About the Book
-
Author:
- Aprilynne Pike
- Genres:
- Boy-Girl Romance
- Fantasy
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: Pretty Flower
BFF Charm: Meh
Talky Talk: Easy, Breezy, Fanciful
Bonus Factors: World Building, Mysterious Loner Faerie
Anti-Bonus Factors: Faeries
Relationship Status: It’s Been Real
Spoiler Alert: See our reviews for Wings, Spells, and Illusions.
Cover Story: Pretty Flower
I am not a flowery kind of girl, but this is a very pretty cover, and so much better than what it could have been. (Read: a stock photo of a girl with fairy wings or some such nonsense.
The Deal
This book picks up right where the last one left off, with Laurel and the gang having caught Yuki, and trying to figure out Klea’s ultimate game plan. There’s lots of troll fighting and adventure, and just like when you’re choosing between two cups of iocane-wine, death is on the line.
BFF Charm: Meh
I just don’t like Laurel. I’ve tried. But everything she does and says rubs me the wrong way. She feels weak and helpless and incredibly self-centered. In other words, probably a lot like some teenagers. As a heroine, all of the other characters in the book tell me — ad nauseum — how SPECIAL she is, almost as if to remind me that she’s the central figure. Because otherwise, I would have forgotten. No, seriously. Then by the time she actually DOES something, I’m so sick of her — and her fan club within the book — that I don’t care.
However!!! I love Chelsea so much. I want Pike to write a story about her life, and how awesome she is!
Swoonworthy Scale: 6?
The saving grace for me for this series has always been Tamani, but I could never really decide if I wanted Tamani and Laurel to be together or not, because I liked him so much more than her. But then there’s David, and he’s super sweet and smart and good, but just about as boring as Bland — I mean Laurel — herself, so in a lot of ways he was a better fit.
Their is certainly technically a lot of swoon in this installment, and I believe that some lovers of romantic stories will really like it. I, however, was totally over both David and Tamani with their whole “Oh, we’re all in mortal danger and literally fighting for our lives, but let’s take a moment to caress Laurel, who’s not really doing anything, because, really, she’s so delicate and pretty and has a magic faerie vagina, so she can’t be expected to, like, help us, or anything…”
Talky Talk: Easy, Breezy, Fanciful
Most of my complaints about this series are completely personal preference. I believe that there are probably a lot of readers out there who wouldn’t have the same issues I did. And while I may complain about her characters, I have nothing but good things to say about Pike’s prose. She tells a story well and quickly, in an effortless style I find sucks me in. Also, I liked the epilogue.
Bonus Factor: World Building
Pike excels at creating a thorough and believable faerie world. Her descriptions of Avalon are beautiful, and totally immersed me in the story she had created.
Bonus Factor: Mysterious Loner Faerie
I just love this bonus factor so much. That’s the only reason I put it in, really. And the fact that Tam is still a very large part of why I have stuck with this story until the end.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Faeries
If you like the fae, this won’t be an anti-bonus factor for you. As a lover of fantasy, faeries were always a part of the genre that I felt pretty neutral about. But while I was reading this, I just couldn’t get over the fact that these people were actually plants — I mean, they were all breaking stems instead of bones during their fight, and oozing sap instead of blood. After a while, I started imagining them as twig people.
Relationship Status: It’s Been Real
This series and I were set up by an internet dating service, and on paper, we had enough in common to look like a match. Unfortunately, computer-generated tests don’t always account for individual quirks and random personality flaws. And ours just didn’t mix. Still, it was interesting enough that we became sort of friends, so we could keep up with what was going on in each other’s lives. And that has worked out pretty alright.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my review copy from HarperTeen. I received neither money nor cocktails for writing this review (dammit!). Destined is available now.
