Echo by Alyson Noel Review

"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?"

Now this series is just getting ironic. In Fated, we learn of a separate group that isn't with Ever and the Immortals but set in the same universe. First in Fated, Dace and Daire are meant to be, or at least in their minds. Now, the world is bent on breaking them apart. Yeah, the cruel world and I have no sympathy (which is even sadder). 

Echo digs deeper into the strange bond of Cade and Dace. (Anyone notice that when you switch the places in the consonants of Cade or Dade's name, you get the opposite twin's name. Damn, I wonder if that has anything to do with the book or the author is just simply twisting our minds). We see the stranger sides of Dear Old Dad Mr. Richter and the evil (just plain evil) side of Cade. Background info: Echo is another word for Cade/Dace, who are echoes of each other. (And this isn't fully explain until the first quarter mark of Echo, so yes, it's a spoiler.) 

Echo is trending on the border of "I'm going to follow the same path of the Immortals" and "I want to make a new path." I am always wondering if this series, The Soul Seekers, is going to turn out like the Immortals. It's teetering on the edge and I'm suspicious of similar characters and parallel events.

The plot of Echo is always moving; although I'm annoyed by how it is being moved. (By the grandmothers.) Yep, by the elderly people like the grandmothers. They give all the advices, and (as usual) the young and stupid people (like Cade and Dace, just to mention a few) always don't listen. Is there ever a time when young people make good choices? Oh, I guess everyones on...oh wait, that doesn't happen in Echo. Drugs aren't exactly what controls young people in Echo, but it's power that controls everyone's minds. 

Hmm...I don't really like any of the characters. Sometimes I just wish that authors don't make their characters/love interest seem so pretty and outrageously gorgeous (like Vogue gorgeous). Anyway, the characters in the book are annoying and super egotistical (Cade, Dace, etc.) Daire's okay, but she's pushing the limits. (Isn't it annoying how Daire and Dace look so similar in spelling? These names had been tripping me up in my reading. I always confuse one for the other.)

Rating: Two out of Five