I received this book via YA Book Central. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
Shock of Fate by D.L. Armillei Series: Anchoress #1
Published by Diamond Cove Publishing on 2017-04-11
Length: 474 pages
Reviewing eARC from YA Book Central
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Beat the Backlist 2019
One ordinary teenager. One extraordinary mission. And a destiny she never expected.
Like every other teenager on Providence Island, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Cross is so ready to party her summer away—until her father disappears. And rumors fly that he’s a traitor.
Plucked from her ordinary life to journey to an alternate world to retrieve a priceless relic, Van bends—okay, breaks—the rules to sneak her best friend along to help with a quest of her own. Find her father. Prove his innocence.
What she finds will test her heart, her wits, and her courage, and push her along a stumbling path toward a destiny she never expected or wanted. Failure to rise to the challenge could destroy her friends. What’s left of her family. And the people she was born to protect.
This review first appeared on Young Adult Book Central.
Shock of Fate by D.L. Armillei is the first in the Anchoress series. Aside from the gorgeous cover (y’all seriously, I’m drooling over here), the blurb hoooked me. Alternate realities/dimensions are a favorite of mine, and this one doesn’t disappoint.
Vanessa Cross, Van for short, lives on Providence Island, a small reservation off the coast of Maine (I believe). For her, life on the island is all she knows and all she wants. When offered a special summer “project” on the reservation, she can’t really turn it down. Her father is missing and rumored a traitor, so turning it down isn’t an option. This is unlike anything she has ever faced. The “project” is in another world that runs parallel to our own. Van takes this in stride. It doesn’t phase her, unlike me. I would have freaked, especially at 15. She just wants to get it over with, find her dad, and return to her beloved island. If only it were that simple…
So I like and dislike Van. She is a force to be reckoned with and will not take no for an answer, and when faced with a no, she finds another way. She will do what she wants, when she wants. You see, Van is rich on the island. She lives in a fancy house and wants for nothing. She’s a pampered princess, as one character points out in the beginning of the story. Being spoiled and acting out as a result of it annoyed me, however it is essential for her character growth to establish her selfish nature so she can be redeemed.
When Van finds out she is going to the Living World (this is what the alternate dimension is called) and can’t take her best friend, she finds a way to sneak her in anyways. Once discovered, there is no time to return Paley so she is along for the adventure. If Van is unlikable, Paley is doubly so. Now I need to preface this before I go on. I’m an adult with a child reading a YA book. Usually I read older characters, so I give Paley and Van a pass for their immaturity and overlook a lot of their bickering while reading.
Back to Paley….she is immature. Raised in the island’s orphanage, she is jealous of what Van has, even though Van has never held her status or riches above her. Instead Van has always shared with Paley and is her fiercest defender. Despite being jealous of Van, Paley does love her. She is her best friend. When push comes to shove, Paley will always have Van’s back and vice versa. I love how the author shows this through their interactions. It’s a rare find in YA books to see a platonic friendship as strong as theirs.
The plot of Shock of Fate takes place in the Living World. Van, along with a Paley and her assigned group of Grigori (demon hunters/warriors) in training, are to find the Coin of Creation. The coin has the power to defeat the darkness. This quest takes Van across the Living World into enemy territory. The world-building here is perfection! The creatures, the landscape, the rain, muck and food, all of it is vividly described. I could feel, taste, smell, see and hear it all.
Overall I enjoyed Shock of Fate. I was hesitant at first because of the immaturity I mentioned earlier, however it gives the characters a chance to grow and change in a natural way. With each obstacle Van faces, I noticed the changes in her, how they affected her, changes for the good. I cannot wait for more of Van’s story. Shock of Fate is the perfect mix of fantasy and adventure as Van discovers who she was destined to be.
About D.L. Armillei
This USA Today and international best-selling author was four years old she wrote a "story" in "cursive" and gave it to her mother to read out loud. Her mother tucked the pages into a desk drawer, telling D that she should read the amazing story she had created in a few years--after she had learned how to read and write.
Now--able to read and write--D continues to create amazing stories. Her flagship series called the Anchoress is a young adult/adult crossover epic fantasy with action, adventure, and a bit of romance. These stories immerse the reader in a complex plot interlaced with spiritual messages of self-empowerment. This series will appeal to fans of The Hobbit and LOTR.
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