Fade

What's Interesting: That your life is a lie! Being unable to communicate with the feral wolf that's a part of him! An ancient Norse prophecy of destruction!

Sept. 28th

Crossroads

www.crossroadreviews.com

This was a good read, but it was slow at times. I loved that it used Norse Mythology which is something that I am addicted to. I hope they are in the next book as well. You never know who the baddies are which was great. I tend to be able to guess who the bad guys are and in this one who you think is a bad guy just may not be. So that was great. So this one gets a 4 for me.

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

I was not sure what to expect when I picked up this book - it sounded intriguing, but at the same time I was uncertain about the Norse mythology, and I've never been a big fan of werewolf/shapeshifter stories. I am happy to report that I absolutely loved both aspects of the book. The Norse mythology was fresh and complex, adding a unique feel, and the relationships between the main character and the various wolves were intense and fascinating.

I have to say, I just kept underestimating the author as I was reading. Dace's posessive side started to show up and I groaned and thought, oh, here we go, he's going to turn out to be one of those overbearing leads who's supposed to be hot because he's so uncompromising and always knows what's best. And when the main character seemed like she couldn't tell her emotions apart from his, and he could make her feel things or she couldn't distinguish or didn't care to distinguish between his wants and hers, it set off all kinds of alarm bells. Thankfully, it didn't turn out that way at all! Despite Dace's posessive side, the main character stood up to him when it mattered, and he was convincingly attuned to and respectful of her needs. I think Dace is one of the very first territorial, alpha-male leads I've been totally, unreservedly into.

I really loved the main character, Arionna, too. She was so convincing and genuine with her emotional state and the way she handled difficult situations. She was brave, and smart, and she never gave up. She didn't let her lack of experience with the world she was thrown into hold her back; she acknowledged and sometimes lamented how new and strange the world was and how much trouble she was having understanding and fitting into it, but she just kept at it anyway. She admired and appreciated Dace's strength and protectiveness, but she didn't let him run her over.

It was also great to have supporting family and friends in the story. I thought the relationships of Arionna's father and friends really added a lot to the story, and I so appreciated that the author didn't take the easy way out by trying to make the main character seem neglected or detached. I did think that this was one aspect where the author had some trouble; it is super difficult to have a hot romance with a parental figure in the picture, and managing the grief and fears of other characters on top of Arionna's already full plate is understandably difficult. Some of those details felt a bit awkward to me - but I was happy they were there anyway.

As for the writing, I liked the way the pace moved, and the style was lovely. There were quite a few places where I was arrested by a sentence or a paragraph that just seemed so beautiful and/or perfectly apt that I had to re-read it. The plot itself was fairly complicated and there were a few points that confused me - like the characters deciding to do something important, but then a page later it's been three days, and it seems like that whole big conversation has been forgotten. It seemed like there was a little bit of difficulty balancing all the different things that were building up over the course of the book.

All in all, though, I was very impressed and can't wait to read the next installment. The story was enthralling, beautiful, and a change I didn't even know I needed from a lot of the stories I've read in the past few months. The author made me enjoy things I would have laughed at the idea of enjoying before I read this book, and that is a truly wonderful thing in a story.

Link to my review on Goodreads (posted 9/9/2012): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/411051187

Link to my review on Amazon (posted 9/9/2012): http://www.amazon.com/review/R1C3T9AD4XEH1T/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1620070855&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=283155&store=books

Name of blog: World of Books

Date review will be posted: October 2,2012

Link to blog: http://lovetoreadagoodbook.blogspot.com/

Review: I thought when I picked up this book that it would be similar to other werewolf stories I've read before. And while it does have some similarities, Fade is like nothing I've ever read before.

