gladdenangie's review
5.0
This was an amazing book! "Escaping Fate" kept me guessing right up until the very end, and thinking about it for days afterwards. I love a book like this that makes me want to go out and read more about a culture and a people that I'm unfamiliar with. I can't wait for my girls to read this book, 'cause I know that they'll love it too!
angiegladden's review
5.0
This was an amazing book! "Escaping Fate" kept me guessing right up until the very end, and thinking about it for days afterwards. I love a book like this that makes me want to go out and read more about a culture and a people that I'm unfamiliar with. I can't wait for my girls to read this book, 'cause I know that they'll love it too!
ibustama's review
4.0
Arra has been having nightmares. The nightmares link her to a aztec girl who is about to be sacrificed. The question is, what do the nightmares have to do with Arra and why do they keep recurring, getting worse every night? Arra is a sweet girl with a very stable family life, so why such awful nightmares? The answers come to the reader slowly as Arra begins to unwind her family’s history.
Gladden’s characters are well-developed and extremely likable. Her prose is clean, which is nice to find in self-published books. I liked the family dynamics, especially Arra’s relationship with her grandfather. Also Arra’s connection with Tanner was very innocent and sweet. The Aztec curse was a nice touch with an insight into another culture, something we don’t get much of in young adult. I do have to say that Aztecs didn’t go as far as South America. Aztecs inhabited what is now Mexico, so a correction might be in order.
My only complaint is that the plot moves too slowly. There are parts that felt repetitive such as reading in her aunt’s diary about the same nightmares Arra was having—especially since the diary didn’t divulge anything new or advanced the plot. Dreams aren’t my favorite storytelling device. To add to this, the recurring nightmares started to seem unnecessary, especially after I had a very good idea of what was going on. I felt the same way about Arra’s research into her family history.
In the end, Gladden ties up the story nicely, if not with a big surprise ending. Especially, I like the fate she devised for Kivera.
Gladden’s characters are well-developed and extremely likable. Her prose is clean, which is nice to find in self-published books. I liked the family dynamics, especially Arra’s relationship with her grandfather. Also Arra’s connection with Tanner was very innocent and sweet. The Aztec curse was a nice touch with an insight into another culture, something we don’t get much of in young adult. I do have to say that Aztecs didn’t go as far as South America. Aztecs inhabited what is now Mexico, so a correction might be in order.
My only complaint is that the plot moves too slowly. There are parts that felt repetitive such as reading in her aunt’s diary about the same nightmares Arra was having—especially since the diary didn’t divulge anything new or advanced the plot. Dreams aren’t my favorite storytelling device. To add to this, the recurring nightmares started to seem unnecessary, especially after I had a very good idea of what was going on. I felt the same way about Arra’s research into her family history.
In the end, Gladden ties up the story nicely, if not with a big surprise ending. Especially, I like the fate she devised for Kivera.
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