Sharon Joss

One and a half stars. The story started slowly, but it did eventually pick up. I liked the magic system; it was original and fresh, even if it "djemon" and "djinn" were both things, but "djemon" apparently had a silent j and "djinn" a silent d.

The main character's best friend also irked me. She was literally the most 2D character I've come across in over a decade. She came across as the author's idea of a "normal" woman--white, middle-class, mother of three boys. She was a librarian and could conveniently help the main character with research, which I thought could be awesome but mostly they go out to eat together and chat. She's a boring character. (And yes, she's supposed to be outside all the supernatural stuff the main character ends up embroiled in, but a "normal" person doesn't have to be boring. They should still be their own person.)

Finally and unfortunately, the writing dragged the story's otherwise interesting parts down. There were misplaced words, capitalizations in the middle of a sentence (and not the edgy kind of capital letters I'm talking words like "That".), and more repetition than I could stand. Information and motivations were repeated thirty pages apart, almost word for word, like the author forgot to remove chunks of writing she'd moved elsewhere during the editing process.

Overall, it came down to the fact that the Destiny Blues ebook can be downloaded for free. I didn't waste any money on it, so while I wish I hadn't bothered, it wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, either.… (more)