Fated (Soul Seekers): Audiobook

Author: Alyson Noel
Narrator: Brittany Pressley

Title:Fated (Soul Seekers)

Publication: May 22, 2012

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Genre:  Young Adult, Paranormal

Length:10 hours and 44 minutes

Pages: 368

Audience: 17 and up

Rating: 4 out of 5

Source: Public Library

Synopsis (from the cover): Strange things are happening to Daire Santos. Crows mock her, glowing people stalk her, time stops without warning, and a beautiful boy with unearthly blue eyes haunts all her dreams. Fearing for her daughter's sanity, Daire's mother sends her to live with the grandmother she's never met. A women who recognizes the visions for that they truly are- the call to her destiny as a Soul Seeker: one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and dead.  

There, on the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico, Daire sets out to harness her mystical powers. But it's when she meets Dace, the boy from her dreams, that her whole world is shaken to its core. And Daire is forced to discover whether Dace is the one guy she's meant to be with...or if he's allied with the enemy she's destined to destroy.

My thoughts:

 I enjoyed the novel. I have seen reviews where people thought it was missing something or it just wasn't what they expected. I'm just wondering what were they expecting. I believe this book contains a little bit of everything. It takes Latino/Latina culture along with Native American culture and blends it into a story that flows well. I want to share more about this, however, I do not want to ruin any part of the book. I had no idea this book would be so hard to review. As I said, the book has a little bit of everything from romance to gore to paranormal to mythology. I have fascination with Native American culture so I really enjoyed the spirit animals and the journey Daire went on to find her spirit animal. I'm not sure if fits her just yet, but perhaps in the later books it will.
The characters were believable and sometimes they got on my nerves. I think it was more of the narrator's fault than the author's. Daire's mother is just stupid and acts like a 17 year old instead of a mother. I understand her mother is young, but there is a point where you grow up and act like an adult. Sometimes Daire sounded like a whiny teenager. I think characters tend to grind on my nerves when I listen to audiobooks. Ha, but I promise Daire wasn't all bad, she just was confused and unsure of herself.
My favorite character was a background character. Please excuse me because I'm probably about to butcher her name since I listened to the book instead of reading it, Xochitl (pronounced: So-chee), it means flower. Xochitl is a pistol! She is a great character and I hope she plays a bigger role in the next book. Dace is such a hottie and I loved listening to his description.
Brittany Pressley did a great job narrating. She sounds like a preppy high school girl, and it can be a bit annoying. When she did other characters like Xochitl, Daire's grandmother, Shay, etc. she did an excellent job of changing her inflection and tone so each character had distinct voice. It was a bit of a long book, but totally worth it. If you have time you should check it out. I'm starting on Echo, the second book of the series and should have a review on it soon!