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A review by divapitbull
Unraveling Destiny by Amelia Hutchins
4.0
3 1/2 stars
Unraveling Destiny is #5 in the Destiny series. It was supposed to wrap up Synthia and Ryder’s story but now it looks like there’s gonna be a book 6. I am still – for the most – enjoying this series – but also feeling ready to wrap things up. If you haven’t read book 1 in the Elite Guards series, then you’ll have no idea what Risten is doing with Olivia and why he’s all weird about Danu. If you haven’t read Playing with Monsters, you’ll wonder why Lucian and his men are hulking about helping and why Alden is hanging out with them. If you don’t need to know every little thing that’s happening and catch every little nuance (I do) then it may not matter all that much.
Synthia has her hands full with the Goddess gig. Somebody tore huge portals in Fairy and they won’t close, and all the Horde nasties are heading to Terra for the all you can eat (or should I be PC and say “All you care to enjoy”) buffet. Fairy is dying, and the influx of Hoard will put the kibosh on Terra (Earth). If this isn’t bad enough, Synthia is determined to rebuild the Spokane Guild and flush out the evil Mages that are still running amok in the Guilds. Now it seems like the Guild Elders have been keeping secrets. Big honkin’ secrets and the Mages are capitalizing on them. “Original Witches held in stasis in the bowels of the Guilds” type of secrets. And let’s not forget, Ryder’s sister is still missing and then there’s the My Big Fat Fairy Wedding that Ryder and Madisyn are trying to plan – and doesn’t that turn into the mother of all clusterfucks.
There is A LOT going on. The story has gotten pretty involved, complicated, convoluted – pick your favorite. It’s interesting – but this also leads to one of my pet peeves (and here we get into why I am rating 3 ½ stars). There’s a lot of information to be imparted to understand exactly what is going on. This information is imparted by Synthia and oftentimes it reads like she’s giving a speech. It’s disconcerting. There were also a few times where it felt like Synthia had stepped onto a soapbox – and I wanted to help her down. One instance involves her exposition on why she’s leaving Ciara with the Dragon King – which feels like a lecture….and she goes on and on (and on) about how strong Ciara is, and her brothers don’t give her credit, and she knows what she’s doing and blah, blah, STFU already. *Also everyone and their brother (literally) is out looking for Ciara and Synthia is just like “Oh, If I were the Dragon King I totally know where I would hide her….oh look there she is! Hi Ciara, Hey Girl”!!!!! I get that Synthia is strong and smart and capable (and I like that) but the presentation at times is a little over the top. And my final pet peeve – not specific to just this installment – “these ones” and “those ones”. I can not say with certainty that this is grammatically incorrect; but what I can say with certainty is that it should be – it just doesn’t sound right and drives me batty.
In summary – I enjoyed this installment – but I’m getting picky – which means I’m getting ready to be done.
Unraveling Destiny is #5 in the Destiny series. It was supposed to wrap up Synthia and Ryder’s story but now it looks like there’s gonna be a book 6. I am still – for the most – enjoying this series – but also feeling ready to wrap things up. If you haven’t read book 1 in the Elite Guards series, then you’ll have no idea what Risten is doing with Olivia and why he’s all weird about Danu. If you haven’t read Playing with Monsters, you’ll wonder why Lucian and his men are hulking about helping and why Alden is hanging out with them. If you don’t need to know every little thing that’s happening and catch every little nuance (I do) then it may not matter all that much.
Synthia has her hands full with the Goddess gig. Somebody tore huge portals in Fairy and they won’t close, and all the Horde nasties are heading to Terra for the all you can eat (or should I be PC and say “All you care to enjoy”) buffet. Fairy is dying, and the influx of Hoard will put the kibosh on Terra (Earth). If this isn’t bad enough, Synthia is determined to rebuild the Spokane Guild and flush out the evil Mages that are still running amok in the Guilds. Now it seems like the Guild Elders have been keeping secrets. Big honkin’ secrets and the Mages are capitalizing on them. “Original Witches held in stasis in the bowels of the Guilds” type of secrets. And let’s not forget, Ryder’s sister is still missing and then there’s the My Big Fat Fairy Wedding that Ryder and Madisyn are trying to plan – and doesn’t that turn into the mother of all clusterfucks.
There is A LOT going on. The story has gotten pretty involved, complicated, convoluted – pick your favorite. It’s interesting – but this also leads to one of my pet peeves (and here we get into why I am rating 3 ½ stars). There’s a lot of information to be imparted to understand exactly what is going on. This information is imparted by Synthia and oftentimes it reads like she’s giving a speech. It’s disconcerting. There were also a few times where it felt like Synthia had stepped onto a soapbox – and I wanted to help her down. One instance involves her exposition on why she’s leaving Ciara with the Dragon King – which feels like a lecture….and she goes on and on (and on) about how strong Ciara is, and her brothers don’t give her credit, and she knows what she’s doing and blah, blah, STFU already. *Also everyone and their brother (literally) is out looking for Ciara and Synthia is just like “Oh, If I were the Dragon King I totally know where I would hide her….oh look there she is! Hi Ciara, Hey Girl”!!!!! I get that Synthia is strong and smart and capable (and I like that) but the presentation at times is a little over the top. And my final pet peeve – not specific to just this installment – “these ones” and “those ones”. I can not say with certainty that this is grammatically incorrect; but what I can say with certainty is that it should be – it just doesn’t sound right and drives me batty.
In summary – I enjoyed this installment – but I’m getting picky – which means I’m getting ready to be done.