Entangled by Nikki Jefford
This is a cool book. It’s just a fun read that touches on the more serious matters of life in a seemingly uninterested manner, bringing you closer to the characters without your ever really intending for it to happen. I enjoyed the last 2/3 of this book, and I will be reading the rest because of how wonderfully everything the conflict, tension, and characters came together. While I did find a few typos and while the pacing of the first bit of the book had me hoping for more, Entangled picked up the pace and performed.
The Details:
I found this book on my Nook and can’t for the life of me remember where I got it. If you sent me a review copy, Nikki, I’m a terrible person and apologize. I think I bought this, though, and even though the stunningly beautiful cover has nothing to do with the book itself, I’m glad I did.
The synopsis gives you a pretty solid understanding of what’s going to happen. High school. Witches. Twins. Romatic tension. Love triangles. And for the first bit of the book — up until Graylee dies — I felt dragged along. I only kept reading for Raj, who is by far my favorite character. More on him in a minute.
But once we get to the twist, when Graylee wakes up dead, a mystery element is introduced. Who killed her? Why? Even her mother doesn’t know. As the pieces fall into place, we learn more about Raj and Graylee…and I came to really care about the both of them. While they’re imperfect, they’re still strong.
I think of Raj as the most dynamic character in the book, but I have a thing for bad boys who are secretly endearing. When we slip into his head, we see the other side of him that so many others misjudge, and we learn that not all bad boys are actually, well, bad. I was really impressed with how Jefford handled his character.
The use of magic, too, was really well done. I loved to see all the tricks and spells the characters came up with. It was nice to see magic as more than a set of structured spells or chants (though there were some of those, too). This magic was wild, a bit untamed, and exciting. I loved guessing at which spells they’d come up with next.
Jefford does touch on some deeper themes that makes this more than another high school paranormal romance. Death is a common theme, of course, but the focus becomes appreciation: appreciation for what you have, for life, and for the love that makes you want to risk all of that.
While some plot points felt forced or were left unexplained (the reasoning behind the blocking spell, for instance, or the lighter), I still adored the ending. I don’t usually like the sort of bow that was put on this story, but at the same time, I thought it was sweet. I was smiling when I finished Entangled.
I think Paranormal romance geeks will like this novel, as will urban fantasy readers who want to take a step into something a little lighter for a change. There’s still a bit of darkness, but it’s coated in sugar. Happy reading!
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