The story starts with Arionna's mothers funeral and then shortly after she moves in with her father. One of the things I loved right off the bat about the story was that her grief didn't take a back seat in the story. A lot of times they mention a death in the family and for like one week the character is depressed and then suddenly she's over it. Arionna didn't do that at all. Throughout the book, her grief and sadness stays with her and even though she does have moments of happiness, she still thinks of her mother. When Arionna meets Dace, its a instant connection and even though it sounds ridiculous, she feels like she's known him her whole life. Yes, there is that insta attraction and for a while he's all she thinks about. And honestly at first it annoyed me because I felt like all she cared about, thought about, was him. But as I kept reading it didn't bother me as much especially once I learned more. It's hard to say what exact kind of paranormal stuff is going on in the story without giving away the story but there's Norse mythology and Dace is a shapeshifter who turns into a werewolf. At times I felt as frustrated as she felt because she was thrown into this whole new world and no one wanted to tell her anything.

Dace is...complicated. I loved Dace but at times I really wanted to kick him. From the beginning, he's brooding and never really tells Arionna anything which is frustrating as hell. He wants to keep her in the dark about everything and while that sounds perfect in his head, it's just not working out in the real world. But at the same time I understand why he feels like he's doing the right thing. From a young age, Dace was told that the wolf inside of him was bad and that he should fear it instead of embrace that part of him. And whenever Dace is around Arionna his wolf gets restless and wants out but Dace won't let it because he thinks it'll hurt her. He's has a lot of stuff he's going through that makes it hard for him to trust and let anyone in, including his soul mate.

As part of the soul mate thing, both Dace and Arionna can read each others thoughts and communicate through thought. Of course Dace closes himself off and blocks it so only he can read her thoughts and not the other way around. That irritated Arionna and myself a lot but the crazy thing is Dace doesn't think he's doing anything wrong. I hope I'm not making Dace sound bad because I really do like him and even though he makes mistakes they're honest mistakes. Both Dace and his wolf are very possessive and protective of Arionna and when he feels like someone is touching or harming what's his, well lets just say things get complicated. I know a lot of people probably found this to be a problem but I loved Dace's possessive/alpha side. It undeniably sexy and it's probably the thing I love most about him. Both of them are new to this and aren't even sure what to do or how to be together but slowly they both get to know each other and their boundaries and it works out.

A.K. Morgen has definitely caught my attention with Fade and I can't wait to read what happens next. The ending really shocked me and I can't wait to see what Arionna and Dace will face in the next book. For a first time being published A.K. Morgen did a fantastic job. I recommend this to paranormal lovers and readers looking for something a little different then the usual werewolf stories.

Definitely a must read! I liked this book and can't wait for book 2!

Review link:

http://roxtao.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/fade-seria-the-ragnarok-prophesies-volumul-1-a-k-morgen/

Also published on Goodreads:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/409887138

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2MFHC6GTQBUNU

and Barnes & Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fade-ak-morgen/1112775833?ean=2940015046397

I have to tell you from the beginning that although now, after I finished Fade I can say that it was interesting, the first half of the novel was really annoying. I have to digress a little in order to make you understand what I’m going to say later. I am not pro and I’m not against the famous Twilight series. I’ve read it before the Twilight mania started and it didn’t offer me a major impression. It was..ok, but nothing more. But I think it’s pretty obvious that Stephanie Meyer opened the gates for the fantasy literature and that her influence effused over other new authors. Anyone that denies this should check the number of young adult, fantasy or paranormal books that was published in these last years, compared with the number in the previous years.

However, I think we got to the point where the post Twilight literature is a little difficult to digest. Of course, I’m not talking about all the new novels, but about the ones that re-create most of the aspects from Meyer’s novel. Probably this is the reason why I hated the first half of Fade. Let’s start with the beginning. The girl that has to move with her dad in a small town? Check. The incredible beautiful and mysterious male character? Check. The first meet when everything near them disappears, they lose each other in the other’s sight and their worlds are completely messed? Check. Obsessive attempts from her to discover the truth about him and so called attempts from him to avoid it? Check. Mind reading? Check. Unnatural things, happening after they met? Check. Hmm..was there something else? Oh, yes, we should't forget that she stumbles a lot. So..this is the action in the first half of the book. And like this wouldn’t be enough, we also discover lots of pages full of thinking, meditations, incursions in the pained soul of the protagonist, thoughts and assumptions. I didn’t abandoned the book only because I was sorry for the time spent until that moment. If I already read half of the book, at least I should be comforted that I was able to read the full novel.

