Lover Unleashed, by J.R. Ward

- Black Dagger Brotherhood #9
Release date: March 29th 2011
Published by: NAL
Genre: Adult Fiction/ Urban Fantasy
Rating: 3/5 stars
Find it on: Goodreads, Amazon

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either.

When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood is - was - one of my favorite urban fantasy series. The first three books were wonderful, the characters were engaging, the romance fierce, and J.R. Ward knew how to write a fantastic story. But then Lover Revealed came, and with it, a deep sense of hatred for the characters grew on me. I didn't like Butch, and I hated Marissa. The fifth book was better, but not as good as the first ones. And so on and on. The quality of this series has gone downhill ever since, and Lover Unleashed was no exception.

One of the most disturbing things I've realized as I was reading this book is that there is no plot whatsoever. J.R. Ward creates a lot of issues for the characters to deal with, we go along with them throughout the book, and that's it. The focus of this novel isn't on the characters and in the story, and that creates a huge problem: after a couple of chapters, it gets boring. So incredibly boring. I wanted some action, some kickass scenes and more development when it came to the romance. The author, however, focused this novel on a lot of characters, and I was lost. I didn't know who the main character was anymore.

I'm not saying Lover Unleashed is awful, and I'm not going to continue with the series. If anything, I'm more determined to prove that J.R. Ward is a good author, and that BDB can be fantastic even after 10 books. However, I'm disappointed with Lover Unleashed. The romance didn't hold my attention, Vishous and Jane did, and that's not good. I'm still reading Lover Reborn. Tohr is one of my favorite characters, and I wouldn't miss his book for anything.

--

Ps: I'm sorry I was so absent lately. I've been dealing with some personal issues, and I just wasn't in the mood to read anything, much less write reviews. I'm better now, but still, writing this review was incredibly difficult, so I apologize beforehand if I disappear mysteriously again o.O

The Immortal Rules, by Julie Kagawa

- Blood of Eden #1
Release date: April 24th 2012
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 5/5 stars
Source: Netgalley
Find it on: Goodreads, Amazon



ARC provided by Harlequin Teen and Netgalley, for review purposes. 







In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

My thoughts:

Dystopia + vampires. Two genres that aren't usually mixed, but the market is full of them already. I've read tons of vampires, and dystopian novels this year. I was surprised to see Julie Kagawa, one of my favorite authors, writing about something so... common. I should've known that she'd amaze me, yet again. Having read, and loved, the Iron Fey series, I was positive, or at least hoping, that Julie would write a good book. Still, I was hesitant. 

Julie Kagawa introduces us to a world in which the humans are blood bags at worst, food at best. Vampires have dominated everything, and with them, the rabids came along - people that got sick with a special virus and turned into starving monsters that would basically do everything to get their claws on a human. The world-building, just like I thought it would be, was solid, and gave us a realistic view of what a dystopian society overthrown by vampires would look like. Fantasy aside, I could imagine myself walking those streets, always running and hiding. It's no secret the world-building is my favorite aspect of a dystopian book, so I was pleasantly surprised. 

A tough story like this requires a tough heroine as well, and that's where Allie fits. Just like Meghan Chase, she's strong, brave, and yet very human and sentimental, even after she was turned. I loved her, to be honest. Her point of view was objective, but when facing an obstacle, or even in the middle of a dialogue, there were moments of emotion that made me feel sorry for Allie. I cheered, laughed, and cried right along with her. A remarkable character, indeed. 

Allison, though, is not the only good character in The Immortal Rules. Zeke, the love interest, is yet another dose of balance between duty and emotions. The romance isn't introduced right in the beginning of the book, which lets us get a feeling of who Allison is. Only then, we meet Zeke, who, to be sincere, added a wonderful element to the plot. A good romance was what the story needed to explore the characters' personality even further. Allison and Zeke were two sides of a coin, different, but unable to stay apart. They just fit together, and not in a senseless way. Julie knows how to build a love story. I loved it. 

The Immortal Rules, however, gave me a sense of reality that I've never experienced before. The characters' emotions, the dialogues, even the fight scenes, were so wonderfully written I felt like I was there, inside the pages. Maybe that's Julie's writing, or the world itself, that was so well built, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was reading something that had actually happened. Everything was so real. 

All that said, it's impossible for me not to give The Immortal Rules five stars. Julie Kagawa, yet again, made me love her book. I'm deeply in love with the characters, the dystopian world, the romance, and the ending. Yes, the ending left me open-mouthed, and now I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel, but what can I say? I loved The Immortal Rules.

