
The Queen of Attolia (2001)
The King of Attolia (2006)
A Conspiracy of Kings (2010)

The fourth book, A Conspiracy of Kings is due for release in March or April 2010. It is rumored to be the first book in the series to include a map (FINALLY).

This first book of The Queen’s Thief series can be found and read at HarperCollins website, but I definitely recommend getting your hands on the real deal – it’s much easier to read. But anyway, maybe it’s worth a look, so here’s the link:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060824976

Title: The Awakening – The Deadly Power of Love.
Author: Lisa James Smith.
Series: Vampire Diaries, this is the very first book in this series.
Publisher: HarperCollins, HarperTeen etc.
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Horror, Young Adult.

The Awakening was first published in 1991, and has since, due to its popularity, been re-released through the years, with new cover arts. The series was originally intended to be a trilogy, with all three books released in 1991. However, the series became so popular that L. J. Smith, the author, chose to write a fourth volume, called Dark Reunion, which was released in 1992.

Summary:
The Awakening begins with our protagonist, the beautiful and popular, Elena Gilbert, orphan who, along with her four-year old sister Margaret, is being cared for by their aunt Judith. To others Elena seems to have it all. She has always had a power over boys, even without trying much. Every girl at Robert E. Lee High School wants to be her. She’s the Homecoming Queen and pretty much has the whole world wrapped around her little finger. After being in Europe for the summer she comes back to the small town of Fell’s Church to start off a new school year. She has this overwhelming fear that something horrifying is going to happen. When she arrives at school the first day, she is surprised to find that a new student has joined her year; a transfer student from Italy named Stefan Salvatore. Just like every other girl at school, Elena is completely mesmerized by him and claims that she wants him, even though she is already going out with her childhood friend Matt. She begins doubting her relationships with Matt, and realizes that she does care for him more than any other guy she has gone out with, but as a friend.

Stefan wants to fit in, to get of the darkness that he has lived in for years. Still, he can’t help but be cold and dismissive towards Elena who has made it her mission to make Stefan hers at all costs. He promises himself for both his and Elena’s sakes that he will stay away from her. He is afraid to get to close because she resembles Katherine, the first love of his life, the girl who is to blame for the eternal hatred between his brother, Damon and himself.

At the same time that Stefan moves to the small town, a series of attacks begins. What’s the connection between Stefan and the attacks, and will Elena get her hands on Stefan?

REVIEW:
I’ve never been a big fan of L. J. Smith’s, but I‘ve had this series with me for quite some time, so I decided now was the time to read it. My very first encounter with L. J. Smith was when I read her Night World series (I promise I’ll do a review on them too), and although I wasn’t too thrilled with that series, I still enjoyed it very much. I found the Night World series very creative, but it somehow lacked a bit of depth to me. So it was with some caution that I picked up this series and started reading.

On the Plot:
The book is only 204 pages long (at least my edition was) and yet I found the story dragging at times. The best part of the book for me was the last 50 pages where Stefan’s secret is finally revealed, and another character is introduced, which leads to an interesting clash between the characters.
L.J. Smith did a great job by putting the reader in Elena’s position. However, I don’t really feel like we got to know the bond between the characters well enough. I feel like the entire relationship development between Elena and Stefan got skipped over (They’re just suddenly in love), which unfortunately results in the reader not getting a feel for the relationship between the two, and that completely shattered the romance aspect of the story for me. The romantic parts of the book, and the feelings the characters harvest for each other didn’t come off strong enough or believable enough for me. I did however like how L.J. wove Stefan’s past and Elena’s best friend’s psychic abilities into the storyline. The book is definitely well written but I would have liked more depth to it.

Smith uses the classic vampire tales as well as her own contemporary version of a vampire to create a very intriguing story. Smith set a dark scene for the story, while still making it play out in the world of high school, combining the supernatural with the ordinary. The Awakening is a great start to a twisted love triangle surrounded with danger and death. The story is ultimately left on a tantalizing cliff-hanger, which is definitely the reason while I will be reading the other books in the series.

On the Characters:
The one flaw in The Awakening is Elena as our protagonist. She’s gorgeous, extremely popular, and has gotten everything that a girl could ever want. Elena had an incredibly sweet, good looking boyfriend who really cared for her, but as soon as she sees something that she can’t have, she must have it and disregards those who have been there for her in the past. At first, it is impossible to relate or feel for Elena. It is questionable why she has to have Stefan, but luckily as the book goes on, she begins to change and it becomes easier to feel for her. There are a few things about her past that makes her seem more human and we learn that although she has everything, she ultimately feels empty; as if something has always been missing from her life. As she gets closer to Stefan it is clear that having him in her life is what has been missing. She has her view on the world widened and both her dreams and nightmares become a reality. Through this we get to see her strength, which becomes a key part to her complex character. Her strength is truly amazing and without I think she would have been an insufferable character.
I love how she vows to change and become a better person for the man she loves. And I think its save to say that the strange and atypical personalities of main characters in this story, is what makes it so interesting.

Every once in awhile the book shows us diary entries from Elena. Through this we are able to sympathize, understand, and root for her much more than if it was told from another view. Stefan also tells us his side of the story through his diary, that way we get an understanding for both of the characters. Stefan’s story is actually one of the most interesting elements of the book.

Ceci’s Rating: 6 – Good
I’m probably in the minority of readers who didn’t particularly like this book, but it has to be said that I’m still intrigued enough to read the next three books in the series: The Struggle, The Fury and The Dark Reunion.

Since its release Vampire Diaries has reached an entirely new audience and now it even has its own TV adaption running on the CW, so be sure to watch out for that. I myself probably have to wait a couple of years before the TV series reaches Europe, but whatever… I’ll just read the book series then

Next Books in the Series:
The original series:
1. The Awakening (1991)
2. The Struggle (1991)
3. The Fury (1991)
4. Dark Reunion (1991)
The new releases, The Vampire Diaries: The Return:
5. Nightfall (2009)
6. Shadow Souls (2010)
7. Midnight (TBA)

You can read the books from the Vampire Diaries series online at HarperTeen’s own homepage at http://browseinside.harperteen.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061140976 isn’t that crazy?! Anyway hope you enjoy!

Feel free to leave comments on the show as well as on the books in the comments section! We’d like to hear what you would rate it?