Sixteen-year-old Yara
Silva has always known that ghosts walk alongside the living. Her grandma, like
the other females in her family, is a Waker, someone who can see and
communicate with ghosts. Yara grew up watching her grandmother taunted and
scorned for this unusual ability and doesn't want that to be her future. She
has been dreading the day when she too would see ghosts, and is relieved that
the usually dominant Waker gene seems to have skipped her, letting her live a
normal teenage life. However, all that changes for Yara on her first day at her
elite boarding school when she discovers the gene was only lying dormant. She
witnesses a dark mist attack Brent, a handsome fellow student, and rushes to
his rescue. Her act of heroism draws the mist's attention, and the dark spirit
begins stalking her. Yara finds herself entrenched in a sixty-year-old curse
that haunts the school, threatening not only her life, but the lives of her
closest friends as well.
Lani Woodland’s INTRINSICAL is a wonderfully inventive and
very creepy ghost story/mystery. Just
when I thought I had the story figured out, it took another turn…and another…and
another! I am in awe of Lani Woodland’s
imagination and the way she fit all the different elements of the story
together, all while surprising me up to the last pages.
Lani has a beautiful, smooth, imagery-laden writing style
that really adds to the novel. Here’s an
example of a description I really liked (I read an ARC, so the final version
may be slightly different):
“The events seemed like a chalk drawing in a rainstorm,
important details being washed away by the water, leaving behind a smudged
slate.”
Lani’s descriptive writing also amped up the story’s
creepiness—I never knew swimming pools could be so terrifying! There’s also a really scary scene involving a
bathroom mirror that was very well done!
I loved the way Lani wove in aspects of Brazilian folk
beliefs and herbal lore throughout the novel.
Her version of ghosts and other paranormal phenomena was interesting,
unique, and multi-sensory—I particularly liked her descriptions of how
different ghosts smell!
I also really liked the characterization of Lani’s heroine,
Yara. Yara refused to be a damsel in
distress, yet she also thought before acting and developed an intelligent plan
rather than jumping headlong into danger.
Finally, I appreciated the way the story ended, providing satisfying closure even though
there’s a sequel (that I really want to read!).
