Author: Lanie Bross
Release Date: February 11, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Random House imprint)
One moment. One foolish desire. One mistake. And Corinthe lost everything. She fell from her tranquil life in Pyralis Terra and found herself exiled to the human world. Her punishment? To make sure people's fates unfold according to plan. Now, years later, Corinthe has one last assignment: kill Lucas Kaller. His death will be her ticket home. But for the first time, Corinthe feels a tingle of doubt. It begins as a lump in her throat, then grows toward her heart, and suddenly she feels like she is falling all over again, this time for a boy she knows she can never have. Because it is written: one of them must live, and one of them must die. In a universe where every moment, every second, every fate has already been decided, where does love fit in?
Fates is a tale of two people searching, attempting to change fate and return to what once was. It is a journey steeped in fantasy and bound together by different threads. Can fate be altered? What will it take to change the future? Can a decision be reversed? If so, what will become of the world?
Corinthe has been cast aside from those she once knew and cared about. For good reason, mind you. There were rules in place, and she broke a very important one, but that doesn't stop her from wanting. Wanting to take it back. Wanting to return. Wanting to do whatever it takes to be brought back into the fold in Pyralis. Even if it means killing someone she's never met. But will she? Will she do what she's been told, complete this one last mission? She's caught between her mission and her growing attraction to Lucas.
Lucas's motivation for almost everything he does, almost every action he takes, is his sister. Sort of. He wants things to be the way they were before their mother left, when everything made sense and they were a normal, well-adjusted family. But things change, people change. Every step of his journey through the different worlds is taken for his sister. He has to keep her safe, keep her alive, he has to save her. But Corinthe both stands in his way and confuses him.
Both of their stories are told through the third person point of view. It was welcome, seeing both sides, their different needs and wants. There was no need to speculate or be overwhelmed by one character's angst. It provided another dimension to the story; a situation like this cannot be told from one side. As different as their purposes are, what motivates them is the same: home, a return to how things used to be. A return to safety, familiarity, and contentment. And neither is willing to give up.
Perhaps this was because I read this on an e-reader, but it felt like the beginning progressed almost too fast. It felt like I was rushing down a hill towards an early climax, but then things changed, then they both found ways to continue the journey, to prolong it (not in a bad way). I also wasn't totally sold on their romantic relationship. It felt a bit too quick to develop, a bit rushed at times.
As I read, I got the sense that Corinthe and Lucas were heading towards something, an event that would ripple through all the worlds, that would alter fate and change what was thought to be unchangeable, and that would be the end. What I discovered was a rather obvious set-up for a series. There is an ending, but it's an ending accompanied with a bomb being dropped. In a way, I understand the reasoning behind an ending like this. I just hope it wasn't done for shock value. That being said, I'm curious if the next book will start with a moment just as surprising.
(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Random House through NetGalley.)
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