Review: Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Title: Shattered Souls
Author: Mary Lindsey
Publisher: Philomel/ Penguin
Age Group: Young Adult
Category:  Paranormal Romance
Release date: December 8th, 2011
Pages: 336 (ARC)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Won

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.

This book was much, much more than just an absolutely stunning cover.  Admittedly, Shattered Souls was one of the best books I've read in a while.  Mary Lindsey created two compatible characters, Lenzi and Alden, who play the roles of Speaker and Protector.  Lenzi doesn't have any memory of her past lives, but according to Alden, they'd been together for centuries.  Whenever they passed on, their souls were brought back in order to continue their jobs and help the dead let go and move on to the afterlife.

At the very beginning, we learn that Lenzi's father committed suicide because he was schizophrenic.  When she begins hearing voices, she assumes that the disease has made its way to her until she meets a mysterious boy in the cemetery.  Alden introduces himself and tries to explain what she was going through; how she's the reincarnated soul of a Speaker named Rose and he's her Protector.  Of course, Lenzi isn't going to go along with it...not until she has a horrifying experience with a malevolent spirit and Alden saves the day.

I really enjoyed Alden's character.  Even from the start, I definitely liked him a lot better than Lenzi's boyfriend, Zak.  He seemed honest and reliable the whole way though.  I especially enjoyed that insta-love wasn't much of an issue in this story.  I usually don't have anything against it, but it was refreshing not to see them all over each other the first day they met.  Some people would say that Lenzi's character was flawed, but I quite liked her and I'd just say that she's just grown a lot throughout the book.

The only thing that seems off is that Lenzi doesn't remember her past lives and Alden does.  Most Speakers and Protectors do.  Unfortunately, this is a disadvantage because Alden has to reteach her everything about being a Speaker.  Fortunately this means that they get to spend a lot of time together.  As you may have guessed, Zak's not too pleased.

At one point, Alden and Lenzi (or Rose, rather) were the best team when it came to helping the spirits with their unfinished business.  Will they ever make it that far again or will an evil spirit get in the way of that?

This book is a must-read, must-own, must-recommend-to-everyone-you-know.