Fates Divided Review

Intro

Suppose you were a teenage girl who wanted something to read but wanted to be a cool kid and did not want to read Twilight or Divergent. In that case, you should read something like Cinder, ThThe Hungar Games, Runner or t, or the thousands and thousands of YA novels featuring spirited and beautiful young adults fawning over each other in a PG-rated version of Battle Royale. Fates Divided isn’t much different from the seemingly endless YA genre. Complete with plucky teenage girls and hunky boys which whom she lusts falls in love. I wouldn’t say it is for me (with a few exceptions), but I could see how a teenage girl would get into the series.

Writing

Her life will never be the same when ordinary college student Elena discovers she can boil water via touch. She is drawn into a world of supernatural political intrigue and lots of hot guys to boss her around. She is Halven, a half-human half-Fae tasked with finding a cure to a sickness that threatens to wipe out the Fae. I like how Fates Divided depicts and confronts racial supremacy under the Fae metaphor. The Fae are described as impossibly tall and beautiful people who spit in the Halven for their mixed blood lineage. However, they are as frustrating steadfast in their ideological convictions, to the point where it often causes long-term problems, just like several real-world supremacist social structures. The logic behind the prejudice is thin and often self-contradictory, much like the real-world counterpart, all done in a nonpreachy manner which I enjoyed. Elena and Dererk are alright as characters, with their romance building up nicely, even if Dererk is a pushy asshole who stalks Elena out of love. I found their friendship at least interesting to read, regardless if it is just stock Bella and Edward's dynamic.

What is a weak point within the text is the prose. People do not express, but we are told that they express them; Elena nods subtly, and Dererk sighs exasperatedly. I don't know what a subtle nod or an exasperated sigh sounds like. This problem weakens the emotional connection and punches within the text, as Jules Barnard doesn’t seem to know how to make the reader feel instead of simply vaguely telling us how the character feels or acts.

Conclusion

I do have the second book in my audible library. I want to keep reading The Halven Rising series. It's fun but doesn’t exactly set my house afire. Maybe I am just the wrong sex for this? I have no idea.

Acknowledgments

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