Switched, by Amanda Hocking

- Trylle Trilogy #1
Release date: January 3rd 2012
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 3/5 stars
Find it on: Goodreads,  Amazon











When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.

Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…

My thoughts:
  
Have you ever read a book that alarmed you, in some way, after Chapter One? Have you ever felt angry after a couple of pages, enough to set off your alarms and make you want to stop reading it? That's what Switched did to me. The premise was interesting at first, a girl whose mother had tried to kill her, based on some crazy instinct, when she was six. Same girl finding out her mother was right, years later. Finding out that she isn't human, but a different race, a changeling. Yeah, the synopsis picked my curiosity, but after 20 pages or so, my eyes were bleeding. 

What bothered me most about Switched was the romance. Now, you're probably thinking, "But a book has more to it than just the romance". And I agree with you. But when the author decides to write a romance novel, it has to have some depth. I, personally, like to see the main character's personality developing a little, to give me a sense of what she would or wouldn't do in certain cases. To give me a sense of who the main character is. Only then, the romance is welcoming. That didn't happen in Switched, at all. Finn, the love interest, is introduced to us in the tenth page or so. How, God Almighty, am I supposed to understand Wendy's attraction to Finn, if I don't even know her?

As the story goes on and on about what changelings are (not much of an answer provided there, either), and what Wendy is supposed to do in order to fit in the changeling society, I just couldn't connect with her at all. It was like I was watching a soup opera, a bunch of characters interacting with each other without depth. I couldn't see past Wendy's narration, I couldn't understand why she liked Finn so much, and what the hell was so special about her. Apart from her powers, she's ordinary, painfully so.

Not to mention that their romance is ridiculous, in the beginning. The guy stalks her, and even though she actually wonders if he's a psycho... she gives him access to her room, in the middle of the night, right after he treated her like dirt. What is wrong with this girl? I was outraged by this, and other parts in which her self-preservation is absent. That's why I was so angry. However, their romance began to work a lot better after a 100 pages or so.


I guess I would've enjoyed Switched a lot more if I had liked the characters. There wasn't a single character in this book that I mildly connected to. They were flat, not interesting, and though I can see why a lot of people loved this book, the story itself didn't feel appealing to me. Don't get me wrong. I didn't hate Switched. I just wasn't drawn by it. I may even read the next book in the trilogy, Torn. Who knows!

Immortal City, by Scott Speer

- Immortal City #1
Release date: April 3rd 2012
Published by: Razorbill
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 5/5 stars
Find it on: Goodreads, Amazon












Jackson Godspeed is the hottest young Angel in a city filled with them.

He's days away from becoming a full Guardian, and people around the world are already competing for the chance to be watched over by him. Everyone's obsessed with the Angels and the lucky people they protect - everyone except for Madison Montgomery.

Maddy's the one girl in Angel City who doesn't breathlessly follow the Angels on TV and gossip blogs. When she meets Jackson, she doesn't recognize him. But Jackson is instantly captivated by her, and against all odds the two fall in love.

Maddy is swiftly caught up in Jackson's scene, a world of glamour, paparazzi - and murder. A serial killer is on the loose, leaving dead Angels' wings for the police to find on the Walk of Fame. Even the Guardians are powerless to protect themselves in the face of this threat & and this time it's up to Maddy to save Jackson.

My thoughts:
  
I don't know why, but I've been procrastinating in the last couple of days. It took a lot of courage for me to actually sit down, and try to write this review. Maybe it's because I loved Immortal City so much, and it's always harder to talk about a book you love than one you hate; maybe it's because the story is so original and interesting that I can't possibly do it justice with my words. Either way, I was drawn to Scott Speer's debut novel the second I saw this cover. It would be beautiful enough on its own, but then Goodreads told me it was young-adult. And I was even more curious.

Though Immortal City is, like I mentioned, a debut novel, it doesn't feel like it at all. The world-building is solid, introducing us to a society in which the angels have come out and told humanity that they exist. Now they get paid for their services as Guardian Angels, which, if you think about it, is weird and fascinating at the same time. They don't have to save anyone, and it'd be all right for them to work with this. But why only rich people have guardian angels? Why aren't their services more accessible? It's mean and just plain wrong for rich guys to save themselves from death because they have money, while someone poorer than them has a family to sustain. 

