Fateful by Claudia Gray

Fateful by Claudia Gray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars







Jacket Description:

Eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, troubled family she serves. It's 1912, and Tess has been trapped in the employ of the Lisles for years, amid painful memories and twisted secrets. But now the Lisle family is headed to America, with Tess in tow. Once the ship they're sailing on-the RMS Titanic- reaches its destination, Tess plans to strike out and create a new life for herself.

Her single-minded focus shatters when she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets of his own. He's in a hurry to leave Europe, and whispers aboard the ship say it's because of the tragic end of his last affair with the French actress who died so gruesomely and so mysteriously...

Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec's past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves exist and are stalking him- and now her, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over.

In Fateful, New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray delivers paranormal adventure, dark suspense, and alluring romance set against the opulent backdrop of the Titanic's first- and last- voyage.

To start off with, I had extremely high expectations for this novel. I loved the Evernight series, and I am a huge Titanic geek. When I heard this book was coming out, I could hardly wait. That being said, this book was awesome. My only complaint was that the Titanic itself played a minimal role. The fact that the story took place on the Titanic only meant that you knew that the characters were going to have to face the sinking- other than that, the story could have been set anywhere that the division between social classes was clear. Aside from that, this book lived up to my expections all the way.

To start off, I have to say that I loved, loved, loved the main character, Tess. She was amazingly persistent, independent, self-reliant, and intelligent. That is something that a lot of novels unfortunately leave out. Tess isn't scared off easily... she's far too persistant for that.
I also loved Alec- Tess's love interest in the story. Alec is interesting, complex and very personable. Despite the fact that he is a werewolf, Alec's character is still believable and as realistic as a werewolf first-class passenger can be.

I also enjoyed many of the other characters in the story, including Irene, Ned and Mikhail. Through these characters, Claudia Gray proves yet again that she is highly talented in writing interesting sub-plots along with her main plot.

I would highly recommend this to any paranormal YA lover, but I would warn any die-hard Titanic fan that the Titanic is not primarily featured throughout the story. I would still recommend it none the less.

Claudia Gray's Official Website: http://www.claudiagray.com

P.S. Sorry it's been so long since we all posted last. It's been a crazy month, but we hope to get more reviews up soon! Thanks!