Fated (Soul Seekers #1)

In the beginning this novel was really slow paced to the point where I almost gave up. I found that I had to actually force myself to get through the first third of the book. After that I really got into the story and I enjoyed it greatly.

I found the use of native American beliefs to be extremely interesting and really gave the story something real to focus on. There are also Spanish beliefs mixed into this novel as well and surprisingly the two beliefs compliment each other really well to make the story flow.

I loved the whole idea for the book. A teenage girl with mystical powers who has the ability to travel between the three worlds to try and stop an evil force from taking over. And to make the story even better the evil this girl has to battle comes in the form of an attractive teenage guy AND she doesn't go gaga over him which was a major bonus. To make matters worse he has a twin brother who is the complete opposite and has a strong connection with Daire.

There are exciting moments in this book where Daire is travelling between the different worlds and she gets put into situations where she could be caught at any moment or even killed. These parts were extremely well done and I found myself on the edge of my seat hoping Daire could get out okay. The points between these exciting adventures are so full of information and description that you can't help but be intrigued.

As for the characters I really liked almost all of them. Daire tended to get on my nerves in the beginning. She was always complaining and it really seemed like she only cared what people looked like. The way she acted made me believe that she thought she was better than everyone else. Throughout the story however she really seems to change and actually becomes quite caring and interesting. Dace was such a sweet character. He takes care of the people he cares about and doesn't expect anything in return. Cade on the other hand was a complete jerk. He seems to have ulterior motives whenever he does anything and I found myself really disliking him.

I loved the intricate story and the mystical aspects in this book. I am definitely going to be reading the sequel Echo and I hope it is just as exciting and interesting.

Fated was my first experience with an Alyson Noel novel, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Within the first chapter I’d experienced steamy scenes (oh boy), dark, ominous scenes (excellent!), and a teenager with much more angst than I was hoping for (darn).

This book is rich with potential, and as I read about the various animal guides before chapter 1 began, I settled myself in for a story full of lore and mystery. Every time Daire learned more about her history, and her future, I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to read more. The dark scenes in this book were sometimes darker than I expected, but only served to enrich Daire’s journey further. These are the parts that kept me reading.

Daire goes through some crazy, scary crap right off the bat, so I can understand that she’s a bit resistant to unfamiliar situations, but her attitude of refusing *everything* wore me down. Maybe I’m too far removed from teenage life to remember what it’s like, but all it took was one angsty main character to turn me off again. The good thing is that Daire *did* grow, and learn, and mature as the story progressed.

In the end, I enjoyed the book, but I don’t think I’ll read the next one. I found myself thinking about it days after I’d finished it, but mostly because I wanted more. I wish that Noel had delved further into the lore, the magick, and the interesting spiritual side of Daire’s story, and focused less on Daire’s resistance to the world.

[NOTE: I received this book as an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway.]

You know when I heard Alyson Noel wrote another book, I had to check it out. Fated, the first in her new Soul Seekers series, is a story about Daire, a teenage girl who discovers that she comes from a soul seekers, a sort of special being that deals with souls of humans and animals alike. There isn’t anything like the world that Alyson creates and she does it so creatively and profoundly, you have to admire her skill in painting such vivid and thought-provoking pictures. Alyson dives right into Native American lore and talks a lot about the importance of spirit animals and harnessing the powers and strengths of nature. While I’m not too big on all that spiritual stuff, it was nice learning about it and seeing it being incorporated into the story. There’s this one part with a cockroach that I have to say was a favorite of mine.

It did take me a good halfway through the book before things really picked up, but after that I finished it pretty quickly. The first half is about Daire discovering who she is and her journey in accepting and managing her powers, with the help of her grandmother. There’s a lot of inner monologuing and explanations from her grandmother, you also get some glimpses into the “dream world” where Daire meets two very important guys. There aren’t very many in the way of characters until Daire enrolls in the local high school and meets her sworn enemy, and potential true love, in person. Along with some new friends and frienemies, they all added humor and fun to the story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Fated seemed more of a “setting the scene” book for me, where it was basically Daire coming into her powers and family history, then facing off with her enemy in an important, yet not so epic battle. She did intrigue me with this book and its premise so I’m eager to see where Alyson is going with this series and hope for more action and interaction in the next book.