This conflict of ideals and religion can only lead to something spectacular. More interesting is how angels are treated. They're celebrities, they have millions of fans.... it's like Justin Bieber with wings, basically. People would die to be saved by one of them, especially the girls. There's a rule, though, that says it's forbidden for an angel to save anyone other than who he's protecting. And that's where Jackson and Maddy's story begin. 

I loved them both before I even reached the middle of the book. Jackson is surrounded by cameras and paparazzi, but he can't feel any of it. He's suffocated by it all. Jackson's loneliness is touching, and I was glad when he found Maddy. His characterization could have been better, really, but I was overall very satisfied with the way things turned out for him, especially in the ending.

Maddy, in the other hand, is untouchable by the Angel-drama. She doesn't like them, doesn't worship them. She thinks this adoration is pointless. So you can only imagine how great it was the first time Maddy met Jackson. The only girl in the world who doesn't care about angels ended up falling in love with one (how's that for irony?). I liked her personality, her stubbornness - it didn't seem fake, for once. She irritated me a little in the ending, with a stupid decision, but really, the last chapter made it up for me.

With a balanced pace, delicious romance, and strong world-building, I can only give Immortal City five stars. It doesn't deserve any less than this. Its flaws, if any, only made the reading more realistic for me, which doesn't happen often. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. If it's as good as Immortal City, I'll be pretty satisfied.

Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

 



Release date: December 6th 2011
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 5/5 stars











In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

My thoughts:

I was so desperate and anxious to read Clockwork Prince, that I bought the book immediately after I finished Clockwork Angel. And, big surprise, Cassandra Clare destroyed me. Again. I thought after The Mortal Instruments and Hard Bitten, my heart wouldn’t break again in 2011. Man, I was wrong. It seems I have yet to cry over a book before this year is over.

Spoilers are evil little worms, so this review will have none. That said, I’ll not reveal much about the plot, just what I thought about the characters and the book in general. Clockwork Prince did not fall into the second-book curse – if you’re not familiar with that term, it’s when the second book in a series is not as good as the first one, and you get slightly (or hugely) disappointed. Gladly, I can say that Cassandra Clare is free of this curse.

In Clockwork Prince, we get to know the characters a lot more deeply than in the first one. Will’s big mystery is revealed – it didn’t surprise me, I had something similar in mind when this issue was addressed in Clockwork Angel – and, finally, Jem’s mask of calm and assurance slips throughout the plot. I loved how we, readers, got to know Jem a lot better, and understand more of his disease, and how he feels about Will and the parabatai bond. As always, their relationship is awesome ^-^

Tessa surprised me (in a good way) when her relationship with both boys began to develop. I liked how she was mature and human when her feelings were concerned, but at the end, managed to make the right choice. Aside from that, Charlotte and Henry were so adorable and heart-warming, I found myself smiling and cheering for them to get over the Institute problems, and personal ones. They’re so perfect for each other, and the author, as always, pulled me into the book not just with the “love interests” and romance, but with the secondary characters as well.

And I’m sorry, but I can’t end this review without freaking out about the ending. What the hell? Why does this always happen in Cassandra Clare’s books? Can someone answer me that? Somehow, something happens to the characters that breaks our hearts.



And just like I said before, I loved how Tessa and Will handled this situation, but even then, I felt hurt not just for them, but Jem as well. I adore both boys, and I hope they get their HEA, either with or without Tessa.

If what I said in this review is not enough, then here it is: Clockwork Prince is fantastic, and I would give it 253641 millions of stars if I could. Yes, the ending broke my heart and made me desperate for Clockwork Princess, but the book was well worth it. This series is a must-read.  

Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare

Release date: August 31st 2010
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 5/5 stars












Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

My thoughts:

I’m a big fan of Cassandra Clare previous’ series, The Mortal Instruments. I absolutely love Jace, Clary, and all the characters, and the setting as well. I expected Clockwork Angel to be even better than TMI – everybody seems to think that it is – and I can say that yes, Clockwork Angel is, indeed, better than the Mortal Instruments.

The Victorian Era is stunning, right? Add Shadowhunters and demons in it, and you get an enchanting and mysterious setting. It’s fantastic to see how Shadowhunters behaved and talked and fought demons at that time. Truly, that alone would be enough to justify this 5-star rating.

