Book Review: Fate’s Exchange, by Sasha Leigh

Death wants her. Fate has already claimed her. Angels protect her.

What if Death didn’t mean you had to die? When Alyssa Frank dies trying to save herself from a brutal attack, she finds that second chances do exist. Now, reliving the final week leading to her death, can she discover the right choices in a sea of wrong? Or will her circumstances never change?

Death always meets its quota, and Alyssa has just made Death’s list.With new love brewing and friendships on the line, what happens when chances run out?

Can she survive?

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My thanks go to the author for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review. I’ve been wanting to get round to this book for a while, so Spooky Reads Week seemed the perfect opportunity to get it read.

Alyssa finds herself in unfortunate circumstances, when an attempt for some reading time in the woods ends up in her dying during a brutal attack. She realises death is coming and accepts that justice shall be served. She’s prepared to die. However, rather than finding herself passing on, Alyssa is granted another chance, and finds herself going back to the week before the accident, full of the memories of her death which hasn’t yet happened.

But what is she supposed to change? And how?

Caught in a loop that doesn’t seem to play out right, no matter what she does, Alyssa is caught in a frustrating and heart-breaking cycle. Add in the growing love of the new boy David, and she’s really got one hell of a situation. (Not to mention David is really one of the Brothers, sent to protect her – but she doesn’t even know that yet!)

I love the world Sasha has created for the Twisted Fate series. I love the involvement of the Sisters of Fate and the angels – she’s based it on enough known mythology that her world was easily believable, as well as being structurally sound, but has still made a unique and interesting world of her own.

Alyssa is an average, sweet 16 year old girl. But she’s different to most, purer. My original concern was that this meant she was going to be far too perfect, and if I’m honest, annoying, but the reality was quite contradictory. She was just a normal, likeable girl. She wasn’t perfect, she simply had a good heart; perfect intentions, I suppose. But she gets just as torn by both her everyday drama, and the huge situation she finds herself in, as you would expect any other girl too. She doesn’t know what she’s meant to do – she wants to do what’s right, but with so many ripples of repercussions from her actions, how on earth is she meant to discover what the right thing is?

I loved watching her grow and especially her relationship with David. David was probably my favourite character – his inner battle between his duties and his feelings was touching and endearing.

The last part of the book was gruelling and emotional, but also tender and beautiful. Sasha has built up perfectly to the sequel (Fate’s Return came out this week!) which I will be hastily buying so I can continue with Aly’s story. A thoroughly enjoyable read, and I have high hopes for the series.