8/11/2016

Map Of Fates by Maggie Hall

I am shocked! And not happy at all what Maggie Hall did to that one figure. But I fear it had to be done – the plot required something like that to happen, otherwise, it wouldn´t be logic at all. I am in love; in love with that cover. Yes, any shade of pink or rose isn´t my thing, but this one looks really beautiful. And in combination with the silver and the motive, I think that cover is one of my favorite for this year.

Map Of Fates

by Maggie Hall
The Conspiracy Of Us #2
Publisher G.P. Putnam´s Sons on March 8, 2016
Genre Young Adult
Pages 320
Format Hardcover
Source Purchased

Goodreads

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Two weeks. That´s how long it took for Avery West´s ordinary life to change forever. In two weeks, she discovered she was heiress to a powerful secret society known as the Circle, learned her mother was taken hostage by the Circle´s enemies, and fell for a boy she´s not allowed to love – just as she found out another was her unwelcome destiny.

Now Avery crosses oceans in private jets to hunt for clues that will uncover the truth about the Circle, setting her mom and herself free before it´s too late. By her side are both boys: Jack – steady, loyal, and determined to help her even at the expense of his own duty – and Stellan, whose connection to Avery grows stronger by the day despite her best intentions, making her question what she believes at every turn.

But at the end of a desperate hunt from the islands of Greece to the red carpet at Cannes comes a discovery that not only changes everything, but could bring the whole world to its knees. And now Avery is forced to face the truth: In the world of the Circle, no one is who they seem.

Story

Avery does everything to get her mother out of the hands of the Order. But after a while, she has to realize that she and Jack will need the help of her family, the Saxons. The moment, she steps over their threshold, she knows that from now on her life is not hers any longer. Her father wants her married to fulfill the mandate and so a journey around the world starts during which Avery meets all the eligible bachelors that are eager to fulfill it with her. Her shock is deep when one after the other gets killed and when she has to witness the murder of one of those young men right in front of her, she is no longer willing to sacrifice herself for a prophecy she doesn´t even believe.

Style

Again the story is brought to the reader’s eye through Avery´s point of view. The fact that she wasn´t raised the way her siblings or Jack were, makes the difference and gives a certain tone and thought to the novel. The fulfillment of the mandate by marrying the One seems still very awkward and not logical at all to her, and despite the fact, that every one of the candidates she´s met gets sooner or later killed, doesn´t make it any easier for Avery.

Maggie Hall has a beautiful and very well written style. She describes the scenes with a lot of beauty, takes the reader on a journey around the world. London, Paris, Cannes, India are among the places Avery travels. Each of them has its own beauty and each of them has something valuable to offer. The authors´ language is simple but effective, some scenes are very cruel and bloody and it seems sometimes, that the world of the Circle isn´t as glorious and achievable as some would like to believe.

Characters

Avery has changed; in a good way. The innocent girl that left the US with Stellan on that private plane doesn´t really exist anymore. She still has her way of thinking, believes in the good of the people, and isn´t willing to marry at the whim and will of her new family, the Saxons. But the way how she does things now her motivation to make a change to the prophecy and the fulfillment of the mandate has changed. 

Yes, guess you could say she kind of grown-up now. And she´s made a choice what to do and with whom. And that doesn´t include her father or his family. 

Stellan and Jack reveal sides of their characters, I didn´t expect to happen; not at all. As much as Jack wants to protect Avery from any harm the world provides and teaches her less to nothing when it comes to self-defense or how to fight with a knife, Stellan does the opposite. He teaches her the way he was taught himself and it becomes soon very obvious to the reader that his way is the better one for Avery. But her feelings are still mysterious to her and so the love triangle keeps the right edge to the story.

Conclusion

A wonderful novel with a lot of answers to open questions, bloody scenes, and a villain you don´t expect to be one. And with that end, I am looking very much forward to see how Maggie Hall will continue this story. 

Happy reading

Maggie Hall

Maggie Hall indulges her obsession with distant lands and far-flung adventures as often as she can. She has played with baby tigers in Thailand, learned to make homemade pasta in Italy, and taken thousands of miles of trains through the vibrant countryside of India. In her past life, she was a bookstore events coordinator and marketing manager, and when she´s not on the other side of the world, she lives with her husband and their cats in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she watches USC football, dabbles in graphic design and blogs about young adult literature for YA Misfits.

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