Review: Entangled

Title: Entangled (Spellbound #1)
Author: Nikki Jefford
Publisher: Self-published
Released: 20th February 2012
Rating: 3.5/5

After reading this I still couldn’t decide whether this book warranted 3 or 4 stars, so I decided to settle safely in the middle, which is probably more accurate anyway. The first thing that caught my eye was, of course, the gorgeous cover (though even now I don’t really see the connection...) Add to that the concept of two people sharing one body and I was totally sold.

Graylee and Charlene Perez are twins...and witches. But despite the similarities in their appearances and the fact that they both have the ability to do magic, their personalities are completely different, not to mention the fact that Gray’s magical ability isn’t exactly what it once was. One night Gray dies inexplicably and wakes up two months later – in Charlene’s body. This is how she’ll wake up every other day from now; it’s also how she’ll die unless she can figure out how to get out of Charlene’s body herself in a way that’ll allow her to survive.

I loved the way Entangled started. It was dramatic and actually a pretty good introduction to our two twin stars and what was going on. I could see that Gray was sarcastic but a good sister and Charlene annoying, over the top and somewhat temperamental. My issue then was that the opening turned out to be a long-winded tale of the events leading up to Gray’s death. It took ages just to get to that point and some of what was described beforehand didn’t really contribute very much to the story. Eventually it picked up but even then I’d occasionally find myself wishing it would speed up a little.

Gray is a spunky character, nothing like Charlene. I felt sorry that not only did she have to put up with Charlene, she also had to act like her those days she was awake. Charlene is like the witchier, more extreme version of your stereotypical Miss Popular. Initially it seemed like she had some redeeming qualities and that she did have some sort of connection with her sister, but that image soon dissipated. Unable to deal with any misfortunes life deals her, she lets her jealousies and insecurities take over her, making her a raving psychotic of a girl. Yes. She really is that bad. Gray on the other hand is much more down-to-earth; she knows how to stand up for herself and she knows what has to be done.

Raj McKenna, the love interest, is just a hunk of Indian gorgeousness. We see his POV in alternation with Gray’s. He holds that bad-boy image but it’s pretty easy to see that there’s way more to him than the rumours that go around. In reality he’s actually very sweet and he always does his utmost to help Gray. It’s sad to see how long it takes just for his mother to realise there’s more to what happened in their past than what she chose to believe; his sister, happily, is much closer to him from the beginning and the bond between them is incredibly endearing.

The writing in Entangled was a bit of a mix. It was easy to tell between Gray and Raj’s POVs and it made it very easy to connect to them both. The problem I had was that I found it quite jumpy. A scene in one place would end slightly abruptly only for the story to suddenly move forward somewhere else and I didn’t quite see where the connection was. What I particularly didn’t understand was how Gray suddenly, miraculously realised what Charlene had been doing for so many years. It seemed too convenient for it to be believable.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read. It’s somewhat lighter than you might think, and the author plays around with impressions of characters so that you come to realise they were nothing like they originally seemed. I really liked the concept and it was definitely more pleasurable when it picked up pace; I just wish that the pace was sustained throughout, as well as the flow, and a bit more was added to the plot. Despite the flaws this is definitely worth the read.

A big thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.