But, of course, that’s not all. The characters in this series are as wonderful and infuriating as ever. Tessa is a mundane that found out she’s powerful – with the ability to shape-change, she can basically turn into any person with simply a personal object. This ability has not been introduced before, and I love how, even after reading 4 books, the world created by Cassandra Clare can still impress readers. I also like how Tessa, without fighting skills, can still trick and fight her enemies when necessary. She surprised me a lot of times. You go, girl \o

And I’ll be honest. I don’t know how Cassandra Clare creates such tormented, twisted and confused characters, and still manage to make us fall in love with them. Yes, this complex and infuriating person I’m talking about is the love interest – one of them, actually. Will Herondale – the famous Will – made me want to cry and scream in frustration. His love for Tessa is so obvious at some points, and yet, he insists in being crude and rude to everyone around him. I have a vague theory about his past, but I’m not sure yet. I hope Clockwork Prince will answer some questions about Will. But impolite behavior aside, his sense of humor and personality was one of the best elements of this book. Will’s just that awesome.

Jem is another lovely character. He’s so sweet, and his relationship with Will – the way they cared about each other like brothers – was heart-warming. It’s always interesting to see a relationship that doesn’t quite involve the main character being developed along with the plot. Cassandra Clare is a master in dealing with all the characters at once, both main and secondary ones, and at the end, wrap all that up and end the book with you longing for me.

Clockwork Angel being this good is not a surprise. I really thought it would be perfection. And now, I just can’t get enough of this series. Right after I was done with Clockwork Angel, I bought the Clockwork Prince ebook – desperately, actually – and started reading it on Christmas eve. Yes, I’m that much of a bookworm.

If you loved the Mortal Instruments, and are curious about this series, go for it. And if you don’t like TMI or have not read it yet, go for it, as well. This series deserves a million stars – a captivating setting, wonderful and complex writing, and an ending that will break your heart.

Ps: I still don't understand how Tessa hates chocolate. Just thinking of it makes me hungry. :3  

Angelfire, by Courtney Allison Moulton

Release date: February 15th 2011
Published by: HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Books
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 5/5 stars












First there are nightmares.
Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.

Then come the memories.
When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Now she must hunt.
Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember.

My thoughts:

I read this book back in February, but recently -- after Shattered Souls, that is -- I was really curious to read it again. Basically, I wanted to see if, after so long, I would still feel the same about Angelfire. If I would still love the characters and everything, or if Shattered Souls had me look at it in a different way. I must say, even after re-reading it, my feelings for this book are the same. 

There's someting in Angelfire that is completely appealing to me -- the characters. So, there's Ellie, the main character, a sixteen-year-old girl who's mostly normal until she turns seventeen. She has nightmares every night, of horrible creatures and monsters that hunt her down. And then she meets Will, and when that happens, Ellie finds out that her nightmares were not of her own making. They're memories. 


Ellie is the Preliator, a warrior that kills the demonic reapers that walk in the Earth, preying on human souls. The reapers' goal is to recrute souls to Lucifer's army, so there can be the Apocalypse. To stop those monsters from achieving their goal, Ellie has Will, her Protector, who, throughout the centuries, has looked over her and protected her, aiding her in battle. Everytime she dies, Ellie's soul is reincarnated, and at the age of seventeen, her powers are "awakened" by Will, so that she can fight again.


Honestly, I have nothing against Ellie. She's just a nice girl, and even though her actions sometimes disappointed me, I liked the way she handled situations, most of the time. Another great point in Angelfire is that Ellie doesn't take long to accept what she is. Oh, of course, meeting a guy that claims to be your Protector, and that you must fight demonic creatures with your swords is a pretty heavy thing to accept, but her memories - and her soul - prove it all to be true. 

I loved it that she accepted what she is exactly when the time was right. The book isn't all about Ellie's ridiculous temper and lack of conscience in seeing what was right in front of her eyes. Yes, she doubted Will, but when everything was right there for her to see, and there was no denying it, she could see in her soul that she really was the Preliator. 


Will... oh, one of my biggest crushes. He's a perfect character, and not the ridiculous kind of perfect. I mean the kind of perfect that made me truly feel for him, what he had to do, and what he had to endure everytime Ellie died in his hands. His devotion to her was one of the most beautiful things in this book. The way Will took care of Ellie, not just protecting her in battle, but also looking out for her, making sure she smiled as much as possible, was touching. I loved him for it. 


The bond between him and Ellie is heart-warming. And so is the romance, but you know why? The author didn't throw the romance at the plot and just made them fall in love out of nowhere. Oh, no. First, we get to see how much they're connected, how they are in sync with each other. The narration, even the slightest detail in it, made me sigh a lot of times. Will is Ellie's best friend, brother, partner, and the only constant in all of her lifes. Even dying again and again through the centuries, Will is the only person that is still by her side. And after showing us the depth of this amazing bond, the romance is slowly developed. It was amazing. The love between them was like an extension of the already-formed bond between Ellie and Will, and yes, it was wrong, but it felt so right. 


