Review: Destiny Rising by Siobhan Davis

Posted August 31, 2015 by Lola in Dystopia, Review, Romance, Sci-Fi / 16 Comments

LolaReview

Destiny RisingDestiny Rising (True Calling #3)
By Siobhan Davis

Blurb:
Every choice has a consequence.

Once again, the world is on the brink of momentous change. As revolutionary organization Saoirse prepares to battle the government for control of Earth and Novo, Ariana and those she loves must join humanity’s fight for justice and freedom.

As haunted memories resurface, old discoveries and new realities conspire to shatter her world forever.

Torn in one direction by her unique connection to childhood sweetheart Zane, and pulled in the other by a relentless passion for her fiery fiancé Cal, she must make the hardest decision of all. While embarking on a road to self-discovery, her psychic gift evolves and the full extent of her powerful ability is revealed.

Then fate lands another savage blow and she faces the most horrific choice of all. Forced into striking a deal with the enemy, she must make the ultimate personal sacrifice or risk everything she holds dear.

When destiny finally rears its head, what will the future hold?

My Review:
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review

I was really excited for this book, especially after how the the second book ended and how this book had to wrap everything up. I had a lot of expectations, but this book proved to be even better than I expected. This is without a doubt the best book this author has written so far, I loved it from the start till the end. The start of this book was brilliant, starting with some big revelations. I had predicted one of them, but was blown away by the other one. It was amazing to start a book like this, fast paced in the middle of all the drama. And it didn’t slow down after that, keeping up a steady pace. What I like most about the revelations is that looking back you can see the hints Siobhan planted and everything just fits into place, it makes sense and I loved that. I’ll definitely will re-read the whole trilogy eventually to appreciate the foreshadowing even more.

From the moment I started this book I just wanted to keep reading. I spend quite some evenings going to bed later than planned as I stayed up longer reading this book. It was just so well written and there was so much going on. The story was very interesting and it kept my attention, there were no slow parts. Although there were a few military/ war scenes I liked less as I don’t like reading about that. So many people die and don’t make it and it was heart wrenching reading about it. I did like that the story wasn’t only focussed on the battle, it also focussed on the technological battle and there are also big parts that are more about the characters, personal changes and even a few really happy and uplifting scenes. It was really a mix of emotions.

This book was an emotional rollercoaster, from sadness, apprehension, to being scared, to being happy. This book evoked so many different emotions in me and at one point I was almost in tears and that’s saying a lot as I have a really good book poker face and it hardly ever happens that a book evokes really strong emotions in me. And then there was the ending, wow it was so powerful and such a good ending. So perfect and at the same time being happy, but also realistic and bittersweet at times. It is a war and not everyone makes it, which is sad, but the ending makes it all worth it. I loved the epilogue!

I LOVE how Siobhan Davis handled the love triangle. I always disliked love triangles as they are never written right, but this series shows how a love triangle can be done right. Yes there is a lot of drama surrounding it, but there is a real conflict and both boys stand a chance. They are both great characters and they both love Ari and Ari loves both of them and you can really feel that. I honesty didn’t know who I wanted to win, but the author handled it perfectly. The love triangle got resolved before the end of the book, it got resolved way earlier in the book than I expected. And then Ari makes her decision and stays with, I loved this and how we didn’t have to wait the whole book for the decision. The great thing about this is that we got to see what happened after her decision and how it impacted and changed things. We get both Ari, Cal and Zane their point of view so we get both boys point of view to see how they deal with Ari her decision. And it was just handled so well and it just all worked out nicely. I was really happy and satisfied with how the love triangle was handled and Ari her decision. It also was a nice addition to get all three their point of views this book.

The characters really grow and mature a lot, it happens gradually over the course of the book and it was so powerful to see. Especially Ari, she grows, matures and changes so much and I loved seeing her develop and come into herself and her psychic powers. There are some awesome scenes involving her psychic powers and wow I think I was as impressed as the characters in the book. Then there is how she early on makes a decision about why she wants to spend her life with and she never wavers from it. I loved the person she becomes in this book. Cal and Zane also change, but that’s more later in the book when we see how they deal with Ari her decision.

