Review: Fearless

Fearless
Francine Pascal
YA/Fantasy-ish


Gaia Moore is brilliant and beautiful. She’s trained in three kinds of martial arts, has a reflex speed that’s off the charts, and can break codes in four languages.

She’s also missing the fear gene.

All Gaia wants is to be like everyone else. Instead, she’s left wondering about her past, her missing family . . . and the unavailable boy she’s falling for. But everything changes when she learns that someone is hunting her down for her special skills, and they’ll do anything to get her to.

But Gaia isn’t worried.

She is FEARLESS.


Yeah, it's about as awesome as it sounds :) BUT it had some problems. What do I mean?

PRO:
There are some really SICK (and I mean that in the best possible way) characters in this book that will keep you hooked. Gaia Moore is right up there with all your favorite kick-ass heroines. She has some awesome skills and never lets any emotion get the better of her (she can't feel fear, but she isn't an emotionless bot or something. She feels happiness, sadness, loneliness, pity, excitement etc..). And her best friend?? HOT COOL GUY IN A WHEELCHAIR. Why is that so freakin' amazing, you might ask? Because in what other book are there handicapped characters that the point of the book isn't their disability?! He's brave (as in, not lacking fear like Gaia, rather, he overcomes it) and cute and confident (but shy when it comes to Gaia- he develops a crush on her) and funny and smart and just such a sweetheart you'll find it hard not to love him. The only minor flaw in his character is that he tends to play the part of a devoted sidekick a little bit but it really isn't a bother.

CON:
Naturally, can't have such a skilled protagonist and no fights now can we? Gaia battles gangs of people trying to kill/capture her while she tries to figure out why. I liked the fighting scenes, but this part of the plot with all her scheming enemies kind of fell short with me. When the reason she's being hunted is explained I was pretty disappointed. It was just not believable. And the identity of the mastermind behind these schemes becomes REALLY predictable and REALLY cliche when you figure it out (which, if you're an experienced reader, will be early on).

PRO (at least for me; this one isn't really everyone's cup of tea) (HA it rhymed!!) :
Personally, I usually like it when authors switch POVs or first/third person. It provides insight and diversity
to the story and most of the time my favorite character isn't the main one so I look forward to his/her take on everything. Fearless was no exception. I'm warning you that there are a lot of switches so if that doesn't work for you this probably isn't your book. With this method we got to hear fascinating snippets of Ed's (see above HOT WHEELCHAIR BOY) story and Sam's and Heather's thoughts (more on them in a minute). Also, we get to understand her family situation a little better (you'll see what I mean if you read it- don't want to give too much away!).

CON:
Do you believe in love at first sight? No? Well... are two cases of that here. Now if you do, this won't be a con for you so just scroll on down but, I imagine most people don't. So Gaia, who I sang her praises above, falls in love with Sam Moon for NO REASON WHATSOEVER. They never had a full conversation but they are both wholly obsessed with each other. Make of that what you will. As for Heather- she is the supposed shallow, popular arch enemy of our heroine who is a social pariah (what's new?). Except this time, you can't hate her. This isn't Lana (Princess Diaries) or Marcie Miller (Hush, Hush) who picked on our narrators since childhood and have been making their lives miserable for years. Gaia meets Heather by accidentally spilling coffee on her and leaving without an apology. Heather then spots her with Sam (her boyfriend) and her ex. She then walks in on Heather in a situation you do not want to be seen in, and later does something else to her that's bad enough to loathe that person for life. Gaia didn't do any of those things out of bad intent and she had reasons but all the same Heather had every right to hate her. Besides, thanks to Sam's and Ed's POVs we know she is actually a good person who has struggles of her own, so I didn't justify Gaia's dislike for her and her portrayal as the evil queen bee.

Note- this edition of Fearless is actually the first three volumes out of a series of 36 (!!) books. If you decide to read Fearless, get this edition. Not enough happened in each one on it's own.
Grade: 75%

-Esty