Fateful by Claudia Gray

Summary:
A tragic tale about falling in love on the world’s most infamous ill-fated sea voyage as heroine, Tess, discovers darker secrets that lie beneath the doomed crossing… and a hidden brotherhood that threaten to tear her lover from her forever.

The RMS Titanic is the most luxurious ship ever built, but for eighteen-year-old Tess Davies it’s a prison. Travelling as a maid for the family she has served for years, Tess is trapped in their employ amid painful memories and family secrets.

When she meets Alec, a handsome upper class passenger, Tess falls helplessly in love. But Alec has secrets of his own… and soon Tess is entangled in a dangerous game. A sinister brotherhood that will do anything to induct Alec into their mystical order has followed him onboard. And Tess is now their most powerful pawn.

Tess and Alec fight the dark forces threatening to tear them apart, never realising that they will have to face an even greater peril before the journey is over…

New York Times best-selling author Claudia Gray delivers adventure, dark paranormal suspense, alluring romance, and a truly surprise ending, set against the opulent backdrop of the Titanic's first — and last — voyage. (from GoodReads)

Review:
I was really excited to read Fateful because I enjoyed the Evernight series (also written by Claudia Gray) and I am obsessed with the Titantic. I thought this would be the perfect combination. While I liked Fateful, it wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be.

As soon as I started reading Fateful, I could tell that I was reading a novel by Claudia Gray. They all have a similar tone and writing style. But sometimes I didn't like that for this book. It's supposed to take place in 1912 and sometimes I felt like the author tried too hard to make dialogue/writing style sound relevant and others times I thought it sounded too modern. Writing in the past is very hard, but when it's done right the book is that much better.

I liked that Claudia Gray tried to explore different things. There was romance, paranormal beings (with the werewolves), class and gender struggles, and obviously the Titantic. Sometimes these things would get left on the wayside because there was so much going on. For example, I would forget that Tess and company were even on the Titantic because there was a lot of focus on the other aspects of Fateful. That being said, I did like reading what it was like to be a servant in the early twentieth century and seeing Tess struggle and ultimately overcome her station was a nice touch.

There was a bit of instant romance but it's hard to avoid when your book is only 300 or so pages. Tess and Alec's relationship was rushed (especially considering his big "secret") but I really liked Alec so I didn't mind too much.

The Titantic references were always fun to pick out and added some authenticity to Fateful, which was good.

In regards to the ending, I haven't decided if I like it or not. I almost feel as though it's a cop-out, but it does end happily, so I can't argue with that.

Overall, I liked the Evernight series better than this but it's hard to go too wrong when your book takes place on the Titantic.

Rating: 7 out of 10.
FTC: borrowed from library

2012/HarperCollins/328 pages.