A Lover's Destruction by Brooklyn May

The first hundred and fifty pages of this book read like your drama friend on Facebook.  I didn't like any of the characters.  Zero.  They're selfish and don't take any blame.  Instead of communicating, they lash out.  It's an entire cast of immature, annoying people.  I use the term 'people' loosely.  I kept reading in the hopes that there had to be more to the story.  Surely, at some point there would be something of interest besides backbiting and sniping and sex.

Warning!  Explicit sex of no actual use to the story line.  Not intended for children!

Alright, so on page 149 things finally start to get a little interesting.  I'm no longer forcing myself through Facebook drama, but rather finding myself amused.  Our main character, who is a twit at best, has decided that she's going to use magic to get her life where she wants it.  Now, as the reader, and a person with moderate intelligence, I realize that a simple heartfelt apology would have solved all of her problems.  Having at least a few morals would have solved all of her problems.  She, however, is nothing like me.  All of her problems are caused by everyone else, and if she can just get them out of the way, the world will work how she wants it to.  However, everything she tries to do to get everyone out of the way backfires...drastically!

Now, about halfway through the book we meet a really fascinating character, Rachelle.  She's kind of the local do-gooder Wiccan.  She's concerned about everyone and just wants to help.  At first, I was really excited to finally have a character that I didn't want to hack into tiny pieces.  So, if you can make it this far in the book, there's light for a decent human being here!

The ending left me stumped.  I started reading Facebook drama, and then went into an entertaining piece on learning to take responsibility for your own actions, and ended with...well it just doesn't fit.  The ending doesn't fit.  Once I got over the initial shock of changing from one story to another, everything became predictable and dull.

While I didn't like most of the characters as people, I do realize that I wasn't supposed to.  Sitting back and just shaking my head at them was entertaining in its own way.  During the middle of the book, I was actually really enjoying it.  I wish that the beginning and ending had been changed to be more of this style because that's where the writer really shines.  The ending definitely needed a little more work, but I'm assuming that it was left this way because Brooklyn May is busy working on bigger and better things.  As a first book, this shows a lot of promise.  Used as a tool to teach younger adults how to take responsibility for their own actions, it's a gem.  It's a wonderful way to see the consequences of blaming others and revenge.

I sincerely hope that Brooklyn May is continuing along the path as a writer.  Though I had several issues with the book, they're all easily fixable.  She has a talent that could take her places if she keeps at it.