my first ever arc! Woo hoo!
Title: Fated
Author: Alyson Noel
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin by St. Martin's Press
Released: May 22, 2012
Summary: Daire Santos has always been plagued by visions where time seems to stop and odd glowing people beckon to her. She has always been able to block out the chaos while traveling around the world with her renowned movie make-up artist mother. Then, one day while on a set in Morocco, the vision becomes too strong, severed heads on poles surround her, talking to her and Daire loses it. She is put in a heavily medicated state and there is the imminent threat of her being committed or put away. While her mother is struggling with what to do, she gets a call from Daire's grandmother who had vanished during Daire's father's funeral. Daire now begins the journey to Enchantment, New Mexico where she finds out she is the last in a long line of Soul Seekers. Daire must learn the art from her grandmother and learn how to seek the truth and traverse between the Upper, Middle, and Lower worlds. Daire must also protect her heart from a set of handsome twins, one good and the other bad. The more Daire learns of her destiny, the more important it becomes to save the town of Enchantment from the evil Coyotes as the Dia de los Muertos draws closer. Come join Daire on her quest to find herself and save her town in Fated, the first book in the all new Soul Seekers Series from Alyson Noel.
My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book. Before reading this, I had read the first book in Noel's Immortals series, Evermore. Comparing the two, Fated comes out on top as a more enjoyable book. The setting and Native American and Mexican influence portrayed in the book added another layer to the story. I also really liked the twin aspect, and having them so attractive made it all the better. This book is an enjoyable read and a solid start to the series.
I did have some problems with the book. They were mostly issues of personal annoyance. I didn't like how Daire called her mom by her first name throughout the entire novel. She did offer an explanation of why she did, but I felt the explanation was weak. I also had a real problem with the names Noel chose for the characters. They were just too weird and out there. I was okay with Daire, but then I was pummeled with the names Jennika, Paloma, Django, Xotichl, Dace, and Chepi. Just too many odd names, everybody in the book had an odd sounding name. For me, I can handle one or two characters with an odd name, but not the whole cast of them. I needed some normal names sprinkled in.
Another issue I had was that Daire's destiny was to be a Soul Seeker, but the story never really explained what a Seeker really was or does. The novel leaves a lot of questions unanswered, like with the glowing people Daire sees in her visions, they just disappear from the story altogether.
This novel is a nice introduction to the series, but that's all it really is. Just a set up for the next book.
I'm not saying this book wasn't good, it was. It just had some issues that made it less great. This book was an enjoyable, good read. If you're already a fan of Alyson Noel, then this book is for you. If you've never read Noel, you'll still really like this book. Fated offers up a good, solid read and great intro to the Soul Seeker's Series.
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5
Seeking a great book, try Fated!
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