Review + Excerpt | Fate Series by Heather Lyons

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But as soon as I was working my way through the book, I totally understood why! Chloe, Chloe, Chloe. Just like most of us, she’ll drive you insane with her thoughts and silly decisions. However, I have a feeling that people forget that she is a teenager. She’s extremely immature and that’s evident in just about everything she does in this first book. Having a character that’s so immature, it means she has so much room to grow and its not until the very end that we start to see any movement. It’s a slow pace, but she ends up learning new things and starts to understand why things are the way they are.

Lyons has created a fantastical magical world and I am quite digging it. We have creators, emotionals, elementals, the list goes on. Chloe is one of the strongest of her kind and the rest of her life is already mapped out for her. Like any teenager as I’d imagine they would be, at such a young age it’s tough to grasp the acceptance that you have very little say in your life. A lot is to be expected of her especially after she reaches her full potential.

Not only does she have that hanging over her head, you have parents who are barely there, living among magicals that she knows very little about, and a boy from her dreams that is her ONE. Her connection. Jonah. But to make situations messier, said connection has a twin brother who she has another connection with. Kellan. Oh, and magicals are being killed off, and Chloe and her loved ones are being targeted.

In any typical teenager life, it’s dramaful! This is a true YA people, get use to it. We have Chloe, the supposed powerful creator (seriously can’t wait to see how powerful she can get throughout the series), Jonah and Kellan (the studly emotionals)… We have a hot mess.

I truly enjoyed this book, I’m not one for too much drama, but I expected it coming in. Teenagers in love, it’s a tough life and we’ve all been there before. Gosh, I don’t miss those days one bit. I’ve never been a fan of love triangles, but in most cases you tend to favor one. Well good luck with this one, you’re bound to love both of them. Even though Jonah and Kellan are twins, they’re so different and you’ll love each of them for different reasons. I’ve never loved a love triangle so much in my life!

There will be a huge question looming over your head for most of the book and I think it’s pretty evident what the answer is even before its revealed by the end. But now that we know it, what the hell is supposed to come of it? It just seems like pure torture and heartbreak, how can everyone be happy in the end?! I don’t see that happening, someone’s going to hurt and that’s for certain.

I can’t wait to read the next in the series, Lyons is an amazing story teller who is fully capable of describing the world so well, it almost feels real. You’ll easily get lost in it all and wish you could be there too. If you can’t deal with the teenage drama then maybe you shouldn’t read YAs… Hehe. It’s a well-rounded book that you’ll just be eager to see what is to come of all these magicals. Will Chloe be able to accept her fate and be the strong woman that everyone needs her to be? What will unfold in this love triangle?

**Book received for an honest review**

Excerpt

The guy I’m staring at is tall, athletic, and quite tan, with blackish hair and eyes so clear, so blue, they replicate a cloudless sky. I should know—I’ve stared into them often enough.

A shy smile creeps across his gorgeous face, creating a dimple in his left cheek as he hands Snook a piece of paper. A textbook is passed over and he’s pointed off towards an empty seat. The class explodes in whispers when he sits down; everyone blatantly stares at him. It’s obvious he hears it all, because a faint pink stain tinges his cheeks. His longish hair shields part of his face, but it doesn’t matter. We’ve all seen enough of him to continue ogling.

From behind me comes, “Hot. So hot!” Several girls nearby giggle in agreement.

“Math, people.” Snook taps the board in irritation. “Gossip on your own time.” The reprimand quiets the majority of the class, but the girls behind me text furiously back and forth, their fingers flying across keyboards.

It’s hard, but I tear my eyes away from the boy, shocked. I stare blankly at my book, unsure what to do.

How many times had I imagined this scenario before? Too many to keep track of, that’s for sure. How can this be real?

Snook’s voice resumes its familiar drone at the front of the classroom, but in the confusion of what’s happened, I’m unable to put meaning to any of his words. They blur together in low sounds, like the teachers in Peanuts cartoons. I ought to pay attention, what with a test coming up, but I can’t.

Not with him here.

When I look over at the new boy again, the ground shifts for a second time. He’s working on some equation Snook put on the board, one I haven’t attempted, thanks to being shell-shocked and all. But then he reaches out and grabs the sides of his desk, like he’s steadying himself. Like he somehow feels the shift, too. Black hair spills down across his eyes as he takes a deep breath, hiding everything but a small, knowing smile.

He’s sitting by the windows, doing math—in my classroom! He’s no daydream, no figment of my imagination—although for many years he’d been exactly that.

I realize I’m staring when his blue eyes lift to meet my green ones. A jolt of electricity zaps through my body, all tingly, with promises of familiarity and excitement rolled into one. We stare intently at one another for a good fifteen seconds until a girl next to me asks to borrow a pencil. My eyes jerk back towards my desk and I mumble an incoherent apology. It’s just long enough of a reprieve for me to begin hyperventilating.

Get a grip on yourself! the little voice barks. You’re going to pass out!

The pencil in my hand snaps, driving a splinter deep into my palm.

“Chloe?” Oops. Snook is talking to me. When I merely stare back, he tries, “Your answer, Miss Lilywhite?”

Unable to do anything else, as I have no idea what problem we’re even on, I surge, stretching my mind out to someone nearby to find the answer. I land on some guy who’s in the thralls of remembering a hot and heavy make-out session with his girlfriend rather than focusing on math, so I’m forced to flip through a number of graphic images before finding what I need.

I hate cheating, hate using anything other than my intelligence for schoolwork. This explains why I’m sitting in basic math, rather than AP Calculus like the Cousins.

The moment I find the answer, I pull myself out of the guy’s mind, feeling dirty just having his thoughts mingling with mine. Eww. “It’s X = 2y + 79z.”

Snook moves on to the next problem and victim, as if there’d never been any pause at all.

Ugh! I’d gone nine months without cheating, something I was exceedingly proud of. The Cousins heckle me mercilessly about it, saying it’s stupid to not use my gifts while in class. But I’ve held steadfast in my belief that school is a place for intelligence, not Magic.

Also, my hand is throbbing. Picking doesn’t help—the splinter is driven even deeper by my efforts. And now I’m bleeding. Great.

When the class bell rings, most everyone packs up quickly so they can get to lunch, but the girls behind me are back to discussing him, clearly infatuated with his looks.

As for me, I’m still dazed with disbelief before realizing I should pack up, too. The pause is just long enough to notice Snook motion the new guy up for a quick conference. He walks to the podium with smooth, graceful motions that exude confidence. I can’t hear what Snook is asking, and this only exacerbates my curiosity. I try listening as long as possible until it’s grossly apparent I’m sticking around out of nosiness. At least I’m not alone. All the girls behind me are doing the same.