Review: A Sealed Fate by Lisa Gordon

Title: A Sealed Fate
Author: Lisa Gordon
Publication: January 30th 2009 by Janus Book Publishers
Cover Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 1/5

Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

Upbeat and contemporary in style, this riveting narrative features an eclectic mix of characters awash with local color. To escape the pain of failed relationships and careers, both Valda and Larissa take themselves to the exotic locale of Dubai, seeking not only success but a general purpose in life. Valda does indeed find fulfillment--and, to her astonishment, love--but all is threatened when she is introduced to a billionaire Sheikh. Her clandestine relationship with the Sheikh propels her into a murky web of deceit, and she turns to her friend for help. As an astrologer, Larissa predicts that Valda and the Sheikh's destinies were decided from the moment of their first meeting, but she keeps the dire outcome foretold in the charts a secret. Together, the two women soon find themselves gambling in a game of cosmic Russian roulette where the stakes are their lives and their adversary is fate itself. Bravely merging genres and sensitively embracing personal relationships, this spiritual and gritty thriller illustrates the complex theme of choice versus chance.

~My Thoughts:

First of all I want to thank the author , Lisa Gordon, again for being so nice to send me a copy of her book for review. 
A Sealed Fate, being a thriller, isn't my usual genre at all. I almost never read thrillers but I wanted to try it anyway because I liked the synopsis a lot and usually really like gritty books. Also every now and then I like to mix things up in reading books. 

A Sealed Fate brings us to the exotic city of Dubai where we meet Valda who after going through a bad break-up left South Africa to accept a new job as singer in a club. One night she meets the rich Sheikh who also ownes the club. That's when Valda's real problems start. 

I must say that I really love exotic settings like in this book, places where I have never been but dream about. However that is my only positive note on this book, unfortunately. Overall, I didn't like this book at all. I feel really bad about that because I wish I loved every book I read but sadly enough that's not always the case. 
My major issues with this book were the poor writing, characters I couldn't connect with at all and the over-usage (is this even a word?) of exclamation points. 
The writing didn't flow smoothly enough for my liking and the pace was very slow. I really dislike books that are like that. At times I had to force myself to continue reading. This is never a good thing. 
I didn't feel a thing for any of the characters. Valda the least of all. I just couldn't connect with her or anyone else. It's sad because characters are pretty much the most important things in books mostly. 
I know I'm not the only one saying this about this book but there was so much use of exclamation points even when it's a normal sentence. I felt like they were shouting at the freaking time in this book. Yes, it really bugged me. Le sigh.


All in all, A Sealed Fate was personally for me a no-go. Maybe thrillers aren't my thing but I just couldn't find anything I liked about it except for the gorgeous setting. I hope people won't be too discouraged by me because readers who love gritty thrillers might like it after all. 

~About the author:

An only child to a single Mum, Lisa was born and brought up in Johannesburg, South Africa. Despite a lifelong ambition to act, she enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand to do a BCom Law. She later moved to UK, where she achieved a BSc Industrial Economics Hons Degree from Warwick. Still wanting to be a star - her Mum encouraged her to study 'The Stars' and Lisa became an Astrologer. Lisa worked on hospital radio for many year, before becomming a regular Astrology guest on BBC local radio. As an Astrologer Lisa was always asked by her clients to make black and white definitive predictions about their futures: this made Lisa ponder the role of fate in our lives and how much freewill we really had. Hence the plot for her philosophical thriller, 'A Sealed Fate' was born. Choice versus chance - which prevails? Lisa wrote her book while also writing the ACA Chartered Accountants exams. She hopes to become a successful writer, not an accountant! Lisa is grateful to the wonderful support of both strangers and friends and their inspiration. Lisa is also grateful for having a 'power-house' Mum; who is her biggest supporter and best buddie.