Review: Entangled by Nikki Jefford

Entangled by Nikki Jefford

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Source: Kindle download

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Two months after dying, seventeen-year-old witch Graylee Perez wakes up in her twin sister Charlene’s body.

Until Gray finds a way back inside her own body, she’s stuck being Charlene every twenty-hour hours. Her sister has left precise instructions on how Gray should dress and behave. Looking like a prep isn’t half as bad as hanging out with Charlene’s snotty friends and gropey boyfriend.

The “normals” of McKinley High might be quick to write her behavior off as post-traumatic stress, but warlock Raj McKenna is the only person who suspects Gray has returned from the dead.

Now Gray has to solve the mystery of her death and resurrection and disentangle herself from Charlene’s body before she disappears for good.

Twins Graylee and Charlene are two very different sisters. They hang out with different cliques at school, look scornfully at the clothes the other one wears, and have completely attitudes to people and school. Graylee is the nice sister, whereas Charlene is the kind of stuck-up cheerleader type that is very easy to dislike.

I loved the character of Graylee- her spunkiness and geekiness, especially in contrast to her bitchy sister Charlene.  When one of Charlene's potions goes wrong it is Graylee who pays the price and ends up dead, and then a botched resurrection spell ends up trapping Graylee in Charlene's body, with each of them only in control every other day.

It was very disturbing to try and imagine being stuck inside someone else's body- and to only have control of that body every other day, but also give it an amusing and intriguing twist. Graylee has to try and maintain the charade of being her stuck-up mean-spirited sister, which means that she can't talk to her own friends, and she has to put up with wearing Charlene's slutty clothes and the company of Charlene's slimy boyfriend as well.

I also liked the idea of this coven of witches living in plain sight, as ordinary members of the community, the kids attending school- but then having this private secretive lifestyle behind closed doors. The coven all try and stick together and help each other out, but there is a competitive edge there as well.

I enjoyed the character's creation of spells and potions, and of trying to develop new powers- and then trying to cover up those powers in public. For instance, Graylee can turn invisible, and she uses this to try to sneak into class without being caught as late- or get caught by classmates suddenly materialising! It gives a sense of fun to a witchy story.

Graylee only vaguely knows Raj through the coven, but they are thrown together when Raj notices Graylee's disappearing act. The story is told in a dual perspective from both Graylee and Raj's point of view, so we get to see the tension unfold and different revelations from different viewpoints. I liked how Graylee and Raj's stories twined together, and the two of them working together to help Graylee free herself from Charlene's body, and growing increasingly attracted to each other.

The story is a little bit dis-jointed in places, but it gets better as the book goes along, and secrets are revealed, new plots schemed, and interesting twists emerge. It is pretty emotional in parts and sometimes kind of dark as well.

Overall this is a pacy and fun witchy story, recommended for fans of a paranormal romance.

If you like the sound of this book, then stop by the blog again tomorrow, where I'll be posting an extract and a chance to win your own copy!
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