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Sidekick Super Review: Fateless (2025) by Julie Kagawa
- Apr 2
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 7
The Basics
Page Length: 400
Audiobook Length: ~12.5 hours
Grade Reading Level: 8+
Target Audience Age: 13-18
Goodreads Score: 3.82 out of 5
Buy it HERE
Setting: A fictional fantasy world, Arkyennah, shaped by a harsh desert environment.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Topics: Thieves, Desert, Fate, Monsters, Undead, Kings, Magic, Gods/Goddesses, Warriors, Romance
Plot: Sparrow is a seventeen-year-old thief. Abandoned as a baby and taken in by a Guildmaster in the guild of thieves, she has always operated alone. She’s the best there is because she’s invisible and unnoticeable—skills that have always been her greatest strength… until now.
She is recruited by The Circle--a secret and powerful group--to steal things that are impossible to take unnoticed, like the Tapestry of the World—the artifact that ties the fates of all people together, created by the goddess of fate herself, Maederyss. Then comes an even more dangerous mission: retrieving an ancient artifact from a forgotten underground city—a mission no one has ever returned from.
But the artifact Sparrow retrieves is far more powerful than she realizes. It is a tool of destruction and evil, meant to be retrieved by only one—"The Fateless"—an agent of chaos and unpredictability. Sparrow soon discovers she has been manipulated by the only family she has ever known, used to set into motion the destruction of the world as she knows it.
Now alone, with the title of "The Fateless" thrust upon her, Sparrow must decide who she will become. Will she remain on her own, or risk trusting others and find a new family? Will she give in to the pull of power and darkness, or fight against it? With every choice she makes, Sparrow shapes not only her own fate, but the fate of everyone tied to hers.
Themes: Fate predestined vs. fate chosen by free will, found family, selfish protection vs. selfless sacrifice, loyalty and betrayal, survival and resilience, the forming and breaking of trust
You might like this book if you like:
Video gaming or role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons
Magic tricks, sleight of hand
Mythology/ancient legends
Books like: Six of Crows, An Ember in the Ashes, Rebel of the Sands, Caraval, The Darkest Minds, We Hunt the Flame, Throne of Glass, Scythe
Shows like: Shadow and Bone, The Witcher, Shadowhunters, Fate: The Winx Saga, The Umbrella Academy
Movies like: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, The Mummy, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Dune (also a book)
Other books written by this author: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden series), The Iron King (The Iron Fey series), Talon series, Shadow of the Fox series
Teaching Fateless in Class
Content
Language: Very little to none
Sex/Romance: There is a romance between the two main characters, but it is very innocent. No graphic descriptions. A few mentions of hand holding and kissing. Nothing sexually explicit.
Violence/Scariness: Lots of violence in this. Typical fantasy violence--fights with evil kings, monsters/creatures, undead. There is a ritual sacrifice, as well as magic. Animals and people are killed by creatures. Lots of high-stakes action throughout most of the book.
Drinking/Smoking/Drugs: There are a few scenes in a bar with people drinking, mostly adults and what I assume to be older teens (the book never defines their age).
Class Novel-ability:
This is definitely not a strong choice for a whole-class novel. There’s too much violence, and the content won’t appeal to every student. It’s much better suited for your fantasy readers, as it leans heavily into classic fantasy elements.
That said, this is a great book for turning some students into fantasy lovers. It includes all the best tropes and SO MUCH ACTION. Plus, the author has several other YA fantasy series your students can dive into if they get hooked!
The Star Qualities
This book is packed with action—there’s something insanely dangerous happening at every turn. Thieving, zombies, killer bugs, assassins, nonstop fighting… the stakes are constantly high. There’s barely a moment to breathe between each death-defying scene, making it perfect for students who get bored easily. That definitely won’t be a problem here :)
This story brings together so many beloved fantasy tropes and elements: monsters, gods and goddesses, thieves’ guilds, royalty, magic, fate, enemies-to-lovers, strong female warriors, desolate landscapes, and an orphaned protagonist with intense family dynamics and found family. It honestly feels like Dune, Six of Crows, and An Ember in the Ashes had a baby.
The story isn’t over—there’s a sequel on the way! It's scheduled to release in July of this year. Get your students reading this one, and then get them pumped for the next installment!
The author, Julie Kagawa, is a New York Times bestselling author with plenty of other fantasy options for your students to dive into next. She's got five other young adult fantasy series for your students to pick up right now! And there's a series for everyone! Vampire, Fae, Dragons, take your pick! She's got a series for all fantasy lovers.
Book Talk Read Aloud Section
If you have the physical book, read pages 1-4 through the 5th paragraph ("It was time to get on with it and see what Fate had in store for me this day.")
If you don't, read the same pages (location 524 -location 573) in the Kindle reading sample here.
"Reading Like a Writer" Mentor Texts
This entire book is action-packed, and these passages are no exception. They serve as a mini master class in building suspense and eerie unease. The author uses rich sensory imagery, personification, varied sentence structure, sound devices, internal monologue, foreshadowing, and dialogue-driven tension, along with creepy diction and tone and vivid physical, visceral reactions. Together, these techniques create a powerful mood of fear. There are so many craft moves in each of these passages that students can imitate to build this kind of emotion in their own writing.
Sentences for Combining and Imitation
Sentence sets for combining:
"Stepping back from the balcony, I took a deep breath, feeling the hot air fill my lungs, then let it out slowly." (Fateless, p. 3)
I stepped back from the balcony.
I took a deep breath.
I feel the hot air fill my lungs.
I let it out slowly.
"He plummeted with the falling rocks, but at the last second, his hands hit the edge of the hold, jerking him to a halt and leaving him dangling over a drop into nothing." (p. 103)
He plummeted with the falling rocks.
His hands hit the edge of the hold.
They hit at the last second.
It jerked him to a halt.
It left him dangling over a drop into nothing.
"This city, broken, crumbling, and shattered, made Kovass seem small." (p. 100)
This city was broken.
It was crumbling.
It was shattered.
It made Kovass seem small.
"I glanced past her head to the wall, where a cracked mirror hung above a dresser by the bed." (p. 4)
I glanced past her head to the wall.
There was a mirror.
The mirror was cracked.
It hung above a dresser by the bed.
Sentences for Imitation:
This author writes with a lot of dramatic description and imagery. She uses lots of figurative language, especially metaphor, simile, and personification to make her descriptions come to life. Here are a few great examples to show your students for practice.
"I stood in the shade beneath a rooftop balcony, watching the citizens of Kovass scurry through the streets like ants whose nest had been poked with a stick." (p. 3)
"A breath of wind smelling of dust and dry leaves whispered through the square. It slithered across my skin and raised the hairs on my arms." (p. 101)
"According to the teaching, every life–every soul–was a thread bound in the Tapestry of the World." (p. 19)
Used this book in your classroom? Tell us how in the comments!
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