The Fated ARC Review

Book: The Fated (ARC)

Author: Katelynsam

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

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The Fated is the debut novel from author Katelynsam. She has previously released a short story called The Last Masquerade at the Carousel House, but this is the first full length novel that she has released.

The author herself advertises this novel as perfect for fans of The Night Circus, Titanic, The Great Gatsby, and The Midnight Library. It blends suspense and fantasy in this magical, paranormal story. You've been invited to board The Fated, a potentially magical ship, setting out for paradise, aka Destination Unknown. But watch out, things aren't exactly as they may seem.

I deespreately don't want the lower rating for this book to deter you from checking it out! I really, really enjoyed reading this book, there were just certain aspects of the book that weren't for me, and that's okay. It's still a great book, and I would definitely still recommend it to others, it just wasn't fully for me.

One thing that I absolutely loved with this book was the atmosphere. Everything was so vivid and well described, without being too much, it felt like I was really walking through this magical, fantastical ship. Everything was so beautifully described and it made me wish that a ship like this existed so I could experience walking the halls for myself in person.

The flirting and budding romance between Amarra and Kye-Shin was so cute and I would have loved to see more of their romance grow and blossom into more, but I also understand that romance was not meant to be the main plot of the story, and I respect that. Still, it's fun to imagine how it could've blossomed.

I loved the mystery/paranormal aspects of the story. Tryingt o figure out who/what was behind the passenger disappearances, and what was really going on behind the darker aspects of the ship was so fun (and creepy) to explore throughout the book. I loved trying to figure out mysteries and put together plot points as new information comes out, and this book gave me plenty of opportunites.

However, I know that with all of this gushing about the good, people are going to wonder about why I gave it a 3.5 star rating. The main thing for me, without giving any spoilers, was simply that by the end of the book, there was still quite a few unanswered questions. And while some people really love books with unanswered questions because it leaves room for speculation and theorizing, I am not one of those people. Of course, I always wonder about the events following a book no matter how neatly everything is tied up, but I don't like big things being left to interpretation or speculation. And that may even tie into my love of trying to figure out what's going on, I may just want a flat out answer to whether my theorizing the entire book was correct or not. However, I hate to fault the author for that, because I know that this is my own personal preference, and someone else will likely love the book even moer BECAUSE of the fact that things are left a little more open at the end.

With all of that being said, I do recoomend checking out The Fated if the get the opportunity. It was a beatifully written book, the imagry was incredible, and I was fully prepared to give a much higher rating until that ending, which just simply didn't resonate with me.

The Fated releases February 24, 2025.