Fated , by Alyson Noel

Paperback, UK, 448 pages

Published May 24th 2012 by Macmillan Children's Books (first published May 22nd 2012)

ISBN

1447206800 (ISBN13: 9781447206804)

edition language

English

series

The Soul Seekers #1

 

 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortals comes a breathtaking new saga brimming with magic, mystery, and an intoxicating love story that will steal your heart away. Meet The Soul Seekers.

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 Review

Its easy to see the similarities between Alyson Noels immortal series and this one. Theres just a lot about it that makes it seem like your reading pretty much the same storyline but in some formation of another context, almost as if its the story after the story sort of situation. Since developing my reading library though you can see that actually her writing style is very simple compared to the complexity of other novels that we perhaps come across when reading. The story line, whilst though not fresh or new, is a little engaging in that your pulled into becoming a soul seeker yourself and connecting with the characters and all that they have to say and to do. I had to though, keep an open mind when reading the novel because all I had heard was negative critiscism after negative critiscism, people stating that it was not as good as they were expecting. I think that a part of the problem here is that people have read her other series and therefore expect it to be the same as that and its not. its a whole different story and its about something that we perhaps have not read in other novels before which means people are less open about giving it a chance to stand out in its own light and formation.

Daire is clearly the kind of girl who wants to stand out on her own and who doesnt want to be controlled by the others who think that they are older and wiser than her. She has in many ways been masked from the dangers of life and yet at the same time she has clearly been through something that means she is a girl that is no more than lost in something very complex and something unknowing to the rest of us. There is something relatable about her character but only when she starts high school and goes to live with her family relative Paloma. Only then did I get this sense and feel of there being this very real person, this sort of teenager that has had to deal with a life of highlights and spotlights for as long as she could remember only to be doused with a sense of normality and irregularity and strangeness. Shes a girl that has a lot more on her plate to deal with than perhaps any other teenage girl does. In some senses you can almost get this feeling of a buffy type stage to her, someone who has the power and ability to control what happens in the world and what the bad can and can not do. But like buffy she is not alone. She has her psychics, the helpers and the advisers. She has everything and everyone she needs without having it all at the same time.

 

Its clearly the sort of story that is meant to be a sense of mystery and self engagement in that your meant to make your ownn views and opinions on it and what it is that you get from it, but at the same time you just cant help but feel like there is meant to be something more to it because its not as deep as you want it to be. Yes there was two cute guys in there and ther were the bitchy teens who think they rule the school, but we all know that reality is nothing like this and far from it. I do think though that alyson noel has skill and talent when it comes to writing her books in that she really seems to plan them in a precise and accurate way so that she knows what to do and knows what she wants to write but leaving room for change as well. I did enjoy yhe book adn I look forward to seeing what is going to happen next.