Fantasy Book Reviews

A Dangerous Destiny: The Pure One Book I

Author: stpolishook
Title: A Dangerous Destiny: The Pure One Book I
Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/39403077-a-dangerous-destiny-the-pure-one-book-i

Gorgeous cover! Very professional looking and absolutely bookshelf material. The cover foretells a dark and poignant tale that I'm not sure I can handle, but I shall read on and see!

The story begins with the promise of a big secret to be revealed that will destroy the life of Fiona, one of the protagonists. She has supposedly "betrayed" her people, and despite being the Nita (some sort of leader?) of the Senmin people, she must still face the judgment of the council members. What a great start to a story! The author uses Fiona's big secret as a plot device to draw us in and keep us interested. Who doesn't love a juicy secret, right? There is so much tension right from the opening paragraph.

We experience Fiona's fear and apprehension as she makes her way to a Meeting where she would inevitably have to reveal her secret, her emotions amplified for us via internal dialogue and masterfully crafted descriptions. Beginner writers would probably resort to writing in first-person, but the author of this book definitely knows what she's doing with third-person POV. We really get into Fiona's head and know her every thought!

Fiona is a new leader to highly esteemed men who are far more experienced than her. She knows who her allies and enemies are and is sensitive to the moods and feelings of her people. She's strong on the outside but holds a lot of self-doubt on the inside. This makes her a very interesting character. There's plenty of room for character growth and development, and I suspect we'll see plenty of hardship thrown her way. One thing that stood out to me is how she handles her situation (her secret). She doesn't wait to be found out, but instead accepts it and takes it upon herself to reveal it, unabashedly, at the most opportune moment. I won't spoil it for you here. Go read it and find out!

The world building is excellent. Amidst the tension between the characters, the author peppers bits and pieces of the story's setting, the towns, people, jargon, politics, etc. It's done quite fluidly and doesn't halt the story progression, which is very challenging to do. I did however feel that it got too heavy with information at certain points and would've preferred a better balance of dialogue and description. Fiona's inner turmoil was also slightly overdone and excessive for my taste, though it never felt repetitive. Sorry, my brain is not designed to take in so much information at once! I would just say, the author is a master at creating tension and will keep you glued to the story til the very end.

A Dangerous Destiny is a must read for readers and writers alike! If you enjoy acomplex story rich in world lore and compelling characters, this is the story for you!