I have to admit I was surprised when Courtney Cole asked me to read an ARC of Fated. I loved her novel Princess, but hadn't exactly given Every Last Kiss (ELK) a glowing rating. She said she felt like I'd give her my honest opinion of the book, and being curious about what adventures lie ahead for Macy, I said, "Um....yes please." And my honest opinion is...I loved it.
Fated picks up with Macy Lockhart several months after the conclusion of ELK. As a Keeper in the Order of the Moirae, it is her destiny to live life after life making sure that each existence's tragic fate is fulfilled. Except that this time, her present life as Macy is different. This time instead of unknowingly playing her part in fate's design, she remembers parts of what she is, who she is and who she has been. The stakes are higher in Fated and intrigue, revelations, betrayal, danger and love, await Macy as she beings to discover her true identity, her true destiny and as she fights for all that she loves.
One of my biggest issues with ELK was Macy/Charmian's character. I had a hard time in ELK reconciling that Macy and Charmian were the same person. There was some kind of disconnect there for me. It felt like for the majority of the time they were two completely different people and Macy's character was largely absent for most of the story. I felt like the modern-day teenage perspective in ELK was just....missing, although I do understand the author's reasons for focusing more on the character as Charmian. However, in Fated, Cole does an excellent job of combining Macy and her past selves into one, dynamic character; a wonderful amalgam of all her lives. Courageous, fierce, loyal, determined, empathetic, considerate, friendly and wise; Macy is a character that you grow to love and that you're rooting for long after the last page has been turned. In fact, all of Cole's characters in this story are wonderfully developed, have unique dynamic lives and personalities and you really get the sense that she knows them inside and out.
One of the other things I love about this story is the romance. Even as Macy is fated to live over and over again, she is also fated to meet and fall in love with her soul mate again and again in every life. Their lives often end in tragedy and I just find it darkly romantic to love and lose your beloved in every lifetime. And for me as a reader, it makes me desperate to see them break this terrible cycle they are fated to repeat. Macy and her soul mate, Gavin are just so sweet and true together, and it makes you hope that someday they'll find their happily ever after.
As with ELK, Cole weaves her story within a legendary/mythical background and paints vivid images of Macy's world through her beautiful descriptions. This story largely involves the Greek pantheon and Cole really did an excellent job of preserving the spirit of the original Greek myths even as she created a mythology that's all her own. I'm not going to say much more, so that you, Dear Reader, may discover for yourselves all those little moments that make you gasp in shock, make you hold your breath, and make you sigh in contentment.
So overall, as previously stated, I loved Fated. It actually made me revise my original opinion of ELK as I considered the two stories as a whole. The things I had originally disliked about ELK, I began to see in Fated how they were a necessary foundation to understanding the complete story. The Bloodstone Saga just has such depth and scope in regard to the world, the characters and the underlying mythology and with it Cole has created a wonderful, romantic adventure that spans across the ages.
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