ARC Review: Fated, by Alyson Noel

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.
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Fated was my first experience with an Alyson Noel novel, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Within the first chapter I’d experienced steamy scenes (oh boy), dark, ominous scenes (excellent!), and a teenager with much more angst than I was hoping for (darn).

This book is rich with potential, and as I read about the various animal guides before chapter 1 began, I settled myself in for a story full of lore and mystery. Every time Daire learned more about her history, and her future, I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to read more. The dark scenes in this book were sometimes darker than I expected, but only served to enrich Daire’s journey further. These are the parts that kept me reading.

Daire goes through some crazy, scary crap right off the bat, so I can understand that she’s a bit resistant to unfamiliar situations, but her attitude of refusing *everything* wore me down. Maybe I’m too far removed from teenage life to remember what it’s like, but all it took was one angsty main character to turn me off again. The good thing is that Daire *did* grow, and learn, and mature as the story progressed.

In the end, I enjoyed the book, but I don’t think I’ll read the next one. I found myself thinking about it days after I’d finished it, but mostly because I wanted more. I wish that Noel had delved further into the lore, the magick, and the interesting spiritual side of Daire’s story, and focused less on Daire’s resistance to the world.

[NOTE: I received this book as an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway.]

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3stars