Intangible Book Review

Title: Intangible
Author: C.A. Gray
Publisher: Wanderlust Publishing
Publication Date: December 1, 2013
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Source: Author
Amazon

Peter Stewart grew up on a unique version of the Arthurian legends taught him by his father, a harebrained quantum physicist who asserts that anything is possible. But Peter disbelieves anything which cannot be scientifically explained, despite a nagging sense that there is more to the world than meets the eye.

 Lily Portman is an orphan with a secret: she can see creatures that are invisible to everyone else. These creatures control every human being she has ever met to varying degrees... until she meets Peter and his father. 

When a mysterious stranger stages an accident which nearly costs Peter and Lily their lives, suddenly Lily learns that she is not crazy after all, and Peter discovers the truth of his father’s stories… including the existence of Arthur’s ancient nemesis, one who calls himself the Shadow Lord, and a prophecy with implications so profound that it will alter not only the course of their lives, but potentially the fate of the world.

Conflicting emotions, they're everywhere with this one!
And with that, let's begin the review, shall we?

Intangible is, quite simply, a unique, modern retelling of the old, well-renowned Arthurian legend. You know, with King Arthur, and Camelot and all that interesting stuff! With that alone, the plot line is very original and undeniably entertaining.

The prologue is possibly the best part about the opening of this book. When the first thing you read is of a car crash, there really isn't much you can do to resist reading on! The author has no intentions of losing borderline readers. I guess you could almost classify this as cheating, because straight after the prologue, we're taken back in time, to follow protagonist Peter through a few ordinary days of School, but you're still compelled to continue, nonetheless, because you've read that awesome prologue and are henceforth, hooked! Exactly like knowing something exciting is going to happen in the near future, yet unaware of when.
It's a good tactic nonetheless, on Gray's behalf, because it got me reading, even through the slow chapters.

Which brings me to the next topic; the plot. Remember at the start of this review, with the conflicting emotions? Yeah, this is the part it really kicks in.
Ultimately, you're aware that the book is based on the stories of King Arthur, and because of the prologue, you know it's definitely got the fantasy element, but sometimes, especially while reading the first part, you'd swear it was just about some science lover and his struggles through school! This really put me off, because on the one hand, I couldn't wait for all the exciting, fantasy stuff, but on the other, I couldn't see that ever happening either.
The confusing and slow-paced plot was definitely one of the book's biggest flaw for me. Fortunately, all that was forgotten about later on in the book!

Character development in 'Intangible', was the second thing that left me with conflicting emotions. Oh my God, was this a love-hate relationship!

First of all, I thought that the main character, Peter, was both awesome and irritating! As a fellow lover of science, his knowledge blew my mind! Like seriously, I had to collect and fix the pieces together again, all while reading on! Not a very easy task, trust me! But the extent to which his love for science dominated his personality was quite annoying. For one, he always had to be right. Even when we knew he was wrong, and the others knew he was wrong, and he knew he was wrong.. he still had to be right! His logical reasoning clashed with sudden, impulsive moments, and I have to say, it wasn't all too convincing.

But along with all those flaws, came his redeeming qualities. This kid is seriously one of the most stubborn characters you will come across! Haha. His stubbornness contributed to already mentioned need to be right, but more importantly, it showed us that he wasn't ready to be pushed around. Just take his punching Kane as a prime example. That took balls, which I think is necessary with a protagonist in this sort of story.
Other than Peter, I had no problems with any characters. They were all well developed, though that was limited, and I ended up liking them all! Even Brock!

Apart from the 'two sides of the same character' situation, the constantly varying point of views sometimes proved a source of conflict. I don't mean varying point of views as in a different character per chapter, I mean a different character per sentence. Okay, I confess to using hyperbole, but still, the book wasn't really set in the usual third person. I did some searching, and found that it's called 'third person omniscient', meaning that the author "not only reports the facts but may also interpret events and relate the thoughts and feelings of any character". This was a positive in that you were allowed insight into each of the characters, but negative in that the development of said characters was really limited, and the whole thing got a little confusing at times.

Whatever doubts I had during my read of this book, seemed to vanish as the book's ending neared. I can't even begin to explain how good the ending was! Descriptions of Carlion were good earlier on in the book, but pale in comparison to how well the author brought Avalon castle to life! C.A. Gray made Peter much more likable and realistic as the story unraveled, and the whole point of view thing turned out to really suit the epic battle between the nimbi and the penumbra, the good guys and the bad.

While I was left with conflicting emotions for the majority of the book, the ending totally made up for all that! I couldn't have been more satisfied, and eagerly await the sequel, 'Invincible'.

 

Sorry if this is a bit long guys! Haha

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you later!