Disclosure: I received these books to review. The post may contain affiliate links. Opinions shared here are 100% mine.

I’m always excited when there’s a potential new obsession underway.  By obsession, I mean book series.  Although a stand-alone book is nice for a quick reading weekend, a series is meant to be savored. It’s a time investment, sure, but well worth the emotional effort.  When I start Book 1 of a new series, it’s like a new world opening up!  

Speaking of new world, Destiny Defied set me up for an intriguing new realm.  In this story, 18 year old Riki and several other young adults are marooned on a strange island. While mystery abounds, there’s an interesting twist in the form of a spiritual battle.  There are some deep religious undertones in this novel that conflict with the dark magic that threatens to overcome the world as Riki knows it.  At first, I thought this book might be perfect to put on my classroom bookshelf.  After all, it’s a sci-fi which is a genre my students love.  However, with the introduction of the cultic overlord, my plans for the book faltered. There were several suggestive parts, too, that wouldn’t be appropriate for my students.  Although the characters are college aged, the discussions they have seem a little stilted.  Maybe I was just extremely immature when I was their age but I didn’t have the grasp on life that the characters seem to share.  It could also be due to the serious life-or-death circumstances they faced.  The overall theme of the book is a reminder of the battle between good and evil.  I’m interested to see what future books in this series might hold.