Review: Guardian of Fate by L.J Kentowski

Guardian Of Fate

(Fate Series #1)

by L.J. Kentowski

Publisher: Self-published (Dec. 2011)
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Format: Paperback (302 pages)
Source: Review Request
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

Summary
Fear of death is all too common. Visions of it chill the bones and skip heartbeats. Seeing it coming and knowing only you can rescue the soul of the victim from the fiery bowels of hell…that’s downright life-altering.

Cassandra Cosgrove’s life was altered at the age of sixteen when she found out that it was her responsibility to save the lives, and ultimately the souls, of innocent victims targeted by Hell’s demons. As impossible as it seemed at first, she was able to live a fairly normal life, while secretly fulfilling her obligation as a Guardian of Fate.

But years later Fate has its own plan when her visions begin drastically changing at the same time two mysterious men appear in her life. Cassandra suddenly finds herself caught in a battle between good and evil, with her own soul on the line. When it seems everyone in her life has a secret they’ve been hiding from her, who can she trust to be the Guardian of her Fate? ~ Add on Goodreads

~Short Review~

At A Glance
I wasn't blown away but I thought Guardian of Fate was an overall enjoyable book.

The Good
I was drawn into this story straight away. Cassandra has had a rocky life. It is her responsibility to save the souls of people in her visions from the damnation of hell. But all of a sudden her visions are going haywire and two mystery men try to insert themselves into Cassie's life. One of those men, Hunter, has been a fixture in her dreams for years. Soon Cassie finds out that the people she is closest to have been lying to her and the mystery men have brought her into a war between good and evil. But who can she trust? And will her soul be saved from a fate worse than death?

I think the premise was interesting and fresh. I always find the idea of hell to be truly frightening. Kentowski takes hell to a whole other level. Demons can damn any soul they want, and only a Guardian can save people from an eternity of burning. It's a war of good versus evil, and Cassie is right, smack-dab in the middle. She is special and both sides want her. I really did enjoy watching Cassie be pulled one way and another as both sides tried to persuade her to join them. The lengths the evil side went to was limitless which resulted in Cassie making some difficult decisions.

Hunter was a fun little mystery throughout the story. He seems like the bad guy at first, then he's good, then he's bad...and on and on. I see why Cassie had a hard time trusting him. You want to believe him but his past is just too sketchy.

I loved that I was genuinely surprised by the twists and turns of this book. I didn't know the answers to the mysteries until Kentowski wanted me to. And the ending has set up the next book in the series very nicely.

The Bad
First off, the punctuation was often odd, off, or just plain wrong. There were also many info-dumps, and you guys know how much I hate those. The dialogue was often interrupted by inner thoughts. It was extremely annoying. Sometimes I forgot what the characters were even talking about once we finally got back to the conversation.

Cassie was a major crybaby. I don't mind emotional characters, but really, Cassie was crying through at least half this book, if not more. Give it a rest, lady. Your life is crappy, suck it up. But more than that, Cassie was not the strong protagonist I hoped she would be. She was a pushover.

The ending, where Cassie lashes out at Hunter for keeping a certain secret, was way over the top. Cassie's overreaction put me off.

The Snuggly
We definitely get some passion and sex in this book. Cassandra and Hunter are explosive together but I did feel like Hunter was too aggressive. When he kept touching and kissing Cassie even when she said no, it made me feel uncomfortable.

Final Thoughts
I think the concept of this book has great potential as a series. I need to see Cassie grow as a character for me to want to continue reading though. The writing wasn't perfect but the mystery of Guardian of Fate kept me interested. Recommended to some paranormal readers.

Quote
There was no doubt in my mind that the man next to me was the same one who had been in my visions for the last six years. He was real, and he was at Luke's buying a whiskey? I almost felt cheated. For so long, I wondered what this vision was all about, feeling that it held some deeper meaning I would someday grasp. Yet, here I was at some seedy bar and the man in my dreams shows up and orders a whiskey. Now what? Save him from dying of inebriation?

The author is letting me give away one copy of her book tomorrow, so make sure to come back.