Fighting Destiny (Fae Chronicles, #1)

by Amelia Hutchins

Gina Tobin (Editor) and Chelsea Vera (Illustrator)

Have you ever heard of the old Celtic legends of the Fae - beautiful, magical, and deadly creatures that have a love of messing with humans just for kicks and giggles?

Welcome to my world.

What started out as a strange assignment, lead to one of the most gruesome murder mysteries of our times. My friends and I are set and determined to find out who is killing off Fae and Witches alike.

Couple of problems in the way – I hate the Fae and the Prince of the Dark Fae is bound and determined that I work for him. He’s a rude, overbearing egotistical ass with a compulsive need to possess, dominate and control me. Oh – did I mention that he is absolutely sex-on-a-stick gorgeous and he makes me feel things that I never ever wanted to feel for a Fae...every time he touches me or looks at me with those dangerous golden eyes he seems to pull me further in under his spell, despite my better judgment.

My friends and I can’t trust anyone and nothing is as it seems on the surface – not even me.

• ISBN10: 0991190912
• ISBN13: 9780991190911
• Publish Date: 4 June 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Amelia Hutchins
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 452
• Language: English

Reviews

[stacey_is_sassy]

Listening was better than reading…

Normally, when I am listening to a story that I’ve previously read, I find that it enhances the story. In this case, the story was not enhanced, it surpassed my expectations and was by far the better experience of the two. While I originally gave the reading experience five stars, I knew that I was being a wee bit generous. The storyline was captivating, the characters were original, extremely sexual and fierce, but there were a few issues. The editing was completely distracting, it was repetitive and while Ryder’s bossiness could be sexy, it could also put him in the Douchewaffle category. I am thinking, the audio got a bit of a clean-up when it comes to the editing. Ryder is still a major Douchewaffle, but I have read the series and I know how he ends up.

Now a few readers might say that Fighting Destiny is very similar to a few other stories. For me, I could blame it on my shocking memory, but I think it’s more because if the story is captivating enough, I don’t care if it’s similar. I was captivated with this story and there were enough differences to make this an original.

Syn and Ryder’s chemistry is electric. There are times when Ryder, uses his Fae abilities to push Syn past her comfort zone. At times, this made me a wee bit cranky and made me dislike Ryder. But, if I was to look back at some of my very favourite heroes, I have disliked them at some point in the story. I guess I just love seeing the Douchewaffle become lovable.

While not the best narrators I have ever listened to, Sarah Puckett and Stephen Dexter do a pretty good job and brought Syn and Ryder to life. At first, I thought that Syn sounded a little too whiney, but as we go along, I realised that Syn was a little whiney. She is 21 after all. Ryder’s character is dominating, bossy and arrogant and the narrator portrayed those traits. I will be keen to listen to these narrators again in the future.

I will not be changing my rating from 5 stars. I was thoroughly entertained, desperate to keep listening and sad when it came to the end. I couldn’t have asked for more and my only disappointment is that #2 Taunting Destiny, is not available to listen to.

[Caitiebelle]

Heart racing and keeps you on the end of your seat kind of brilliant!

I don't think I have ever read anything fantasy with the main focus being the Fae. I am in absolute awe over this book!

It's hot everything! Romance in an "I hate to love you" kind of way, scary scenes that make you rethink eating whilst reading, sex so hawt you'll go damp, and a sexual buildup so longlasting you think it's never gonna happen.

And what's worse is we're left hanging! We don't really know who or what Ryder is, his dialogue - for which there are sadly few as the book is written in most part from Synthia's pov, he comes off as almost evil! But at the same time, his actions are those of love?!!

It's got heartbreak in spades... I could not for the life of me put this amazing book away.

5 amazing stars!

And now I'm on to book 2! I would suggest buying the box set because they end on a cliffhanger, the likes of which it fades to black at the absolute worst moment.

[nitzan_schwarz]

So, there are good things about this book and bad things about this book.

(-) The writing. Seriously, it's not good. Sentences drag, very repetitive (in words and sentences) and it just felt kind of immature at times. It was bad enough for me to notice this while reading.

(+) I like Syn. She's an interesting character, a strong woman who also has her vulnerable sides. I do wish we had seen her kicking ass more because most of the book she was beaten up after her ass had been handed to her, but then it didn't bother me that much.

(-) Ryder. Okay, let me clarify: I like Ryder well enough through Syn's narration. He appears layered even though he had (of course) that total-douche-bag-I-want-to-punch-him-seriously-someone-punch-him moments you'd expect from a book like this (although, it is at least trying to "excused" and explain by him being a fae that literally feeds on sex), but he also has a gentle side that I can see may attract our heroine.

But I absolutely hated the rare peeks into his mind and wish they had been cut off from the book. First, they were completely unnecessary and second, talk about total torn off. I'm sorry, but Hutchins has no idea how to write a good male pov.

His entire pov was simply pages on pages on how much he would like to fuck Syn, how he would do it, what he would make her do. How much he is going to make her his, as he always gets what he wants. There is literally barely any dialogue or actions we get to experience from his POV, only these flawed, really disgusting and rape-y thoughts. It makes him such a one dimensional, puke-inducing character. Let me have the version we see through Syn's eyes, otherwise, I am going to vomit from this romance.

(+) The Sex. Looking for a guilty pleasure novel to indulge in with lots of erotica and an excuse to say it's needed in the story because that's how they feed? This is the book for you. A part of me feels really embarrassed to type this, but the other part of me says "screw it" lol.

(-) The cliffhanger. I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of cliffhangers in general, but I especially did not like this one. It's because it's so cheap. I know that's a harsh thing to say, but it's not that this cliffhanger was necessary. It's not that it's one story arc that couldn't be played in one novel without it being 800 pages long. Oh no, we finished the big action for this novel. Everything has settled down (for now). And then, instead of just closing things there, even though it has a perfect end for this novel that is close enough to make you feel satisfied with this mystery but open enough to know a lot more is to come, Hutchins basically decides to take the first few pages of the next novel and put them here instead, just to force you to buy the next one. It starts an entirely new arc, and that pisses me off.

(+) Adam. I dunno, I just really liked this guy. Z and Ristan too, but mostly Adam.

[Cocktails and Books]

This review was originally posted on Cocktails and Books

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