Shattered Souls

Shattered Souls
By: Mary Lindsey
Reported by: Julianna Helms

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.  

-Summary from Goodreads  
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A touching story of love and discovery, Shattered Souls is a wonderfully simplistic novel bordering on escape and ambition.


I've been drooling over in love with the cover for months now, but I was so worried that this may be just a veneer to a story I won't be interested in--I've definitely been tricked before, and it's not a fun thing.


But this story certainly lived up to its cover, and it's far better than your average paranormal read. Mary Lindsey backs her tale of unusual ghosts with realistic characters and a startling plot. And what's funny is that, when I showed the cover to my brother, he said it looked like the rose petals were assembling to form Lenzi, but I thought it was Lenzi falling apart into rose petals. I love the way you can look at the cover either way, just like you can with the book--you can choose to see with the love, or see with the fight. It's simple and beautiful that way. Another funny musing I had was that the main character's name was Lenzi (such a pretty name!), and the author's last name is Lindsey. :)

Despite my enjoyment for this book, I did wish that it contained a few things...


1) Romantic Involvement: There is a bit of insta-love, and while I totally understood it, what with the centuries-long history between Lenzi and Alden and all, it still felt too rushed. I kept feeling like Lenzi only loved Alden because of his looks. At the end, though, there was one scene that convinced me of their genuine, true love, and it certainly calmed down an unsettled part of my thoughts. 

2) Trimming: The first 3/4 of the book was gripping and engrossing, but somewhere near the end, a couple of things fell apart for me. Things became predictable. Characters made irrational, hasty decisions that felt out of their personalities. Plot points became a bit sporadic, and I just wasn't feeling it. But! The book overall was so interesting that it didn't affect me to the point of no-return.

I loved the sweet relationship between Lenzi and Alden, and I actually really liked Zak. I understood where he was coming from with his actions; despite his angry personality, he really was broken, and I just couldn't hate him because of that.


Overall, this is definitely a book to check out. While it wasn't as earth-shattering as I'd hoped, it's certainly worth a receipt at the bookstore.