Interred (Chronicles of the Interred #1) by Marilyn Almodóvar
Publisher: Iambe Books
Release Date: January 22nd 2013
Genre: YA Fantasy/ Time Travel/Science Fiction
Source: Publisher/Author
Format: E-book
Goodreads Summary:
Time has never been an issue for Baxter Jacobs, but then she never knew she had the ability to Bend it.
As her sixteenth birthday approaches, Baxter inherits a pendant that will change her life. Connected to the pendant is a dark and mysterious young man named Declan Ashdown. Trapped in a Time loop for the past 122 years, Declan needs Baxter’s help to escape. The only problem is, she has no idea how to do it.
To acquire the power she needs to free him, she’ll become one of the Interred, those whose Magical abilities emerge as they come of age. When she does, she’ll discover that Declan isn’t the only one interested in the fact that she’s a Time Bender.
As the Interment arrives, Baxter knows this will be no Sweet Sixteen. A vengeful relative and ruthless Council are determined to control her. Declan’s powerful and charming descendant, Jack Ashdown, claims he can save her. She’ll soon have to decide who she can trust, and how to master her new abilities before Time runs out.
As her sixteenth birthday approaches, Baxter inherits a pendant that will change her life. Connected to the pendant is a dark and mysterious young man named Declan Ashdown. Trapped in a Time loop for the past 122 years, Declan needs Baxter’s help to escape. The only problem is, she has no idea how to do it.
To acquire the power she needs to free him, she’ll become one of the Interred, those whose Magical abilities emerge as they come of age. When she does, she’ll discover that Declan isn’t the only one interested in the fact that she’s a Time Bender.
As the Interment arrives, Baxter knows this will be no Sweet Sixteen. A vengeful relative and ruthless Council are determined to control her. Declan’s powerful and charming descendant, Jack Ashdown, claims he can save her. She’ll soon have to decide who she can trust, and how to master her new abilities before Time runs out.
My Review:
If I was to describe Interred, I would describe it as an original story filled with intrigue, drama, and magic. This book has a really great cast of characters, great world building, romance and the writing in it is very fluid. Marilyn Almodóvar really has a way with words because it was really easy to get into the story and I thought the dialogue between the characters was top notch.
On to the world building in this book. I really loved it. I thought it was sophisticated and intricate and I loved that it was centered around magic, since the heroine in this novel is a time bender. It reminded me of books like Harry Potter and the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare in the sense that, like in those novels, humans are completely unaware of this magical/fantasy world that surrounds them with it's own set of rules, hierarchy of power, and intricate family dynamics. Though, there is quite a difference. The people who run everything - the council- in the magical world in Interred are a bit more sinister than the ones you find in the Harry Potter books, for example. Their tests and trials for their young magical beings are on the dark side and dare I say it, slightly morbid side as well. Coffins, anyone? - Yep. Those were mentioned in the story and not the neat ones that used to keep Dracula's body hidden from the world in older vampire novels back in the day.
Interred as a whole, is focused on Baxter. Our female lead who gets her magical powers once she turns sixteen. First off, can I say that I am really loving that name. Really original. And secondly, I would say that Baxter lives up to the awesomeness of her name. She is a heroine that is feisty, sarcastic, and committed to doing the right thing and being loyal to friends and family. Her inner dialogue was really funny and she was just a kickass character in general. Though, she was confronted with odd situations and people, she remained as level headed as possible and determined to overcome obstacles.
The romance in the story was cute. It almost had a love triangle feel to it. Almost. I kinda felt that Baxter, our female lead, had more feelings for one of her love interests because she did have two of them. Declan and Jack. Both very charming and smart, but one darker than the other (Declan). He can hardly be blamed for it, though. That inner fury that he has bubbling under the surface is a result of having been trapped in a pendant for over 100 years or so. Poor guy. He definitely had a lot of charm and he was Victorian and English. Gotta love those guy characters with British accents. [insert wink].
Overall, I would say that Interred was definitely a fun novel. Fun in the sense that it is shrouded in mystery due to the magical setting it takes place in and the deeply complicated family dynamics. Oh, yes, because there is a lot of that. The author decided to make the family and the ancestors of the main character, central to the development of the story. Something that was great, because usually the family of the main characters in young adult novels are not too present; especially in fantastical settings, so kudos to the author for including them.
My Rating: 4/5
Available @ Barnes&Noble and Amazon since January 22, 2013
Add Interred to your to-read list on Goodreads:
