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

Review: Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts
Publisher: Macmillan UK
Date of Publication: September 2nd, 2011
Source: Received from UK publisher
Pages: 368

Goodreads Summary:

Four teenagers on the same road in a world gone mad. Struggling to survive, clinging on to love and meaning wherever it can be found. THE DARK INSIDE is a stunning, cinematic thriller: 28 DAYS LATER meets THE ROAD.
Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…. Now it’s our turn.
Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even worse is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, hooking on to weakness, turning the unwary into hunters, killers, crazies.

Mason: His mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground. Everyone he knows is killed.
Aries: A school bus, an aftershock and a crash. Pulled out of the wreckage by a mysterious stranger, she’s about to discover a world changed forever.
Clementine: An emergency meeting at the town hall that descends into murderous chaos. Outside the rest of their community encircle with weapons. How can those you trust turn into savage strangers?
Michael: A brutal road rage incident. When the police arrive on the scene they gun down the guilty and turn on the by-standing crowd. Where do you go for justice when even the lawmakers have turned bad?

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My Rating: 4.0 / 5

What I thought about it:

I remember saying about a lot of books that I'd love to be a part of their world for at least a day to experience what I've read about. But let me tell you one thing: I do not want to be a part of the world that is presented in Dark Inside. It is scary and sometimes it took a lot of control for me not to scream at the book.

The story is told by a third person narrator who constantly switches between four (or rather five) points of view. Aries, Michael, Clementine and Mason all experience the earthquakes and their consequences in their own way and have to struggle to survive. All of them are very likeable characters that I often felt incredibly sorry for.

Almost every new page included a new horrific situation, a new problem these characters had to face. The majority of people seems to have gone crazy after the earthquakes. Violence and killing are the new pastime for the so-called Baggers and even though most of them don't try to hide their new attitude, you can never be sure whom to trust.

After finishing this novel, a lot of questions are left unanswered. Why are so many people going crazy and murderous? How can this be connected to the earthquakes? And why exactly do some stay sane? And even though I might have an idea whose story we're being told by the fifth point of view (called "nothing") - who is this? But since this book is the first in a trilogy, I'm sure we're going to get all the answer we want.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Dark Inside even though I felt like I'd go crazy myself if I had to face another cliffhanger at the end of a chapter. Jeyn Roberts has a wonderful style of writing which pulled me into the story and made me feel like I was facing these monsters as well. I can't wait to see what she has planned for these characters (maybe a few more romantic moments?) and the scary world they live in.

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Have you read Dark Inside? What did you think about it?
Carina