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vikcs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
theladygonzalez's review
4.0
After I finished Fated I struggled as to how to approach writing the review. For those of you who are familiar with the series, you know that the main character, Macy, has an immortal soul and is constantly reborn as a keeper; a protector. This time however, things go down a bit differently. The reader learns a great about Macy, her identity and her purpose and I really do not want to spoil things for you. So please forgive me if this review is a bit scatter brained and unclear at times, I am trying my best to tiptoe around and not give things away. I thought about not writing a review, but I really wanted to share with you all how much I enjoyed Fated.
So, like I said, Macy and the usual gang are back for round two. This time, instead of Ancient Egypt, they are wreaking havoc in Ancient Greece – sort of (cryptic, I know). like I said, I am going to keep plot points to a minimum, but I will say this: Fated was one shock after another. I must admit, when I was finished with it, I thought to myself, “there is no way Courtney Cole knew where she was going with that”. Then, as if she has some magical connection directly to my brain and coincidentally my nook, she explained her reasoning in the author’s notes. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved all the twists, turns and “oh my god!” moments, that’s why I am sparing you in details.
There were a few problems I had with the book, one in particular with Macy’s demeanor. I have always liked Macy, I have from the first page of Every Last Kiss, but her emotional meltdowns are beginning to wear on me. She is an extremely emotional character and I began to get irritated with her overreacting about every little detail. Gavin’s incessant comforting began to take its toll on me as well. On that same note, there soul-mate love is a little much at times too. Please do not misunderstand, I love, love, LOVE Gavin and Macy. It is just that one of these days there over-sweetness is going to give me a toothache. It’s always My love this and my love that. Oh, and sweet. They are very fond of using sweet as an endearment as well. I would just really love to see them argue once or disagree or something. Like I said, I am completely in the Macy/Gavin camp, but I would like to see something else from them.
Truly though, those were my only issues with the book. I know this is an incredibly short review, but without mentioning the plot, my topics are kind of limited. Let me just say that if you are a fan of paranormal romances, fantasy stories, time travel books, adventure stories or just plain love stories, you are about 99.9% sure to enjoy Fated. If this is the first time you’ve heard of this series, that please go check out Every Last Kiss as it was AWESOME as well.
So, like I said, Macy and the usual gang are back for round two. This time, instead of Ancient Egypt, they are wreaking havoc in Ancient Greece – sort of (cryptic, I know). like I said, I am going to keep plot points to a minimum, but I will say this: Fated was one shock after another. I must admit, when I was finished with it, I thought to myself, “there is no way Courtney Cole knew where she was going with that”. Then, as if she has some magical connection directly to my brain and coincidentally my nook, she explained her reasoning in the author’s notes. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved all the twists, turns and “oh my god!” moments, that’s why I am sparing you in details.
There were a few problems I had with the book, one in particular with Macy’s demeanor. I have always liked Macy, I have from the first page of Every Last Kiss, but her emotional meltdowns are beginning to wear on me. She is an extremely emotional character and I began to get irritated with her overreacting about every little detail. Gavin’s incessant comforting began to take its toll on me as well. On that same note, there soul-mate love is a little much at times too. Please do not misunderstand, I love, love, LOVE Gavin and Macy. It is just that one of these days there over-sweetness is going to give me a toothache. It’s always My love this and my love that. Oh, and sweet. They are very fond of using sweet as an endearment as well. I would just really love to see them argue once or disagree or something. Like I said, I am completely in the Macy/Gavin camp, but I would like to see something else from them.
Truly though, those were my only issues with the book. I know this is an incredibly short review, but without mentioning the plot, my topics are kind of limited. Let me just say that if you are a fan of paranormal romances, fantasy stories, time travel books, adventure stories or just plain love stories, you are about 99.9% sure to enjoy Fated. If this is the first time you’ve heard of this series, that please go check out Every Last Kiss as it was AWESOME as well.
allisoncawthon's review
3.0
I loved the first book, and I absolutely adore Greek Mythology, but the author's sudden transition into this completely new plot was...to say the least, interesting. I'm not sure I liked it, but it was fresh and new and it used Greek Mythology characters and stories that I hadn't heard of, so that was impressive!!!! (I've read so much Greek Mythology that it's quite a feat to surprise me with a Greek Mythology story!). Overall, I did like it, but I liked the first one a lot better!
booknaut's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not sure what happened really. It's starting to feel like a drag. I feel like being hit by everything all at once and it's so so fast paced, that it's becoming hard to keep up. God knows how much I hate that.
And then the cliffhanger at end? It felt like the author couldn't figure out how to progress the story and keep it interesting so she threw in this huge unexpected cliffhanger. We finally see Cadmus and Harmonia together in one book (as their old selves) but they never even get a chance to have a normal relationship. To you know, fight for their love together, or anything like that. And now I'm guessing it won't happen in the next one either, given the cliffhanger! If we don't even get time to connect with the characters and actually you know see them in the book, how in the world are we supposed to love them? *Sigh.*
Also I was really, really looking forward for the Greek Mythology part of it. It was admittedly better than any other aspect of this book. But still, somethings should not be changed. All the Gods have their personalities that need to be considered when writing stories about them. My biggest problem being Ares, being depicted as a caring God, who loves his children and Aphrodite (who might I add, is NOT his wife. He doesn't have any reason to love her, but no, for the sake of giving Harmonia a family, let's change the basic essence of one of the major Gods in the Greek Mythology!)
Why couldn't it be kept nice and simple like the first one? I enjoyed that one so much and so I had really high expectations for this one. I don't mid complicated plot lines, I like them in fact, if they are well written and intricately interconnected. But I also need it to be properly paced. Throwing everything in one single book; all the history, the problems and complications, the worry, tension and action, just feels overwhelming and makes it seem like a 'trying too hard' kind of book. Nothing was dealt with properly here, at all. Every time suspense or tension would built up, it would be cleared out in the next moment, without giving it the proper time or attention it deserves.
Despite all this, I will still continue to read the rest of the books, at least try them anyways, hoping they will become better. We'll just have to see how it goes.
And then the cliffhanger at end? It felt like the author couldn't figure out how to progress the story and keep it interesting so she threw in this huge unexpected cliffhanger. We finally see Cadmus and Harmonia together in one book (as their old selves) but they never even get a chance to have a normal relationship. To you know, fight for their love together, or anything like that. And now I'm guessing it won't happen in the next one either, given the cliffhanger! If we don't even get time to connect with the characters and actually you know see them in the book, how in the world are we supposed to love them? *Sigh.*
Also I was really, really looking forward for the Greek Mythology part of it. It was admittedly better than any other aspect of this book. But still, somethings should not be changed. All the Gods have their personalities that need to be considered when writing stories about them. My biggest problem being Ares, being depicted as a caring God, who loves his children and Aphrodite (who might I add, is NOT his wife. He doesn't have any reason to love her, but no, for the sake of giving Harmonia a family, let's change the basic essence of one of the major Gods in the Greek Mythology!)
Why couldn't it be kept nice and simple like the first one? I enjoyed that one so much and so I had really high expectations for this one. I don't mid complicated plot lines, I like them in fact, if they are well written and intricately interconnected. But I also need it to be properly paced. Throwing everything in one single book; all the history, the problems and complications, the worry, tension and action, just feels overwhelming and makes it seem like a 'trying too hard' kind of book. Nothing was dealt with properly here, at all. Every time suspense or tension would built up, it would be cleared out in the next moment, without giving it the proper time or attention it deserves.
Despite all this, I will still continue to read the rest of the books, at least try them anyways, hoping they will become better. We'll just have to see how it goes.
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