But, from the middle of the book, everything changes. The first surprise was that the male character is not a werewolf, as I suspected, but a shifter. I know it’s not a big difference, but it was the first sign of a sequence of surprises. I was sure that the story will develop in a very predictable way, without bringing anything surprising. But the storyline went in a totally different direction. I was suddenly thrown in the Scandinavian mythology, from where a Norse prophecy influences the lives of our characters. We’re suddenly caught in a game full of legends, reincarnation, unknown creatures we never meet in other fantasy books, enemies that we don’t know yet, secondary characters that change their place with the main characters and negative characters that actually have a very different role. As bored I was when I read the first part of the book, as fascinated I was when I got to the second one. I loved the secondary characters and I thought it was a welcomed change the fact that their roles become really important. I liked the wolf pack that keeps it’s natural way, having common rituals and having no supranatural characteristics. I appreciated the fact that the male character was not built in the usual way: dauntless and invincible. On the contrary, he has deep rooted fears and he is as frightened as the heroine by the unknown. Also, I liked the fact that the author offers a reason why all those supranatural beings are all living in a small place and she doesn’t treats this fact as a normal thing.

Still, there are two things that bothered me in this second part of the novel. First: the same bent for meditation and the amount of thoughts of the protagonist, thoughts that usually do nothing else but fill the pages. The second thing is the way the Norse prophecy was brought in the readers’ attention. Although a part of it is explained, there are a few aspects of it that remain in darkness. Somehow, you get the feeling that you didn’t read the whole text and you’re missing the most important thing. For a while, there is no mention about the prophecy and suddenly, all the characters are talking about it like they would continue an old conversation. I know that sometimes, you forget how it feels not knowing a certain thing and because of this, your explanations may be unclear for a person that hears about that thing for the first time. So I suppose the author probably boned at the subject of Scandinavian mythology and now fails to present the subject as novelty, and more like all the readers would have the same level of information about it like she has.

Pros:

- The storyline is different from other fantasy novels and brings a new vision and also a collection of new and intriguing characters and creatures.

Cons:

- Twilight influences: to many, to obvious and to insistent.I have to tell you from the beginning that although now, after I finished Fade I can say that it was interesting, the first half of the novel was really annoying. I have to digress a little in order to make you understand what I’m going to say later. I am not pro and I’m not against the famous Twilight series. I’ve read it before the Twilight mania started and it didn’t offer me a major impression. It was..ok, but nothing more. But I think it’s pretty obvious that Stephanie Meyer opened the gates for the fantasy literature and that her influence effused over other new authors. Anyone that denies this should check the number of young adult, fantasy or paranormal books that was published in these last years, compared with the number in the previous years.

However, I think we got to the point where the post Twilight literature is a little difficult to digest. Of course, I’m not talking about all the new novels, but about the ones that re-create most of the aspects from Meyer’s novel. Probably this is the reason why I hated the first half of Fade. Let’s start with the beginning. The girl that has to move with her dad in a small town? Check. The incredible beautiful and mysterious male character? Check. The first meet when everything near them disappears, they lose each other in the other’s sight and their worlds are completely messed? Check. Obsessive attempts from her to discover the truth about him and so called attempts from him to avoid it? Check. Mind reading? Check. Unnatural things, happening after they met? Check. Hmm..was there something else? Oh, yes, we should't forget that she stumbles a lot. So..this is the action in the first half of the book. And like this wouldn’t be enough, we also discover lots of pages full of thinking, meditations, incursions in the pained soul of the protagonist, thoughts and assumptions. I didn’t abandoned the book only because I was sorry for the time spent until that moment. If I already read half of the book, at least I should be comforted that I was able to read the full novel.

