Fade (The Faders, #1)

by E. G. Bateman

[Risa Nichols]

I received an advanced/review copy of this book. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content and honesty of my review.

Let me begin this review by saying that this book took everything I thought I figured out about the story and completely flipped it upside down. There were so many twists and turns in this book that I’m surprised I didn’t get whiplash! Not only was it surprising and not at all what I expected, but it was written extremely well. Sometimes when I read twists in books, I can tell the author was trying just a little too hard to make it more interesting, but I didn’t feel that way here at all. E. G. Bateman has created a fantastic novel with incredible world-building, a fascinating story, and characters that felt real with unique and honest personalities.

Jenna is really put through the ringer in this novel. Her father dies, leaving her an orphan, and she has to go to this new world she previously knew nothing about, leaving her best friend behind. She has these new powers that she struggles to control and doesn’t fully understand, and then she discovers that those powers are unique to her alone. While she’s thankful for her new friends, she still feels alone. She misses her dad, she misses her best friend, and on top of it all, she’s a teenager navigating a new romance. To say her new life is complex is a grave understatement.

As the story progresses, Jenna finds things are not always what they seem–and “complicated” doesn’t even begin to cover her findings. To discover the truth, she and her new friends have to team up and take on challenges they never expected to face. At the heart of this story is a tremendous foundation of friendship, and these ties prove to be invaluable–particularly toward the end of the story.

There’s just a touch of romance and I’m hoping the next book explores this relationship further. 🙂

I greatly enjoyed this book. It kept me hooked and there were multiple times I had to lift my jaw off the floor as I read the plot twist. There’s one scene in particular that had me actually gasping out loud and saying, “NO WAY!” It’s not often that I’m caught so off-guard that I don’t see even a hint of it coming, but the author definitely got me. Such an awesome story and I honestly can’t wait to find out what happens next!

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys young adult paranormal/fantasy.

** This review was copied from my blog at Alated Bibliophile, so if you liked it, go follow my blog for more updates! :)