*REVIEW* Fated

Synopsis:

The first book in a magnificent new series about a girl who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead by #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël.

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.

I couldn't wait to read this book! I really enjoyed The Immortals by Alyson Noel... well, at least the first few books. The series went down a little for me towards the end but I still enjoyed them! So I was REALLY excited to dive into the new world Noel has created with The Soul Seekers. And although the book had a pretty slow start for me in terms of my excitement over it, I'm happy to say that things picked up and by the end I was quite pleased.

Fated introduces us to Daire, a teenage girl being plagued by strange visions and glowing people. Doctors are convinced that she is mentally unstable and needs to be institutionalized, but Daire knows deep inside that it's more than that. In an effort to save her daughter, Daire's mother sends her to live with her grandmother, Paloma, a woman that she has never met and who practices and believes in otherworldly things.

Daire quickly learns that she hails from a long line of Soul Seekers, individuals who work in the light to bring down the darkness that plagues the world, a darkness brought on by the Coyotes. The Coyotes stem from an evil family who control the entire town. As Daire is thrust into this world, she must learn to overcome her fears and to have faith in who she was always destined to be. The trick will be knowing who to trust, and who to avoid, and ensuring that she doesn't get in too deep. If she does, she may lose something more valuable than life itself... she could lose her soul.

I really don't want to spoiler this one for anyone! I can say that I did find the beginning VERY confusing and that at times, I felt like the author skipped some needed information about what is going on. It's like, BAM! Daire finds out she's a Soul Seeker, here comes a spirit quest, and then BOOM! She's got all these powers and is facing off against the bad guy. It's alluded to that she's received a great deal of training but you don't see much of it so for me, I felt very uninformed at times.

Other than that, once the story got going, and I pieced together what was going on, I found myself quite pleased with it. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes since a lot was left hanging. Definitely some mysteries that need to be unraveled in the next book! All in all, I very much enjoyed this book. Hope you do the same! Happy Reading! *XOXO*