Urban Fantasy Review: The Trouble With Fate by Leigh Evans

The Trouble with fate by Leigh Evans (Mystwalker #1)

Egalley thanks to St. Martin's Press
 
Synopsis from Goodreads

Meet Hedi Peacock. She's half Fae. Half Were. And all trouble…

I Have Two Words For Werewolves:

My name is Hedi Peacock and I have a secret. I’m not human, and I have the pointy Fae ears and Were inner-bitch to prove it. As fairy tales go, my childhood was damn near perfect, all fur and magic until a werewolf killed my father and the Fae executed my mother. I’ve never forgiven either side. Especially Robson Trowbridge. He was a part-time werewolf, a full-time bastard, and the first and only boy I ever loved. That is, until he became the prime suspect in my father’s death…

Bite Me.

Today I’m a half-breed barista working at a fancy coffee house, living with my loopy Aunt Lou and a temperamental amulet named Merry, and wondering where in the world I’m going in life. A pretty normal existence, considering. But when a pack of Weres decides to kidnap my aunt and force me to steal another amulet, the only one who can help me is the last person I ever thought I’d turn to: Robson Trowbridge. And he’s as annoyingly beautiful as I remember. That’s the trouble with fate: Sometimes it barks. Other times it bites. And the rest of the time it just breaks your heart. Again…

US Release: Out Now | UK Release: Jan 23rd 2013 



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7.5/10

* * *

 The Trouble With Fate has its merits, and it's definitely not a bad start for a first novel. I particularly liked Hedi's talent of mystwalking and wished for the author to explore it more than werewolves involvement.



Apparently Hedi is a mystwalker - a rare talent among Fae that is cherished by Fae courts where Mystwalkers are educated and become the bogeymen of Fae, invisible assassins who can drive anyone mad or even kill them in their sleep. There is one thing though. The Fae closed the borders between two worlds  after Hedi's parents death, and her and her aunt stayed behind.

So this is the part I liked - Hedi's exploration of her talents, her trip into the mystworld and her animated amulet, Merry, who she constantly talks to.

Everything else felt a bit messy - the plot itself, the pace which was slow, patchy and uneven and even the characters' unusually fast development because the action itself only takes a few days and we still can't avoid the whole unfortunate business of true mates and/or imprinting which I really dislike in paranormal romance genre.

Werewolves of Miss Evans will appeal to the fans of Kelley Armstrong, Patricia Briggs and Rachel Vincent - I liked them and their viciousness. I also liked the main villain and his rationalised cruelty. He was a bit of a snake. Cold and slow but with lightning fast strikes in between.

The whole ending is very intense and quite gory, and obviously creates a great buzz for the next book with its interesting twist. I just wished to hell the action was more even and linear, and the Fae side of the story was represented more equally, but I'll reserve my judgement until I read book #2.

* * *

Неплохой дебют, конечно, однако книга очень неровно написана. То есть, сильные моменты стираются  большим количеством плохих сюжетных решений, например, ненавистным для меня паранормальным клише - мгновенным нахождением своей половинки между вервульфами и импринтингом.

Я просто очень не люблю когда героям не приходится работать над отношениями, если всё решено уже за них судьбой и таинственным паранормальным фактором, которых решит за них с кем им быть и кого любить. С вот этим клише никакого развития персонажей не происходит, особенно если учесть, что всё действие в книге происходит на протяжение 3-4х дней.

Сильная часть - это развитие таланта Хеди хождения по снам  и её попадания в мир Туманов. Концовка тоже стремительная, кровавая и интересная, так что даже хочется узнать что произойдёт во второй книге.

Вервульфы мисс Эванс напоминают мне созданий Келли Армстронг, Патриции Бриггз и Рэйчел Винсент своей жестокостью и животными инстинктами, что мне как фану всех трёх писательниц, очень пришлось по душе.

Всё остальное так себе, слишком неровное, грязно написано и нуждается в хорошем редактировании. Не решила, буду ли читать вторую книгу или нет.