You know when I heard Alyson Noel wrote another book, I had to check it out. Fated, the first in her new Soul Seekers series, is a story about Daire, a teenage girl who discovers that she comes from a soul seekers, a sort of special being that deals with souls of humans and animals alike. There isn't anything like the world that Alyson creates and she does it so creatively and profoundly, you have to admire her skill in painting such vivid and thought-provoking pictures. Alyson dives right into Native American lore and talks a lot about the importance of spirit animals and harnessing the powers and strengths of nature. While I'm not too big on all that spiritual stuff, it was nice learning about it and seeing it being incorporated into the story. There's this one part with a cockroach that I have to say was a favorite of mine. 
 It did take me a good halfway through the book before things really picked up, but after that I finished it pretty quickly. The first half is about Daire discovering who she is and her journey in accepting and managing her powers, with the help of her grandmother. There's a lot of inner monologuing and explanations from her grandmother, you also get some glimpses into the "dream world" where Daire meets two very important guys. There aren't very many in the way of characters until Daire enrolls in the local high school and meets her sworn enemy, and potential true love, in person. Along with some new friends and frienemies, they all added humor and fun to the story that I thoroughly enjoyed. 
 Fated seemed more of a "setting the scene" book for me, where it was basically Daire coming into her powers and family history, then facing off with her enemy in an important, yet not so epic battle. She did intrigue me with this book and its premise so I'm eager to see where Alyson is going with this series and hope for more action and interaction in the next book.