Escaping Destiny
Whoa... This novel surprised me, and as you can see by the score, not in a good way. I have waited for this book like an alchie for happy hour. Wanted, no needed the next Hutchins novel! In just a few books this woman gave me whiplash with her plot twists, made me grind my teeth with the action and burned my retinas with her sensuality. She got an insta-fan!
Prior to this we left off with Syn being at the clutches of the Horde King the meanest, baddest guy around. I know, right???? And now we have Escaping Destiny. What does a hurricane say to the palm tree??? Hold on to your nuts, this isn't a regular blow job!!!! And if the previous books are anything to go by this one will be a spectacular ride in the world of the Fae. Right?
Sorry to say but wrong.....
I have expected so much more from the Horde. I mean....it's 'THE HORDE'! The Fae are stuff of nightmares for the humans, The Horde are stuff of nightmares for the Fae. I have expected fountains of blood, dark and dangerous enchanted castles, great halls filled with chilling monstrosities and with the Fae using sex to feed, the possibilities were endless.
Instead I got landed smack in the middle of an Lisa friggin' Kleypas novel. The main focus of this story was Syn trying to carve out her piece of heaven between all the concubines in the Horde King's harem. Not much more happened. Gone was the ass-kicking, take-no-shit, itchy Witchy and instead welcome the swoony, pining, angsty heroine in a full skirt. How in the fuck that happened?
From the previous novels we know how manipulative the Fae could be. By Hutchins' own words it's the Fae way. Did the women do something sneaky and clever to trap Syn??? Nop. They were whiney and openly bitchy. So no fun there, no conflicts and no action.
We are in the Fairie, how about spells and magic??? In the previous novels we had mind reading, manipulation, wards, poisoning, and all sorts of shenanigans. In this novel the magic is used to conjure nighties and up-does, sometimes even furniture. :( ??!!!
How about Ryder's men? That are protective, loyal and to the point, and will do everything to help heal the Fairie? They were honest with Syn before and held back no punches. Now they slowly became the leaders of the 'Cheer for Syn' parade.
And Ryder? He said so many times before. I am Fae, not human, I am the baddest motherfucker out there. In this novel, i didn't see it. He was pressed against the wall,stressed out and unable to deal with half the shit that came his way. In the end he wound up changing some of the ancient rules of the Fairie that he swore to protect. Big hit and miss there. After that he wasn't as Fae in my eyes as before, he was so much more human. Sadly. He lost all the otherworldly attributes of Ryder the fucking Fairy.
In the very beginning the lid is blown by Ryder coming clean to Syn. The end result is simple- there is no more mystery. We now know absolutely everything. There could have been many options to execute this story- switching between the Horde King and Ryder, keeping us on our toes. Is he??? Isn't he???? And a blank canvass for all the emotions that Syn might feel loving Ryder, and being attracted to the Horde King.
The great Goddess Danu was a character that was introduced solely for the info-dumps. Every time she shows up she winds up explaining herself and everything she does. There wasn't a feel of godliness about her, or agelessness. She was supposed to be the terrifying spirit of the Fairie, but read like a fairy godmother.
It simply lacked everything. I found myself constantly waiting for things to happen. Even the labyrinth tests were simple and predictable. There was one big fight scene at the end of it all that kinda kept it all afloat, but blew up in my face with Syn becoming half goddess uber-Fae. Everything seemed like it was handed to her on a platter and she didn't fight for anything. I wouldn't have waited for Ryder to change the laws about the marriage. Syn's higher up then Ryder's fiancee, right? The old ass-kicker would spend some of the time in the library looking for a way out and dunno, have a duel or something. She was a killer before, and now a deadly Fae, to combine those two things we should have been set for a fallout of massive proportions. Again by Hutchins' own words the Fae fight for what they want by proving they are the better mate. It would have been so much better if Syn got off her ass and did something about it herself. One more thing that seriously grated on my nerves was the fact that all her inability to do anything to help herself was placed down to her being hormonal....from the pregnancy...*grinds teeth*
I was just disappointed by the end of it all. It seemed so rushed and not at all a Hutchins novel. I understand the hardship that she must be feeling these days and the pressure from the fans. I mean she knew she had a winner on her hands with the very first novel, and her popularity just exploded leaving her to deal with a mass of 'Gimme-Gimmes' (myself included), but personally if i had to wait another 5 months to get the next book i would have, gladly, if the end result was different. The only reason for just a two star mark is this: Hutchins herself set a helluva high standard, and from her work we all know that she is more then capable of delivering. This novel however skated on the lines of cliche-hood the entire time. She is a brilliant new writer that has a chance of being one of the most popular writers of the genre out there. But this was not up to standards that she set. Still i am in her corner every step of the way and looking forward to the next one. There is so much talent in this woman, can't wait to see what happens next, and hope for the best.