But, from the middle of the book, everything changes. The first surprise was that the male character is not a werewolf, as I suspected, but a shifter. I know it’s not a big difference, but it was the first sign of a sequence of surprises. I was sure that the story will develop in a very predictable way, without bringing anything surprising. But the storyline went in a totally different direction. I was suddenly thrown in the Scandinavian mythology, from where a Norse prophecy influences the lives of our characters. We’re suddenly caught in a game full of legends, reincarnation, unknown creatures we never meet in other fantasy books, enemies that we don’t know yet, secondary characters that change their place with the main characters and negative characters that actually have a very different role. As bored I was when I read the first part of the book, as fascinated I was when I got to the second one. I loved the secondary characters and I thought it was a welcomed change the fact that their roles become really important. I liked the wolf pack that keeps it’s natural way, having common rituals and having no supranatural characteristics. I appreciated the fact that the male character was not built in the usual way: dauntless and invincible. On the contrary, he has deep rooted fears and he is as frightened as the heroine by the unknown. Also, I liked the fact that the author offers a reason why all those supranatural beings are all living in a small place and she doesn’t treats this fact as a normal thing.

Still, there are two things that bothered me in this second part of the novel. First: the same bent for meditation and the amount of thoughts of the protagonist, thoughts that usually do nothing else but fill the pages. The second thing is the way the Norse prophecy was brought in the readers’ attention. Although a part of it is explained, there are a few aspects of it that remain in darkness. Somehow, you get the feeling that you didn’t read the whole text and you’re missing the most important thing. For a while, there is no mention about the prophecy and suddenly, all the characters are talking about it like they would continue an old conversation. I know that sometimes, you forget how it feels not knowing a certain thing and because of this, your explanations may be unclear for a person that hears about that thing for the first time. So I suppose the author probably boned at the subject of Scandinavian mythology and now fails to present the subject as novelty, and more like all the readers would have the same level of information about it like she has.

Pros:

- The storyline is different from other fantasy novels and brings a new vision and also a collection of new and intriguing characters and creatures.

Cons:

- Twilight influences: to many, to obvious and to insistent.

bought the eBook straight out! Fantastic story. I wish there were more like it.

(Yes, that title is a really horrible play on 'skin of your teeth' but whatever.)

I always find it hard to start reviews, I usually end up with some horrible opening line--guaranteed to be as horrible as my titles--and then launching into the barely coherent review. The only thing I can think to start with this book is that it involves a fair bit of death. (Okay, two deaths with the possibility of more). The prologue opens with Arionna's mum's funeral and it so sad and depressing, even without the connection to the characters. Then we skip forward a year and Ari's moved in with her dad, but her mum's death continues to haunt the poor girl and pull on your heart strings. And then Danni's life comes to an end, but that kind of gets lost in the plot and doesn't hurt as much--Danni was practically a stranger. Yet her death still comes as a shock and the sequence of event that follow lead up to something fantastic. 

That, of course, is the Norse mythology. Ragnarok. The oncoming end of the world which only Odin's shape shifting wolves (sorry, I forgot their actual names) can prevent. They are reincarnated every generation to hold off the event, while Skoll and Hati try to kill them and bring about the Armageddon. That is a very sketchy, vague, and terrible description of the mythology, but it's the basics of what's in the book and will do. The whole reincarnation part is in play in Fade. When you reach the very end and discover the true identities of everyone, your jaw may be collecting dust on the floor as you flail around on your bed, drawing weird looks from the posters on your wall because of your vehement excitement. Ronan's identity, I must say, was my favourite. Because of reasons.

Once you uncover these identities, the plot speeds up quickly and you get to the most exciting part of the entire novel. Unfortunately, its the last chapter. And ends too quickly. But it was the twists and turns and heart stopping action in these final sections that pushed this book up to four stars/worms, especially after I found the middle section a little flat.

The wolves and Dace/Arionna's possessiveness of each other also almost dragged the rating down. I found the wolves a little to... dog-like for my tastes. I like my wolves bloodthirsty and aggressive (even if that isn't really in their actual nature...), not as friendly as pets. 

Dace and Arionna definitely had some chemistry going. I mean, WHOA. But, like I said, they are really possessive of each other. With their history, it makes sense and I didn't have a problem with it at first, but the further you get in the novel, the more tiresome it gets.

