Fates (Fates #1)

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Author(s)

Lanie Bross

Publisher

Delacorte Press

Genre(s)

Paranormal Romance

Age Range

12+

Release Date

February 11, 2014

ISBN

978-0385742825

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One moment. One foolish desire. One mistake. And Corinthe lost everything. She fell from her tranquil life in Pyralis Terra and found herself exiled to the human world. Her punishment? To make sure people's fates unfold according to plan. Now, years later, Corinthe has one last assignment: kill Lucas Kaller. His death will be her ticket home. But for the first time, Corinthe feels a tingle of doubt. It begins as a lump in her throat, then grows toward her heart, and suddenly she feels like she is falling all over again--this time for a boy she knows she can never have. Because it is written: one of them must live, and one of them must die. In a universe where every moment, every second, every fate has already been decided, where does love fit in?

Editor reviews

2 reviews

Fates

April 04, 2014

Overall rating

3.3

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There's a lot of promise in this paranormal story of a Fate that is doomed to live on Earth and the only way to return to Pyralis Terra is to kill a boy she finds herself attracted to.

What worked: I love the unique twist on Greek mythology with a Fate that is banished to our Earth to make sure the fates of humans unfold according to plan. There are some lush descriptions of Corinthe's world and the Crossroad-the netherland between worlds.

The beginning hooked me right in by showing Corinthe at work with the principal at her school. The result is tragic but gives readers a foreshadowing on what her duties are.

I also really connected with Luc, the boy that seems to have everything going against him. His plight and the struggles he went through felt very real including his love for his younger sis Jas.

What I had a hard time with had to be really being invested in the characters. Corinthe lack of emotion made it hard to really care for her fate. She felt wooden to me and just walked through the scenes. I guess I wanted more passion, something. I just didn't feel it.

Though I liked Luc, I didn't get or feel the chemistry between him and Corinthe. Why would he want to kiss her even when she had a knife to his throat? That didn't feel believable enough to me and was borderline creepy. Also I didn't buy the instant love connection. But that's just me.

Creepy twist on Greek mythology, sure to resonate with fans of Fallen.

Kim Baccellia, Staff Reviewer Top 10 Reviewer 889 reviews

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Loved the Idea! But Wasn't a Fan of the Writing Style or the Roamnce

July 18, 2014

Overall rating

2.7

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MY THOUGHTS
I felt as if I was on a teeter-totter the whole time I was reading this book. Whenever I began to enjoy reading this book, I would be high up on the teeter-totter until something would happen in the book and bring me back to the ground. This would happen over and over again throughout the book, which makes me so sad! I wanted to enjoy this book! In fact, there were occasions that I was really close to enjoying it! But there was always something that would prevent that.

The Writing
The writing was one of those somethings and it's what really makes me so sad about not liking this book. Lanie Bross is obviously a great writer! I could clearly picture what was happening and she has such a great imagination! But, oddly enough, I am not a fan of her writing style. The book is written in 3rd person which is not my favorite point-of-view. I can deal with it if it follows only one person or it alternating every chapter (with the character's name before the chapter). But this book did not follow one character and while it did alternate every chapter, there would occasionally be chapters where more than one chapter was followed. This just made it very hard for me to connect with the characters or even care about them. What made it worse, though, was the fact that the antagonist was a character that was followed and we would hear the thought of. This erased a lot of mystery in the book.

No Explanation
This isn't a big one, but there were words used that were never explained. Same thing with people. Names were brought up but it was never told who they were. It got very confusing at times.

The Romance
The romance was what really drove me mad! I can deal with the writing, I can deal with no explanations, but the romance was constantly dragging me back down to the ground. I could be enjoying a scene and BOOM, here comes insta-love. Yes, there was insta-love.
"Corinthe shook her head. She must have hit her head in the accident: he was human, and she could hardly even tell the difference between humans. But something about this boy seemed different." -Page 8
"He stared hard at her month and fought the intense desire to hear her whisper his name instead." -Page 65
Both of these quotes are from when they don't even know eachother!
But it gets worse:
"But he wanted to kiss her more than anything right that second. Press his lips against the soft curve of her neck." -Page 100
To set the scene: Corinthe is trying to kill him. This chick has a knife at this guy's throat and instead of think "Woah, this chick is trying to kill me! I need to fight back!" He's thinking about kissing her. And these ridiculous emotions cross the character's minds all throughout the book.
Even more ridiculous, there wasn't even really a romance until the very very end.

But, as I said, there were parts that I actually enjoyed.

The Ideas
I loved the premise to the story and all the imagination involved in the creation of it. The idea of fate in this book was enormously fascinating!

Fantasy Elements
I can't go into full detail about this, because of spoilers, but there are other worlds in this story and made me super happy! This kind of thing in books is one of my favorite plot-like aspects to be found in books! The middle portion of this book, where this was, was my absolute favorite and I was really enjoying myself throughout it! Sucks that the romance ruined it.

The Ending
I HATED the romance aspect to the ending, but other than that, I really liked the way things ended. It sounds really bad, though, if you know what happens.

IN CONCLUSION
I have a weird relationship with this book. I enjoyed some parts--like the premise, the fantasy elements, and the ending--but was not a fan of the writing style or lack of explanations. But the romance was particularly irritating. I would like to think that the middle portion of the book would redeem it, but I can't get myself to give this book a higher rating. To be honest, the book isn't really that memorable. Maybe it's because of the fact that I never could connect with the characters, but I don't like I'll remember this story in the long-run.
As for the next book, I won't read it.
1. I liked the ending of this book.
2. I have a feeling that book 2 might have more romance.
But Lanie Bross is talented and if she ever writes anything else, I'll probably look into it.