Review : Entangled by Nikki Jefford

Summary (from Goodreads)

Twin witches Graylee and Charlene Perez agree on one rule: No dating warlocks.

Not so easy when a certain rogue warlock is convinced he and Graylee belong together and will use anything, including magic, to try and impress Gray. When Charlene’s boyfriend dumps her, she threatens to kill either herself or the girl who stole Blake. Somehow, Gray ends up dead.

A Resurrection Spell Gone Wrong:

Two months after dying, Gray wakes up in Charlene’s body. As a witch, can anyone blame her mother for attempting to bring her daughter back to life? Only now Gray’s stuck sharing her sister’s body 50/50 in twenty-four hour shifts.

The race is on for Gray to find a way back inside her own body before Charlene purges her from existence. Raj McKenna is rumored to meddle in the black arts, not to mention he’s after Gray’s invisibility spell and worse – her heart. But Raj might be the only one powerful enough to save Gray from fading away forever.

Personal Thoughts

This was one of the books I immediately jumped into because of the fabulous and gorgeous cover. I mean look at it. Isn't it attractive ? Thankfully for me, the content of the book was as good as the cover. I haven't read many books featuring witches, but Entangled has become a favorite of mine.                                   
Sisters, Graylee and Charlene Perez are twins and witches. However, the only thing that they have in common is looks. When Charlene's boyfriend dumps her for another girl, she's devastated and she's willing to go to lengths to get her boyfriend back. But something happens that ends up in Graylee dying. The twins' mother decide to bring back Graylee from the dead. Only now, Graylee has to share her sister's body. Gray is tired of having to share her body with Charlene, so she takes up the help of Raj McKenna, a war-lock who's interested in her, in order to find a solution to her problem.

As I mentioned above, Graylee and Charlene were completely different although they were twins. Their personalities were so very different that I wondered how on earth the two could have been sisters.
Graylee was the powerful, but nicer witch. She was sweet and very down to earth. Connecting with her character wasn't a difficult task at all because she was so likable. She had to be my favorite character because although she was lovable and good-natured, she knew how to stand up for herself. Not only was she kind and loving, but she was also strong-willed, independent and tried to do the right thing whenever it was possible. Graylee's personality was warm, but she was also someone very brave who wasn't afraid to face anything. The courage that she showed when she had to share her sister's body was truly remarkable. To sum up, Graylee was a kick-ass character that I really cherished.
Charlene on the other hand was truly a vindictive character. She evoked such hatred from me that all I wanted to do was give her a slap or two. Now, you would think that her character would be make me hate the book a little, but no, in fact, I commend the author. Any character that manages to extract any kind of emotion from me is a character very well-written. I truly couldn't understand how Graylee and Charlene could be sisters. Charlene slept around, had no qualms in using people, took rivalry too seriously and let jealousy push her to extremes. Some of the things that she did not only infuriated me, but also revolted me. In fact, she didn't bow to down when she had to achieve something, even if it meant endangering her family members. In short, Charlene was a character that was so despicable that I ended up loving hating her!

The secondary characters in Entangled are very well written. They all had depth and play pivotal roles to the story. In some way or the other, they end up being directly linked to the main characters. I loved that the author managed to develop them so that each of them had a personality. My favorite secondary characters have to be Raj McKenna and the twins' mother.
Initially, Raj seemed like the mysterious, broody and dangerous kind of guy. Eventually though, we get to learn a lot about his softer side. He was undeniably very sweet and helpful. His protectiveness over Graylee was so cute and I loved how he instantly knew that it was Graylee inside Charlene's body.
In many YA books, the parents only appear once or twice in the shadows. They know next to nothing about what's going on in their children's lives and play no role whatsoever in the plot of the book. This was definitely not the case in Entangled. In fact, the mother plays a pretty vital role in the story and she was constantly present throughout the book. I also appreciated the fact that she actually bothered to learn what was going on with Graylee and Charlene.
Overall, I believe that the secondary characters were awesome.

The romance in this book was perfect. It was definitely not the instant-romance kind, which obviously made me a very happy reader. Graylee and Raj were an adorable couple. At first, they were bickering and fighting a little, but the attraction was still there. Their relationship was one that grew at a slow, but enjoyable pace. Seeing them fall for each other was truly delightful because I got to see why they started to like each other. Plus, the chemistry they shared was pretty intense and the make-out scenes were simply perfect! Also, the romance was not the main focus of the story. The author didn't allow the romantic aspect of Entangled to drown the plot of the book. Overall, the romance was very well executed.

The plot of the book was somewhat unique. It was a little slow at first, but the pace picks up with Graylee's death. From that point onward, the book was full of suspense and was a roller-coaster of emotions. Waiting to find out what would happen with Graylee was excruciating. There were some twists in the book that I truly wasn't anticipating and they really did manage to satisfy me. The author's writing was so addictive that I couldn't wait to finish the book. She managed to keep the plot moving and keep the story exciting. Also, she did a fabulous job of describing and explaining the paranormal aspect of the story.

Nikki Jefford's novel, Entangled, was a sheer winner for me. Entangled was a fast-paced, intriguing, original and very interesting story, with a great set of characters who will sweep you off your feet. The sequel comes out in May of this year, which means I don't have to wait that long! That's a really good thing, right ? (Who am I kidding? May seems so far away ! )  Anyways, I don't hesitate once in recommending this book to fans of YA paranormal. Trust me, you're not going to be disappointed.
Well, I'm going to end the review by saying (more like howling), I can't wait for the second book in this series, Duplicity, to come out!
 
Rating

Cover : 5/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5