Review: Intangible

Intangible by J. Myers
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release date: January 29, 2012
Pages: 349
File size: 722 KB
Format: EPUB eBook
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Twins Sera and Luke Raine have a well-kept secret—she heals with a touch of her hand, he sees the future. All their lives they’ve helped those in need on the sly. They’ve always thought of their abilities as being a gift.

Then Luke has a vision that Sera is killed. That gift they’ve always cherished begins to feel an awful lot like a curse. Because the thing about Luke’s ability? He’s always right. And he can’t do anything about it.

My thought process when I started reading Intangible went something like this:

"A seer and a healer--cool! Oh, and his name is Luke! I love the name Luke! If I ever have a kid and it's a boy, I'm naming him Luke!" (Side note: This is true. I don't actually want kids, but I decided ten years ago that if I ever a son, I'm naming him Luke. It's easily my favorite boy's name.)

"It's about twins. I love twins. Twins fascinate me."

Then: "Oh, there's a vampire? Crap, crap, crap. I don't like vampires. . . . Oh, wait. He doesn't sparkle, so it's okay. In fact, none of them sparkle, and they're actually mean vampires, so maybe I do like them after all."

I have to compare this book to the Sookie Stackhouse series for a minute. I tried to read Charlaine Harris's series, but I didn't even make it past the first chapter of the first book. Why? Psychics, vampires, and goodness knows what else. It was way too much--I didn't like reading about a million different kinds of mythical things. I want to read about one or two, and that's it. So for a second, when Intangible had a seer and a healer, and then suddenly a vampire, I thought, "Uh oh. I'm not going to loathe this the way I loathe Sookie Stackhouse, am I?"

Fortunately, I don't. While I might not be able to make it past the first chapter of the first Sookie Stackhouse book, I very happily devoured Intangible. Vampires? Check. Seers and healers? Check. Mind readers? Check. Elves? Check. Some books that have characters who have multiple abilities/are various mythological creatures might not work, but Intangible works. Why? Because 1. I can relate to the characters, 2. The world is clearly explained and 3. J. Myers makes it believable. I think a big reason why this book works so well is because she chose twins for the protagonists. I firmly believe that twin's intuition is most likely a very real thing, and if so, then why not make the leap to having twins who have additional abilities? To me, it's perfectly logical, especially as Luke and Sera's history is explained throughout the book.

Speaking of Sera and Luke, as I already mentioned, I felt like I could relate to them, at least a little bit. They're both likeable characters, and I was emotionally invested in them. I was also emotionally invested in the other characters, especially Jonas. Jonas was actually my favorite character because of his vampire and human qualities and how those qualities co-existed.

About those vampires. J. Myers presented vampires in a way that was completely new to me. The idea that some vampires may want to be human again is something that has sort of occurred to me, but not really. At least, not in a way that was fully developed, the way J. Myers developed it. The fact that the majority of the vampires in this book were not nice vampires (no sparkles here!) thrilled me. I like the idea of vampires as long as the vampires are actually mean, scary and out for human blood. When vampires sparkle, hunt animals, and fall in love with humans, I avoid them.

The only thing I had a problem with was Luke and Sera's relationship. I understand that they're twins, so they don't feel whole without each other and whatnot. I'm okay with that. But there were a couple of times, especially toward the end of the book, when it almost felt like they viewed each other in a romantic way instead of a sibling way. It was a "I can't imagine living without my twin sister/brother, my other half" thing, but I felt like based on how Sera and Luke thought about each other at certain points, it could have easily turned into a, "I'm so in love with you, you're my soul and other half, and I don't want to live without you" thing. Maybe I'm wrong, but it weirded me out a little. Overall, though, this book is a fabulous debut. I can't wait to read the sequel.