Review: Promising start but could have been even better..
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 26, 2013
Elena is our ordinary teenager but on her sixteenth birthday she learns that she is not so ordinary after all but a witch!Yes, you heard me correctly. She is a witch with powers and is a descendant of the Lady of the Lake from her favorite story, "King Arthur". Suddenly she finds that she is someone special and learns of her heritage. The stories she had heard since childhood are not just stories but true and she is part of them! But with all these special qualities come some responsibilities and Elena is introduced to new facts, new people and a completely new world where there is magic and nothing is impossible! Elena is sent to Avalon, the mysterious and known-only-to-some island where she is to learn to control her abilities and prepare herself for her future responsibilities. But can she adapt to her new self?Will she be able to control and nurture her abilities?Andrea Buginsky's book, Destiny, made me remember the Harry Potter series. New Avalon, which is the school for witches is similar to Hogwarts in Harry Potter. The lessons and scenarios also remind of Harry Potter while Elena is also somewhat like Harry. She is nervous, confused and just like Harry overwhelmed by her new experiences and new surroundings.The story, though, written expertly would have been more effective had it been a bit longer and more pages were devoted to develop the world of Avalon with some adventures thrown in to capture my attention. I felt the book is too short and everything just felt a tad superfluous. Although, a prophecy of evil rising when the successor to the Lady of the Lake is chosen is mentioned but we don't get a glimpse of it in this book. Also I just didn't completely connect with the characters. Had I been told that I was a witch with special telekinesis powers, I would have been completely shocked, disbelieving and would have had a much major reaction to this than Elena, who I thought accepted this revelation too quickly and too easily like it was an everyday occurrence and no big deal!The cover , though very catchy, doesn't do justice to the story and I could not guess what the story is about by just looking at it.The description of Avalon is admirably done which creates an image of the island and successfully creates an aura of mystery around it."Near the coast of England, just off the NE side, is a very small island. So small, it's not on any map, and few people know about its existence. Because of air bouncing off of water, it is always covered in foggy mist. The people who know of this place call this island Avalon, as did those before them.""It was one of those only-those-who-know-what-it-really-is-go-there places. Everyone else just thought it was a small, uninhabited island."A quick and satisfactory read. Destiny mainly prepares a foundation for the successive books which I  believe will develop more on Elena's life and future adventures. The series has potential and the author's writing crisp which will definitely make the reader anticipate the next book in the series. If you a Harry Potter fan or love the fantasy world of wizards and witches then this book is for you. I give it a 3.8 out of 5 and will definitely checkout the next book when it comes out.This review is also available on blog Njkinny's World of Books..