Review: Fated by Alyson Noel

Fated by Alyson Noel
Series: Soul Seekers #1
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books (Macmillan UK)
First published: May 24th, 2012
Source: Received from publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 440

Goodreads Summary:

Strange things are happening to Daire Santos. Crows mock her, glowing people stalk her, time stops without warning, and a beautiful boy with unearthly blue eyes haunts all her dreams. Fearing for her daughter’s sanity, Daire’s mother sends her to live with the grandmother she’s never met. A woman who recognizes the visions for what they truly are—the call to her destiny as a Soul Seeker—one who can navigate the worlds between the living and dead.

There on the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico, Daire sets out to harness her mystical powers. But it’s when she meets Dace, the boy from her dreams, that her whole world is shaken to its core. Now Daire is forced to discover if Dace is the one guy she's meant to be with...or if he’s allied with the enemy she's destined to destroy.

My Rating: 2.5 / 5

First thoughts:

Having read and loved the first three books of Alyson's Immortals series, I had quite high expectations for her new series. And while I really liked her writing style and the mythology incorporated in Fated, I sadly had a hard time connecting with the characters and the plot, blaming the rather slow pace.

More detailed:

Despite having read quite a few mixed reviews for Fated, I tried loving it as much as I loved Evermore. I had hoped that knowing what to expect would make me appreciate the story more, but sadly I only found myself agreeing to the criticism I have read before starting to read it myself.

The mystical premise of the story sounds promising and I was hoping to be whisked away into a secretive and intriguing world. And while I have to admit that the world-building is very imaginative and whets your appetite for more, there are some aspects that I found confusing and that lacked some more thorough explanations.

I also had some problems connecting with the main character Daire and her attitude towards the things that were happening to her. In the beginning she was a bit too stubborn in my opinion, but later she shed that quality too fast. Therefore being a bit unpredictable, I sadly didn't like her as much as I hope to like the protagonists of books, which of course made it even more difficult to fall in love with Fated.

But of course there are things that I really enjoyed. Most of all: the writing. It's different from the usual and rather simple writing style I got used to while reading almost nothing but Young Adult novels. It's beautiful and creates a wonderful imagery, which makes it very easy to imagine the things Alyson Noel wants us to see.

I'm definitely not going to give up on this series and hope that the sequel, Echo, will give me more insight into important paranormal / mythological elements of this story that will help me to understand this world a bit better. And since I really liked Daire's love interest (and to be honest, his brother, too), I'm hoping to find out more about him as well. All in all, I'd recommend Fated to people who don't care whether the story they're reading is fairly slow paced and want something different from the usual Young Adult paranormal stories.

Have you read Fated? What did you think about it?
Do you plan to read it?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
Carina