Title: Fated
Author: Alyson Noel
Series: The Soul Seekers, #1
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Date Published: May 22nd, 2012
Edition: Paperback
Source: ARC (Provided by Publisher)
Rating:
Lately strange things have been happening to Daire Santos. Animals follow her, crows mock her, and glowing people appear out of nowhere. Worried that Daire is having a nervous breakdown, her mother packs her off to stay in the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico with a grandmother she’s never met.
There she crosses paths with Dace, a gorgeous guy with unearthly blue eyes who she’s encountered before…but only in her dreams. And she’ll get to know her grandmother—a woman who recognizes Daire’s bizarre episodes for what they are. A call to her true destiny as a Soul Seeker, one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead. Her grandmother immediately begins teaching her to harness her powers—but it’s an art that must be mastered quickly. Because Dace’s brother is an evil shape-shifter who’s out to steal her powers. Now Daire must embrace her fate as a Soul Seeker and find out if Dace is one guy she’s meant to be with…or if he’s allied with the enemy she’s destined to destroy.
My Review:
I was excited for Fated because I’ve had my eye on Alyson Noel’s The Immortals series for awhile but haven’t wanted to start it yet due to the length. Plus, the cover is seriously gorgeous and as I’m sure you’ll find from my previous reviews, I tend to be a sucker for a good cover. But, unfortunately I must report that this was not my cup of tea.
Normally I write reviews right after finishing a book because my thoughts and opinions tend to be the freshest at that point. Then I will go through and try to make sense of my jumbled thoughts. But with this one I had to sit on it all day after reading it because I wasn’t sure exactly what it was I didn’t like. I don’t like writing low-rating reviews without being constructive about them and at least attempt to explain what I found wrong with the book.
This is a tough one though. I guess it’s a combination of a lot of small things that on their own perhaps wouldn’t have made a huge difference, but added up along with the other things. The main character Daire I actually liked at times. She’s shy and quiet sometimes, but then she’ll say these things that just blow my mind and make me respect her so much more. But at the same time I didn’t quite connect with her. I don’t know what it was. I think maybe part of it is that she jumped on board with whole Soul Seeker thing without asking too many questions. She seemed just too okay with it without wondering the why of it. Why her? Why her bloodline? Why at all?
Which brings me to the other thing I had a problem with. The whole concept is really just kind of blurry and strange. By the end of the book I really wasn’t much more clear on what exactly the purpose of a Soul Seeker is other than to travel different dimensions for the good of mankind. How is that helping? I’m not sure. Not only that but there were other parts of the plot which I won’t give away that just weren’t really making sense to me. It was a jumble of Native American legends, urban fantasy, and somehow Daire is Mexican and mixed up in this Native American type lore.
Finally the writing style was just not for me. I think this contributed to the being confused about the world thing. But although I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was, I just wasn’t a fan of the way it was written.
Overall, this just wasn’t for me. I think perhaps those interested in Native American legends might enjoy it, so long as you can decipher what it’s really about. I’m not sure if those bits were made up or real, but you can be the judge. I’m pretty sure I won’t be continuing this series though personally.
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