Other than those two little issues, I really liked Fade. The writing was wonderful and the mythology awesome, and from a culture/history I don't know much about. Sometimes the pacing was a little slow, but it picks up just in time to finish with a bang. 

I also think this book contains one of the best fictional father's ever. Seriously, Arionna's dad deserves a Fictional Father of the Year award. 

Rating: 4/5

I received a copy of Fade courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for a review

Fade starts out with Arionna at her mothers funeral, and then moving in with her dad in another town. She enrolls in the college there and sees Dace, instantly feeling a connection to him, like they were soulmates. Come to find out, that describes it like nothing else can.

I was hooked from the prologue! I could not put Fade down! Every now and then I read a book that makes me wish for more hours in the day. This is one of them. I was captivated with the mythological part to the story, the relationship with the wolves, and of course the romance. I wish the second in the series was out, I want to read it NOW! Bravo to A.K. Morgen for a wonderfully fresh YA book!

When Arionna Jacobs loses her mother in a tragic accident, her world is turned upside down. She’s forced to leave her old life behind and move in with her father. Dace Matthews, a teaching assistant at her new college, is torn in two, unable to communicate with the feral wolf caged inside him. When they meet, everything they thought they knew about life unravels. Dace has intimate access to Arionna’s mind, and something deep within her fights to rise to the surface. They don’t understand what’s happening to them or why, and they’re running out of time to sort out the strange occurrences around them. Their meeting sets an ancient Norse prophesy of destruction in motion, and what destiny has in store for them is bigger than either could have ever imagined. Unless they learn to trust themselves and one another, they may never resolve the mystery surrounding who they are to one another, and what that means for the world.

It’s a fun read, but a bit slow at times. I like all the character’s and the Norse Mythology twist. I hope we see some God’s and the other shifter’s in the next book. Lover’s of Stiefvater’s “Wolves of Mercy Falls” will like this book. I especially liked that those who seem like bad guy’s may not necessarily be so. One big thing about Arionna annoyed me. I don’t know why so many YA heroine’s seem to not only put up with, but revel in their boyfriend’s evasiveness. Arionna’s love, Dace not only avoid’s answering her most basic question’s but uses their telepathy against her. So while she is pulling teeth, he’s riffling through her mind like it’s wikipedia. I wish she put that fool in his place. Annoyance aside, I will be reading the next book.

Posted Sept. 7th:

amazon.com

goodreads.com

http://seejaimeread.tumblr.com/post/31043720896/fade-review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na7jI7deTOM&feature=context-cha

"I am so in love with this novel! Fade is deeply entrenched with Norse mythology, romance, and suspense. A.K. Morgen's young adult debut is absolutely a must-read, one that will keep your mind occupied from the first word!

Fade opens as Arionna Jacobs grieves for the lost of her mother, her best friend. The grief does a significant number on her attitude and ability to live fully, but she resolves to be strong. When she encounters Dace Matthews at her new college her perspective changes and the heartache from the death of her mother lessens. Dace and Arionna are probably one of my favorite fictional couples. They have a familiar connection that scares them both, but neither knows more than the other so they're on level ground. Morgen builds their relationship from the ground up, even though their familiarity comes from being together lifetime after lifetime.

Morgen's writing style allows you to feel as though you're living the moment with Arionna. The scenes are well-written and as realistic as possible in a fantasy novel. Sometimes Arionna's internal dialogue is slightly redundant as she brings up the same worries and thoughts while applying them to every new situation that comes up. It doesn't take away from the progression of the novel, but by the middle of the story I just wanted to focus on what was coming and not what had already been discussed. Arionna's ability to communicate with Dace and his wolf was certainly intriguing and led to a very endearing side of her. A great part of my enjoyment of this novel came from how freely Arionna could give herself to people and others she didn't know, especially in the midst of a looming future she didn't understand.

The beginning of The Ragnarök Prophesies is surely one to read. Fade is just what I expected, but Morgen gave it a little extra. The strong connection to Arionna will carry you through the novel and perhaps all the ones that follow!

*eGalley provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*"