Blog Tour: Fated by Alyson Noel + Giveaway

book cover of Fated by Alyson Noel

Title: Fated (Soul Seekers #1)
Author: Alyson Noel
Release date: May 22, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 306
Source: Publisher

Lately strange things have been happening to Daire Santos. Animals follow her, crows mock her, and glowing people appear out of nowhere. Worried that Daire is having a nervous breakdown, her mother packs her off to stay in the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico with a grandmother she’s never met.

There she crosses paths with Dace, a gorgeous guy with unearthly blue eyes who she’s encountered before…but only in her dreams. And she’ll get to know her grandmother—a woman who recognizes Daire’s bizarre episodes for what they are. A call to her true destiny as a Soul Seeker, one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead. Her grandmother immediately begins teaching her to harness her powers—but it’s an art that must be mastered quickly. Because Dace’s brother is an evil shape-shifter who’s out to steal her powers. Now Daire must embrace her fate as a Soul Seeker and find out if Dace is one guy she’s meant to be with…or if he’s allied with the enemy she’s destined to destroy.

Fated was a highly anticipated book for me.  I’m a huge Alyson Noel fan and I wanted to like this one.  Sadly it was lacking in so many ways.  This won’t be a series for me.

The first problem with Fated is the main character, Daire. Daire has a nasty attitude.  She’s a giant brat and she has no respect for anyone.  She deserved a good slap across the face at multiple points in the book.  She may have had crazy stuff happening to her but that did not give her the right to be a bitch to the people who were trying to help her.  There wasn’t a single point in the book where I actually liked Daire.

The second problem I had was with the rest of the characters.  First, Daire’s mom, Jennika.  What mom ditches her kid with a woman she barely knows and then flies off to Chile?  Seriously, does she not know anything about parenting? Then there was Paloma.  She was a kind of crazy old lady and she just expected Daire to believe and go along with everything she said.  Last, there were Cade and Dace.  Cade wasn’t a very believable villain and while Dace was sweet I couldn’t see his and Daire’s relationship starting so quickly.  Insta-love much?

One other thing that really annoyed me was Daire’s switching moods.  One second she hated Paloma and didn’t believe anything she said.  The next second she just blindly did what Paloma said because she trusted her.  Once or twice I could understand this but Daire did it throughout the whole book.

Then there was the plot or should I say lack of one?  The book went nowhere for the first 3/4 and the 1/4 just worked out too perfectly.  After reading this one I feel like there is nothing to draw readers to a sequel.  Things tie up pretty well with this one and while there are some unanswered questions I don’t really care enough about the answers to read the sequel.

Honestly the most interesting part and the only part that I really liked had to do with the magic.  It’s not your typical magic, no wizards or gods or anything like that.  It all has to do with nature and the elements and using your own body to channel these things.  There was a pretty good focus on the magic but if Alyson Noel delves deeper into this aspect in the following novels, it could make things very interesting.

Overall, Fated was not a book for me.  Characters make the book for me and since I didn’t really care for any of these characters I just couldn’t love this book like I wanted to.  However, I know many people who have loved it so if this sounds like one you might enjoy I still recommend checking it out.

Looking for more reviews of Fated?
Series:
Fated (Soul Seekers #1)
Echo (Soul Seekers #2) – 2012
Mystic (Soul Seekers #3) – 2013
Horizon (Soul Seekers #4) – 2013

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16 comments

  1. Bummer..i really wanted this to be good, and most reviews are stating similar reasons that the book failed for them. Sorry you were disppointed.

  2. Sorry to hear you didn’t like it. It’s the worst when you have such high expectations, and the book falls flat. If you hated most of the book, can I ask why you gave it three stars? That sounds kind of generous…

    ~Riv Re
    Riv Reads

  3. I’ve read many similar reviews to yours so I don’t think I’ll read this one. I had the same experience with her Immortals series, so maybe Alyson Noel just isn’t a favorite of mine. Thanks for the honest review!

  4. I’ve got an ARC and Finished Copy of this from the publisher and I can’t find the time to read it! Honestly, even before reading this review I wasn’t so keen. I’m not a big fan of Alyson Noel and her Immortal Series was just…ugh – some people liked it but I can’t seem to make it past book 2!

    I always like how you write honest reviews Katie 😉

  5. Aww man. So disappointing. I hate when I’m really excited about a book and it doesn’t deliver and it’s so sad when you can’t stand the main character.

  6. Hmmm, thanks for the honest review: all the points you mentioned are things I read in other reviews before. Everybody seems to struggle with this one. Such a shame, because I love the cover and the blurb sound pretty good.

  7. It’s terrible you didn’t like it!

    I actually really liked this one! I loved the writing style and the characters. I totally connected with Daire, I didn’t think she was all over the place. I really liked the Native American culture and beliefs in magic.

    I totally loved the sequel.