Fate by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

From the Publisher

For the past two years, Bailey Morgan has lived a double life: high school student by day, ancient mystical being by night. As the third Fate, Bailey literally controls the fate of the world, but as Plain Old Bailey, her life is falling apart. She’s got a tattoo that was supposed to be temporary (but isn’t), friendships that were supposed to last forever (but might not), and no idea what her future holds after high school graduation.

Then Bailey meets the rest of the Sidhe, an ancient race defined by their power, beauty, and a sinister habit of getting what they want at any cost. Before Bailey knows it, she’s being drawn into an otherworldly web more complicated than anything she weaves as a mortal Fate.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Publishers Weekly

Barnes crosses Greek gods with faeries in her addition to the teens-with-special-powers-and-destinies genre. In this companion novel to Tattoo, Bailey, aka the Fate of Life ("single-handedly responsible for weaving the lives of the entire world"), is back and joined once more by best friends Delia, Annabelle and Zo. With the help of mysterious pendants (Bailey's friends have lost the powers they possessed in the first book), they must help Bailey face the Reckoning, when she must choose between her world and the Otherworld. Barnes has her mythical realms covered with the Otherworld, "also known as Faerie, Olympus, Avalon, and the Beyond," where Bailey spends her nights while her less-mythic friends dream. Bailey's upbeat narration adds flair to this story of girl power and friendship, though her Otherworldly trips (which are, unfortunately, italicized) cover large swaths of the book and can feel like a disruption. Readers who hang tight to the friendship arc, though, will find this story pulpy but fun. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)

Children's Literature

Bailey seems like your average high school senior. She hangs out at the mall, has three really close friends, and is worried about college. Actually, Bailey is anything but average. At night, she enters a mystical realm (which she calls the Nexus) to do work as the Fate of Life. Part of an ancient race of magical and powerful beings called the Sidhe, Bailey lives her life half in the mortal realm and half in the Nexus. Such as been her life for the past two years, and though it has been strange, Bailey has gotten used to it. When she ventures into the Otherworld (the Sidhe world) Bailey immediately feels at home. It is here that she learns of her Reckoning, when she will have to choose allegiance to one of the Sidhe courts. Bailey cannot imagine leaving her friends and the mortal world behind, but the Sidhe do their best to explain compelling reasons to choose immortality. Bailey thought having to choose a college was a difficult choice! That's nothing like carrying the fate of two worlds in your hands. This sequel to Tattoo can be read on its own, as long as readers do not mind feeling a little lost on occasion. Recaps of the events in Tattoo are interspersed throughout the text, but often come long after an explanation is needed. Bailey's three best friends play significant roles in the book, but they are too one-dimensional. The writing can sometimes be heavy-handed, and even Bailey acknowledges that the dialogue comes off as cheesy (especially in the Sidhe world). Those complaints aside, Barnes has created a relatively satisfying mix of fantasy and reality that will have wide appeal. Reviewer: Amanda MacGregor

Kirkus Reviews

Despite her mother's nagging, high-school senior Bailey has no post-graduation plans: Picking a college isn't her biggest concern, especially when the fate of the world rests on her shoulders. For readers familiar with Bailey's first outing, Tattoo (2007), buying her awesome responsibility, which stems from her role as one of the three mythological Fates, may come easy, as the previous text fully describes the genesis of her mythological position. New readers may not find this premise as clear, especially when Bailey introduces the Nexus, a secondary world in which she spends her nights weaving society's fate in long, italicized passages. Bailey's age-appropriate voice helps to anchor her Otherworldly adventures in reality, imparting humor and bringing to life her well-defined relationship with her three best friends and her anxiety about their inevitable separation at graduation. Sticklers for mythological purity will wonder how the Irish Sidhe got mixed up with the Greek Fates, but those just looking for a quick read probably won't care all that much. A fantastical and well-woven web of mythology, teenage anxiety and friendship. (Fantasy. YA)

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