REVIEW: FATED ~ SARAH ALDERSON

What happens when you discover you aren’t who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?

Evie Tremain is a shadow of the girl she once was.  After the death of her father and the betrayal of her best friend and boyfriend, all Evie cares about is saving enough money to move to New York, and her only priority is working as many shifts as she can.  All that changes one night when Evie is attacked by creatures she could never have imagined truly existed – that’s when Evie finally learns the truth.  She was adopted at birth because her biological parents were killed protecting her.  Evie is the last in a long line of demon slayers, and an unwilling participant in a war between Hunters and Unhumans.  A prophecy predicts that Evie will be the Hunter to end the war, severing Earth’s connection to all other realms – making Evie the Unhumans’ number one target.

Lucas Grey is half human, half Shadow Warrior demon, and a member of the Brotherhood – the group of Unhuman assassins tasked with killing Evie.  Orphaned by Evie’s mentor, Lucas has only revenge on his mind when the Unhumans descend on Riverview, California.  Aided by the power to merge with the shadows, invisible to humans, Lucas has the best chance of getting close enough to kill Evie – but he finds himself protecting her from his Brotherhood instead.  Confused by his instinctive actions, Lucas convinces himself he only protected Evie because he has something better in mind.  Lucas, being half-human can risk getting close to Evie – with her skills undeveloped and not yet at full power, Evie won’t be able to sense his Unhuman side.  Lucas moves to Riverview to get close to Evie, learn all the Hunters' secrets and kill Evie before she can fulfil the prophecy.  The only problem is, instead of focusing on his mission, Lucas finds himself secretly aiding Evie in her training, time and time again protecting her from threats known and unknown.  Is it possible that despite his orders, despite his oath to the Brotherhood, despite Evie being his sworn enemy, Lucas has gone and fallen in love with a demon slayer?

Having so enjoyed Sarah Alderson’s Hunting Lila and Losing Lila, giving both books a rare 5/5, I was very excited to start her new series.  The sad truth, however, is that Fated did not grip me half as much as the Lila series did.  For some reason I just did not instantly connect with Evie and Lucas as I did with Lila and Alex.  I also found their chemistry a tad unbelievable – just the whole scenario surrounding their relationship came off a little forced and unnatural at times.  Initially I also didn’t find Evie a very likable character.  While I have understanding for her emotional turmoil, I found her weak and whiny.  I can say, though, that Evie does improve throughout the book, and as she gains confidence and strength she becomes more interesting and more likable.  I do like Lucas as a character; his motivations and intensity are very believable.  I did not like the supporting characters, however, whereas I loved all the supporting characters in the Lila series – so much so that I can’t wait for a reunion novel. 

I think my mistake was going into this series expecting a second Lila series, comparing it right off the bat - probably not fair to the author.

The book is not bad, though, and if this is your first Alderson read you’ll probably enjoy it.  But if, like me, you’re hoping for something on par with Lila, I think you might be disappointed. 

The storyline has promise, and the sequel, Severed, is sure to be more interesting, but ultimately this book just didn’t hook me as I like my books to do.

Product information:

Title: Fated

Author: Sarah Alderson

Number of pages: 310

Publisher:  Simon and Schuster

Year: 2012

ISBN: 9780857074348