I found the plot and the way the things went pretty interesting. The reapers were like bogeymen, and I enjoyed the fight scenes. The writing was... okay, though the author sometimes repeated a lot of words in the same chapters. Nothing that would bother the reading, just an observation. I liked the pace of the story, how it was really fast sometimes and in others, slow enough to know what the other charactes in the room were feeling. Also, the secondary characters were really good, as well. Though I would like to know more about Ellie's father and Nathaniel, it was detailed enough. 


Throughout all of this, I must say that Angelfire is one of those books that pleased me as much as possible. I loved the characters, the romance, the mythology in it.... one of my favorite. I recommend it.

Fateful, by Claudia Gray

Release date: September 13th 2011
Published by: Harper Collins Children's Books
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 5/5 stars












In Fateful, eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, overbearing family she works for. Once the ship they’re sailing on reaches the United States, she’ll strike out on her own. Then she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets....

Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec’s past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves are real and they’re stalking him—and now Tess, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over. 

My thoughts:

I'd set eyes on this book quite a while ago, but was brave enough to read it months after its release. Oh, well. I'm still hesitant about certain things, and Fateful was on the list. Titanic is my favorite movie ever, paranormal is my favorite genre, romance is my favorite part of a book, and the beggining of the 20th century is a fascinating setting. So my expectations were super high. This book had to be epic and completely breath-taking for me. And it was. 


First, there're the main characteres. Tess is a servant, a sweet girl whose goal is to leave the family she's currently working for, and search a new way of life in America. And for that to become true, she must go on the Titanic. You see, Claudia Gray manages to balance strength and vulnerability perfectly in a character, and Tess was no exception. She’s so caring, polite, and knows her place in society, even if she’s trying to change her position. But at the same time, she’s one of the strongest girls I’ve ever seen. Many times, I was proud of her actions, and urged her to continue having this amazing personality.

Alec is a different matter altogether. He’s a man tormented by the moonlight curse. Being a werewolf is such a heavy burden to carry, and even though he has his father to lean on, Alec still has to struggle every day with himself and people around him. Keeping the beast contained, physically and emotionally, weakens him in spirit, and it was a relief both to him and me when he met Tess. The circumstances weren’t the best – after all, Tess was being chased by the same werewolf, Mikhail, that’s been chasing him – but it was good to see him getting better.

I loved both Tess and Alec, and my heart flipped when the romance erupted. I loved how their love for each other gave them something else to fight for, a reason to keep going, even though it was impossible for them to be together – Alec fighting the best within him, and Tess working harder to achieve her dreams. All that while doing their best to survive Mikhail, whose threats were a constant blow.

Speaking of Mikhail, he’s one of those villains that I wanted to kill with my bare hands. The man was pure evil, and I forgot how to breathe every time he tried to hurt Tess or Alec, in any way.

But that’s not all there is to love in Fateful. The setting of this story was fantastically described, and while reading Claudia Gray’s details about the Titanic, I kept remembering about the movie. This may sound crazy, but I was half expecting for Tessie to meet a guy called Jack, in third class o.O

Aside from the setting, the writing was epic. Of course, being a historical fiction, the English is old-fashioned. I’m not used to this kind of language, having read just one historical fiction before (Haunting Violet, which was pretty good, too). So, I was fascinated by the way people spoke and used my favorite language.

This is a spoiler-free review, but I can’t help but talk about the ending. Every time I watch Titanic, I cry and sob at the ending. I still can’t believe Jack dies, even though I’ve watched this movie, like, a hundred times. Fateful broke my heart just as much in the end. And when I thought everything was over, bang! An enormous surprise. And then, right after that, bang! Another huge surprise. And a wonderful one, that is. I literally jumped on the couch and my face broke into a huge smile as I was reading it. Thank you, Claudia Gray, for not killing one of most amazing main characters I’ve ever met. I owe you one.

Fateful was a roller-coaster of emotions. Fascination for the setting and writing, love for the romance and the characters, and finally, an ending that will leave you breathless. If you’re a paranormal fan, read it. If you’re a romance fan, read it. If you’re a historical fiction fan, read it. You won’t regret it. I know I didn’t.