Echo by Alyson Noel

About the book

Echo is the second book in the Soul Seekers series by Alyson Noel. It was published by Macmillan Children’s Books on 22^nd November 2012 and the book is 416 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy.

Synopsis (Taken from Goodreads.com)

She inherited a magical destiny—and a mission to stop a powerful family of dark sorcerers. She never expected to fall in love with one of them.

There’s still so much Daire Santos has to learn about being the last Soul Seeker….and about herself.  As her magical training becomes more intense, so does her relationship with Dace.  But when she learns that his connection to the evil Richter family goes far deeper than she ever imagined, she begins to question if love really can conquer all.

Dace is painfully aware that he wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the Richters’ dark magic—and now his brother Cade is determined to use his love for Daire against him.  Dace is willing to sacrifice anything to protect the girl he loves —including his own life.  But will Daire allow it?  And what if defeating Cade costs not only his life, but his soul too?

What I thought

I really loved the first book in this series, Fated, because it was something so different to Alyson Noel’s other books. I really enjoyed the plot and setting and couldn’t wait to get on to book two.

In Echo, Daire is learning how to become a Soul Seeker. Although she has already had some training, she doesn’t know everything… not by a long shot. Unlike in Fated, Echo doesn’t have to spend numerous chapters letting the reader know backgrounds and information about what is going on. I felt like Fated was very much a ‘set up the story’ kind of book whereas Echo was able to just jump right in to the plot. It takes no time at all for us to be reunited with Daire and Dace, a couple in a very new relationship having to figure out what is going on in the world.

In Echo, Daire and Dace are faced with the massive problem of ridding the Lowerworld of the Richters. However, Dace’s twin brother Cade is determined to stop this from happening and he reveals some shocking truths which change everything. I really liked how Noel really dove right into the life of a Soul Seeker in this book, which made it extremely exciting. Not only do we get to learn more about what Daire can actually do but it is also put to use more this time around. Something which I loved in Fated, and also again here, was the use of Spirit Animals which again, is explored in more depth this time around.

As good as the plot was, it was Daire and Dace’s relationship that really made this book for me. As two people apparently destined to be together, their relationship was beautiful to read about. Not only were they wonderful together, their passion for each other shining through, but they were also great on their own. Each character was so strong in their feelings about each other that they didn’t care about voicing it to other people, which really made me like the both more. The strength of their feelings for each other, mixed in with some absolutely stunning scenes, makes for a super romantic relationship.

Although we get to know a hell of a lot more about Daire and Dace, other characters are around much more as well. Daire’s mother pays a visit which opens up a lot about the past and about what can happen from this point. Also, due to events from Fated, other minor characters are focused on more which was a good thing for me. Xotichl, Auden and now also Lita are in Daire and Dace’s close group of friends. While Lita was a bit of a bitch before, she has become much nicer and I think she added a lot of humour to this book, which was needed considering the seriousness of the plot.

As this is only the second book in the series, there is a lot left unanswered and also a huge cliff-hanger. The third book, Mystic is out in July and I’m pretty desperate to get my hands on it. Alyson Noel has created such likeable characters in an utterly magical setting that I cannot get enough of.