Pagan Book Review: Destiny by Laura DeLuca

This is one of those posts where I want to start with a, "Good News, Everyone!"

Set for release in the ambiguous time of early February, the book Destiny is called by it's publisher "A Wiccan Love story".  That falls incredibly short of the mark.  This is a fabulous book!  Author Laura DeLuca has graciously agreed to let me review her wonderful book early, and let me tell you, it's awesome.  Maybe my over-use of adjectives in this paragraph isn't putting it into proper perspective for you, dear readers.  I may be jumping the gun as it hasn't been released yet, but I could see this book starting a whole new wave of Twilight/Harry Potter type mass following.

Now that I've shocked you with my gratuitous adjective use, let me tell you a little bit about the book itself.  Laura is a practicing Wiccan herself, and so Wicca is painted in the most flattering of lights in this book.  Published by Free Focus Publishing, the blurb on their website only tells half the story.  Yes, it is a Wiccan Love story, but it is so much more than that as well.  The characters are amazingly developed, I could see them as I was reading.  The journey you go on with these characters is both sad and triumphant.  So well paced that you never feel as though there is too much talking or too much action.  It's a fabulous balance.  The plot twists were extremely well executed.  The love between main characters Gabriella and Darron is strikingly real.

Yet the story is more than just about the love between Gabriella and Darron.  It's about the love between mothers and children, between friends, and between cultures and religions.  It's about hatred and greed, and numbing fear.  Let me include for you here a small piece of the novel:
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“Darron?” She squeezed his hand, and fought back tears of fear and frustration.  “Darron, please open your eyes. Please be all right!”

     He squirmed and groaned a little in response. Looking at his contorted features, Gabriella felt incompetent and useless. She didn’t know what to do to help him. The cut must need stitches. The blood was gushing through her fingertips, and she was sure his life was slipping away just as quickly.

     More than anything, Gabriella wanted to help Darron, to end his suffering. Her thoughts, her desperation, caused something deep inside of her to stir. Something that had long been napping was awoken. The power she had fought so hard to deny was forcing its way to the surface. This time she didn’t struggle against that power. Her instinct to hide from it was finally overcome by the thought of losing someone else she cared about.

     Gabriella was pulling strength and warmth from the earth, as though her legs were tree roots

taking nourishment from the element. A tingling sensation began in the tips of her toes and spread slowly though her body as she breathed in the essence of the element of air.  Her blood flowed and grew warm, the element of water, bringing the power to the surface. She was overcome by a vigorous strength as she envisioned her spirit encircled by the element of fire. She felt so powerful that she thought she could stop the world from churning if that was what she wished. Gabriella focused the power, remembering for a moment her mother’s lessons. She looked down at her battered friend. She willed him to open his eyes and look at her. She demanded it of him.

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A longer excerpt can be found on Laura's blog.  I really loved this book.  It spoke to me on so many levels, and it is truly one that I will read over and over again.  I personally think that every Wiccan or Pagan household should have a copy, because not only is it fabulous in it's own right but it is a wonderful coming of age story for those children who are having trouble being accepted as who they are, for their spiritual path or otherwise.  For anyone who is interested in buying it, I will be posting the link as soon as it is for sale.  You should also follow Laura DeLuca's blog, she will have many more updates than I will!  She just posted a giveaway yesterday, one of her readers will win a signed copy of her book!  Here is the link to her giveaway, make sure you enter!

All in all, it is a wonderful, well-written book, one that I think will be defining of Wiccan culture to others in the years to come.  For someone who has such an extensive library as we do in our home, it's a small amount of books that I say this about:  It's a must-read.  

Goddess Bless,

S.

***Please note that I received no form of compensation for this post. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and were not influenced in any way. ***