DESTINED by Jessie Harrell

Nov 10, 2011 by Ashlynn

Recently we interviewed the lovely Jessie Harrell about her debut, self-published YA novel DESTINED, which is being released November 17th. Now we’re back with the official, firsthand report: this is one solid, entertaining debut!

DESTINED is told through the eyes of the two whose fates are bound together–Pysche and Eros. I’m no mythology buff by any means; while I’ve been fascinated by different Greek myths in the past, these two weren’t on my radar. So when I started reading this book, I did some comparative research to find out how closely Jessie stuck to the source material. As far as the plot goes, the two stories are essentially parallel–don’t read up on the myths if you don’t want spoilers!–but there were marked differences between the two tales.

Rather than having the characters speak as though they’re from ancient Greece, they have a thoroughly modern dialogue that makes the characters more relatable to readers. The same goes for their personalities. The setting reflects ancient Greece, while the MCs are modern day teens, complete with boy troubles and totally annoying parents.

The result: a Twilight-esque, Romeo and Juliet romance where the lovers must overcome obstacles like Aphrodite (ironic, no?), mortality, the underworld, and a little confusion where they think they might hate each other.

Oof! Tough love, huh? If paranormal romance is your thing, you’ll want to order a digital or hard copy of DESTINED over at Amazon. Happy reading!