We also get to learn a bit more about a few of the side characters in this book as a big part takes place at the base all characters are in close proximity and they form an even closer group than in the previous books. I especially liked how we saw more about Mel, Ruby and Cal’s dad. We still see Ari her sister and brother as well, even though they play a small part, they are still present. There are also a few characters that make an appearance again, which I hadn’t expected. I did feel that the characterisation in this book was done even better than in the previous books or maybe that’s because we now know them longer, but I was better able to get an image and idea of the side characters as well. Their group is also a bit smaller and we have knows the characters longer which was why they were easy to recognize and remember.

In terms of world building, there isn’t much new added, but build upon and expanded on the blocks that are already there. We do learn more about the revolutionary organisation, which was interesting. And we found out the true extend of Ari her powers, I love that small paranormal aspect. It is subtle and there isn’t really an explanation about it, but it worked really well, I never felt like more explanation was necessary as I was fine with it staying a bit mysterious. We also get a glimpse of the future in the epilogue, which was awesome. I like seeing how things go after the big battle has taken place and how the future will be for all the characters I’ve grown to love.

To conclude: I loved this book from the start to the end. The start of this book is brilliant and the ending is perfect. There are so many emotions I felt while reading this and I was close to tears at the end. I especially love how Siobhan handled the love triangle, resolving it early in the book and in a very satisfactory way. This is the best love triangle I’ve read so far. Ari makes her decision in this book and stays with. The three main character grow and mature a lot in this book and it was amazing to see. We also learn more about the side characters, the revolutionary organisation and Ari her psychic powers. All in all this was the perfect ending to this trilogy and I can’t wait to read whatever Siobhan writes next.

5-star

You can add Destiny Rising to your to-read list on Goodreads

You can buy Destiny Rising here:
Amazon
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes&Noble
Apple/iBooks
Kobo

Other books I read and reviewed by this author:
– Siobhan Davis – True Calling (True Calling #1) – 4 stars
– Siobhan Davis – Lovestruck (True Calling #1.5) – 3 stars
– Siobhan Davis – Beyond Reach (True Calling #2) – 4 stars
– Siobhan Davis – Light of a Thousand Stars (True Calling #2.5) – 4 stars

Do you like epilogues? And what makes a well written epilogue?

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16 responses to “Review: Destiny Rising by Siobhan Davis

    • I hope you’ll like this series. The first book is free everywhere, so you can start the series cheap.

      I agree with you that I prefer epilogues that take place a few years after the ending, but not too far in the future. The epilogue in this book was well done and wrapped things up.

    • Love triangles can really be a hit or miss for me, but this one was really well done and I love how the author handled it. I had high expectations for this book and when it turns out to be even better than expected, certainly a good thing.

    • I agree a book that keeps me up late is a good book, as I am normally very good at putting my book down when I need to sleep.

      I also prefer when an ending gives me closure, so I like it when last book in a series have an epilogue and it gives us a glimpse of the future and how the characters are doing then.

  1. Thanks so much for the fab review, Lola, and I’m thrilled you enjoyed the final book so much. If anyone is planning on reading the series I would advise downloading True Calling from one of the online retailers (It’s free on Amazon, Nook, Kobo, iBooks, Scribd, Oyster, Inktera and Tolino.) I released a second edition on 28th January 2015 which is an updated and fully edited version of the original book. If anyone has a file older than February of this year I would advise updating it to maximise reading enjoyment. Thanks again for your great comments Lola. You’ve made my day 🙂
    Siobhan Davis recently posted…Review: Champion (Legend #3) by Marie LuMy Profile

    • Thanks! I am glad to hear that! I already replied to some comments to let them know the first book is free. And in two weeks I’ll also be part of the blog tour for Destiny Rising.

  2. I LOVE how enthusiastic you are about this one. I often find I love book 1 and then a series goes steadily downhill for me. But all those revelations sound fun. And I’m curious about the well done love triangle! I already have book 1 so I must get cracking with this series soon!

    Epilogues? I love them, I like a little glimpse into what happened next, it’s reassuring 🙂
    Trish @ Between My Lines recently posted…Dust off your Classics : A Doll’s House by Henrik IbsenMy Profile

    • Here book 1 was good, but the series only got better and this one is the best in the series in my opinion. The revelations were all very done and made sense when looking back. A well done love triangle is rare and I really liked how the author resolved this one. I hope you’ll get around to starting this series soon 🙂

      I am the same, I like seeing a glimpe os what happens next. Reassuring is a good way to describe it, it’s nice to see how things are going a little later with the characetrs.

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