The Named By: Marianne Curley

I'm sorry to say I did not post this the day that I finished it. So I am going to copy and paste from wikipedia.org for the next 3 posts. Once again, I'm sorry.

The Named starts out before Ethan, the main character, discovers his powers. He witnesses his sister's death which was caused by Marduke, an evil minion to Lathenia, the Goddess of evil and leader of the Order. The story continues when Ethan is 16. He goes to school in Angel Falls and is aware of his powers, and is relatively good at controlling them. The story switches point of views and Isabel comes into play. She is a long time acquaintance with Ethan because of his standing friendship with her brother Matt. Unfortunately, Matt and Ethans friendship grew apart because of their common interest in Rochelle. However, Rochelle doesn't come truly into play until later in the story. Ethan is training under the power of Arkarian the coordinator of the Guard. He has the power of agelessness and remains 18. He has blue hair and violet eyes, but only because of this power. Arkarian is also a truthseer (can read the minds of others) and has his wings which allows him to teleport to anywhere by thinking of it. Isabel becomes aware of her powers one day while getting ready for school. She has the power to heal. Arkarian tells Ethan this and tells him that he must train Isabelle to be ready for the final battle between the Order and the Guard. Isabel was in love with Ethan when they were young. She would follow him and her brother around just to be with them. She grew attached to the outdoors and was very strong for being a girl. This feature alone helped Ethan train her. At first, Isabel was weary about Ethan and couldn't trust what he was saying, but she grew to it and soon was a very strong member of the Guard and one of the named. The Named, are the group of nine who are said to fight Lathenia in the final battle. The nine who may or may not appear in this book, are Arkarian, Ethan, Isabel, Matt, Neriah, Rochelle, Jimmy, Shaun, and Mr. Carter. Ethan and Isabel go on their first mission back in time to make sure King Richard actually became king. The only way to get back in time is to go through the citadel (a palace with many rooms that appeal to the people who show up in them). They can only get to the Citadel through their sleep, and only their souls go, their body remains behind while they sleep.
Isabel is close to dying at one point in the book. Only her soul-mate can save her. Her soul-mate had to call her name to get her soul back to her body. Ethan tried but failed. Isabel couldn't hear him. Then Arkarian called her name. Isabel heard him. When she awoke she thought it was Ethan that had saved her. Arkarian said that Isabel can never know that he is her soul-mate.

I thought this book was quite interesting. However it took me a while to get into. I give this book a PG for it really has nothing that I object to.