Tammy Blackwell

I know, I know, I stick my nose up at stupid heroines and silly romance novels.... but I liked this book. So sue me, I enjoy a good paranormal romance once in a while too.

This book was pretty much all about Scout finding out about the Shifter world and getting together with Alex, despite interference from Jase and Charlie. There. I summed up this book in one sentence. Not bad, right?

Haha, but in all reality, this book was fairly simplistic in terms of plot and world development. Honestly, show more most of this stuff has been done before. Shapeshifters, a girl brought into their world, Seers, a small town, a forbidden romance. Y'know. YA paranormal romances. It's common.

But I did like it. Predominately because Scout's voice is forthright and sardonic. Blackwell does very well with first person perspective. It makes the book. I really appreciate her wit. I genuinely laughed a couple times.

The love triangle made me roll my eyes a little because argh you know how these things go. Stupidly. That's how. But I was only a little mollified because Scout doesn't leave them hanging forever. Unfortunately, I severely disagree with her reasoning in her "choice". Just because someone dreams of you does NOT mean you are "fated" for each other. What a stupid word anyways. Fate is a boring way to make a plot line happen.
Luckily love doesn't really need reason. And I'm just glad it ended the love triangle. Until.... y'know, the end of the book.

Yeah, the end was super lame. I really believe that the character death is either false or completely pointless. Either way, if it is true or just a juke, I don't like it. If it is true, it makes the entire book pointless and most likely extends the stupid love triangle again. If there's going to be a plot twist in the later series and he is magically alive, then this whole scenario is a pointless way to string the readers along. Dislike.

As for the plot, there's really not that much to say because not much happened. Hm, I guess I wish the information of Shifters and pack structure were more incorporated into the story, rather than just told in a Q&A.

Three stars. A good book that satisfies my guilty pleasure cravings for paranormal romance. It takes a plot that's been done before and does it well again. It's better in the beginning than the end. It falls into sappier cliches towards the end. But still a fun book to read.
Recommended for PNR fans. show less

Fate Succumbs is the conclusion of the Timber Wolves Trilogy.

Scout Donovan with the help of Liam (Alex’s older brother) is now on the run from the Alpha pack. They have ordered her death and she uncovers an evil plot that has been perpetrated by the Alpha female for over 2000 years. The Alpha pack is killing off all female shifters. It is blatant genocide of the female shifters due to an ancient belief and they must be stopped.

Fate Succumbs has it all …action packed, funny, deeply show more emotional, lots of heart ache, and rip your gut out choices.

Love Scout’s sarcasm and witty retorts and in the end she is a total bad ass. Liam is way more complex and the development between the characters is amazing. Although, I mentioned the rip your guts out, there is plenty of laughter to compensate. 5 stars. show less

This is a piece of brilliant fiction, a major yet pleasant surprise. Because 1. The heroine is someone I can actually stand, she sticks up for herself and others but isn't a martyr either. 2. I was just as torn up about her choice of hero as Scout, which is a hard thing to make me do! I either love or hate them. 3. The story could have been my own high school experience, it was so realistic...well besides the whole shifter thing ;) 4. Charlie, Alex sometimes and even the hulky Liam were just show more plain yummy... show less

If I could sum up my feelings on this book in one word, it would probably be "disappointment". Not that this book is bad, precisely, but because it had potential to be so much more than it was, only to take a turn for the Twilight about halfway through.

Mechanically, this book is excellent. The protagonist's voice is funny without being flippant, and there aren't any grammatical errors to be found. (Considering I picked this book up for $.99 off Amazon, I thought this should be mentioned.)

I show more actually really liked the first third of the book. Our protagonist, Scout, is quirky without coming across too cliched, and she seemed to have a really positive relationship with her step-brother, Jase, and half-sister, Angel. Strangely enough, although Scout's parents are technically present, her parents play almost no role in the novel, even when there's some pretty serious shit going down. It's a little strange, and no explanation for their negligent parenting skills is given. Even when the main love interest, Alex, is introduced, the author seemed to be carefully balancing plot with romantic development. Some YA PNR's have a tendency to make the love interest far more developed than the protagonist, and I was initially relieved that we weren't getting bombarded with Alex's backstory. Unfortunately, it turned out we don't get Alex's backstory at ALL in the book, meaning that Scout and Alex were equally undeveloped.

Once Scout's relationship with Alex takes off, though, the book goes downhill. We learn that Alex is a werewolf (which everybody saw coming), and that Jase, Scout's brother, is secretly a were-coyote (which was pretty surprsing). Yet despite all of the potential for conflict and plot development, the entire book shrinks down to Scout's relationship with Alex. They're star-crossed lovers! The pack must keep them apart! (Surely the pack has better things to do with their time?) Never mind the fact that Scout's brother is secretly a shifter, or that her best friend is secretly a Seer (yes, there are psychics), Scout has relationship issues!

What really frustrated me with this book was the fact that there was so much interesting material to work with. Part of me wonders if this is due to using Scout as our narrator. While it's true that she learned things as the reader did, I was personally way more interested in Jase, for one. I mean, the kid is SECRELY A WERE-COYOTE, and his family has no idea. His biological father, also a shifter, is dead. Not only that, but he's clearly struggling with all these conflicting urges to protect his sister and whatnot, but doesn't always know how to channel them in daily life. Yet we get to hear about Scout and her semi-love-triangle. Grr.

I wasn't surprised when I got on Goodreads and saw that this is the first book of a trilogy. There isn't really a conclusion, but it's not precisely a cliff-hanger, either. In fact, the book just sort of runs out of gas and coasts to a stop. And don't even get me started on the overt references to Romeo and Juliet. Yes, we understand, they're so-called doomed lovers. You don't need to hit us over the head with it.

I'd say this book was okay, but nothing out of the ordinary. Pretty much another Twilight-wannabe (minus the vampires), and we all know there are enough of those out already. I have no plans to continue the series. show less