The Broken Destiny (Broken #1) by Carlyle Labuschagne
Paperback, 358 pages
Published August 13th 2012 by SBPRA
GoodReads | Amazon
My Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Prologue
All my life, I had searched for something, something I thought I ought to be. I felt like I was living someone else’s life, waiting for the awakening of my own. I felt like an empty shell burning for life. That was, until the day I lay dying in the prince’s chambers. I could no longer feel the pain from the tear in my gut. The only sensation left was a hollowed-out feeling that I had made a huge mistake in assuming that taking my own life, would have stopped the ancestors’ spirit from raging out. I had given up. I didn’t want to see myself killing the ones I loved. I was the Chosen one, but I threw it all away for what I thought would save a life. Could you end a life to save a life? I did, and I have regretted it ever since. I realized then that things like me are not meant to exist. What had been missing my whole life? It was I. To find myself, I had to lose myself in the worst possible way. The consequences of my actions became the legend of The Broken.
I was on among the original bloggers due to review this novel a few months ago. The tour and release of this novel was delayed. As I reflect on all that I've read, I know that this was with “just cause”. (And thank goodness for that!) If it was majorly flawed in any way, readers would truly have missed out on an intense read. The current synopsis is an excerpt from the novel, yet does this novel no justice.
The Broken Destiny tells the legend of how the “the Chosen one” ultimately became “the Broken”. Ava is a spiritual anonymity 3rd generation human living on a planet named Poseidon. Among the future diplomats of the last humans, Zulu, and Minoans also populate the planet with three moons. The planet acts as a second home for those who fled Earth before it's global warming destruction. Ava lives in a compound dissected into three schools: agriculture, military, and science; and segregated from the Minoans and Zulu. The Minoans are the original inhabitants of the planet, and have interactions with the Humans. The Zulu are misunderstood, feared, isolated, and avoided. Each human is genetically engineered and no human on the planet has relatives. With Ava's rare spiritual difference and impending 17th birthday, comes the threat of “the change”. Everyone is pretty much void of emotion and undergo hormone suppression therapy. “The change” changes everything. In this staged utopia nothing is as it seems, a nation's history is fabricated, destinies are secret, magic is brewing, and evil lurks for an opportune time to harness power.
This story is told 1stperson, from Ava's point of view. In parts I wanted to jump through the pages and shake her uncontrollably. Ava was a compulsive daydreamer. There were many times she checked out and went on epic style mind rants unrelated to current events. Her wondering imagination was confusing at times. Yet her need for approval, acceptance, belonging, love, family, purpose ,freedom, and physical insecurities made her very believable. This endured me and I started to develop a soft spot for our self destructive heroine. She provided a lot of foreshadowing with hints like “I should have known then that...” She had secret journals from her deceased mother detailing genetic experimentation in a quest for the perfect race; and while she though she had the upper hand on the Government, she didn't know half the true story.
The overall plot was like my first day at college. There was so much happening it became a bit overwhelming. But on closer observation, I saw that the structure was not all that different from high school. The same can be said for this storyline. With a little knowledge of theology, you can read between the lines and see a reference or two from biblical doctrine. I found that enlightening. At the same time there was a plethora of highly original masterfully orchestrated content. This novel had strong messages and hidden truths tucked in along the way.
The way the events played out was executed perfectly like a really good dystopian mystery. Every revelation was strategically interrupted. (This became expected after a while) The author wasn't going to give you clues “that” easily. *lol*
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The romance is where I subtracted a star. As much as loved this novel....... Umm, as brilliant as this novel was, I had to take a star way. Ava's boy drama was mostly imagined...highly confusing....and grossly unromantic.....ughhh. This is the part that I wanted to slap some sense into her. She had two guys fighting for her: One she meet with less than a minute conversation never seeing his face and the other was a complete jerk. She then convinced herself she was “in love”. Even when the wrinkles started to iron itself out, it still wasn't very convincing to me. Poor Ava never really knew wooing. I mourn her cursed fate. At one point I found a tear escaped its duck fleeing in haste down my cheek. Another minor infraction was the censoring in the beginning. The action of battle was mostly concealed due to extracting the narrator or blinding her. I will say, however, this quickly changed at the end. I like a little romance and guts...so sue me.
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There was a lot of quotable content. This is one of those books that will stick with me for some time. I dare say, this is the longest review I have ever written, and there is so much more I want to say. Geez! What this book lacked in the gushy stuff, it more than made up in other areas...
Some of the highlights:
- Powers/Telepathy
- Muscular Guys
- Friendship
- Black Magic/ Voodoo
- Traitors/Spies
- Ancient sacrifice for prophecy
- Oppressed people
- Futuristic Technology
- Space Travel
- Cliff Hanger Ending
- I can go on and on. This story didn't lack in much.
I would recommend this to everyone.
Note: YA readers please be advised there is mild sexual and suicidal content.
The main message that I learned from this is, “Everything boils down to a choice!” I hope you add this to your TBR pile and choose to read it also!
I look forward to seeing what will become of Ava's broken destiny in the next book. I'm crossing my fingers hoping she will experience more romance building.
My most sincerest gratitude goes to the author for entrusting me with an honest review.
This Tour Stop is courtesy of Carlyle Labuschagne !
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