Book Review: A Beautiful Fate (A Beautiful Fate #1) by Cat Mann

Summary: 
Obsessive and driven by nightmares, Ava Baio is uprooted from her Chicago home after the untimely and tragic death of her loving mother. Taken across country by her antagonistic grandmother and placed as a boarding student at a school in Dana Point, California, Ava struggles with isolation and the loss of her mother and her grandfather. Faced with having left her beloved brownstone behind and attending a new school, surrounded by new faces and unfamiliar scenery, she finds herself sorting through unfamiliar and uncharted feelings with a strange and beautiful boy, Ari – a modern day Adonis. After an unconventional start to their relationship, Ava becomes intensely absorbed by her love for Ari, and with his help and the help of his family, she discovers who she really is – a Fate descended from Atropos. She learns that the Greek mythology she grew up reading is not comprised of myth after all.

Ava faces constant challenges both in her relationship with Ari and with the fact that she is being hunted by six threatening and ruthless men who want nothing more than for her to die so that they can live forever. She has no choice but to stand up for those she has come to love. In doing so, she becomes something she hates, a killer. 

A true page-turner,
A Beautiful Fate is Part One of The Beautiful Fate Series. The novel is full of suspense, romance and the allure of ancient Greece. Ava and Ari will leave the reader hoping the story will never end.

Release Date: June 11, 2013
Age Group: YA
Source: Review copy from author

Review:
A Beautiful Fate was such a captivating and unique book.  I loved the premise, and that Ava does not discover her history and gifts until the story is well established.  I like it when I'm in the dark right along with the main character, and trying to figure out Ava's talents was intriguing for me.

Ava is a strong and determined character, which always makes for a very satisfying YA novel.  There's nothing I hate more than a weak-minded, indecisive main character who can't speak her mind or stand up for herself.  Ava is none of those things, and I rejoiced in her strength.  Ava has a lot of gumption and seeing her embrace her destiny was my favorite aspect of this book.

There is a good-sized cast of characters in A Beautiful Fate, and each character was well-developed.  I love that!  Minor characters are the icing on the cake when it comes to novels and Mann does a great job establishing characters who are likable and each add to the story in their own way.  

As much as I loved the premise and characterization, I was not a big fan of Mann's writing style.  The past and present tense were often mixed, and that made the book read awkwardly for me.  Some of the dialogue didn't flow well, and I didnt' like how Ava was called "Ava Baby" by some of the characters.  That term of endearment felt forced to me.  In the end, these issues were overshadowed by how much I liked the story and the characters.

A Beautiful Fate is a pretty long book, which allowed for a lot of action to the plot, as well as plenty of character growth.  I loved the chemistry between Ava and Ari, and also the slow development to their relationship.  They start out as friends, which always makes the relationship feel very stable and grounded.  

There was a pretty big surprise at the end of the book, which took the story in a direction I wasn't expecting.  I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series, A Broken Fate.   





1 comment:

  1. Doesn't sound right for me but I loved your review. Sounds a bit spooky.

    ReplyDelete

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