Destruction

Destruction by Sharon Bayless

May 29, 2014 by cayocosta72 Leave a comment

David Vanderhoff is a man with secrets. Yes, he has a wife and children, but he also had a family no one knew about. 11 years earlier, they had disappeared. When his children were finally found, they had been subjected to years of horrific abuse. Without thinking about the consequences and how this would all affect his current wife and family, he brought the children home. When the kids tell him they are dark wizards, he believes it’s an elaborate coping strategy that they have come up, until his wife reveals that she too is a dark wizard, as are their children and David as well. David tries to heal his broken children, and comes to terms with his new identity as he faces his fears that he may not be the placid family man he always though he was. An enjoyable read for fans of high fantasy.

I'm going to be honest, when I first started reading this book I was under the impression I was going to be reviewing a new Young Adult Series. I quickly realized my mistake and readjusted my viewpoint. How wonderful that an author chose to write about magic in the adult world (ie., families, kids, work,and so on.) I was enthralled with this world for many reasons. First and foremost it resembled my own. It's always nice to believe there is a little bit of magic in our world every now and then. This book expanded upon that premise beautifully. The author did an exception job of keeping a real world perspective, there were the interpersonal issues of a merging family, the money issues of a job loss, and then there were the issues of teenagers not listening to their parents. Sharon Bayliss took all that and added a layer of magic, which was both a blessing and a curse to the family.

The story opens with the main characters discovery that two children from a previous adulteress relationship have been located under the most heinous conditions. He quickly resolves that he will be bringing his children home to his unknowing family. What follows is a remarkable look into a family with issues all while discovering and learning that they have magically abilities, but that they should not use them because they are "black" witches and wizards. Even though they desire to do good their ultimate result will be that of destruction.

I really enjoyed this book, and I read it quickly. There are moments where the author captured the breath-taking beauty of the Texas country in such detail that I had no problems visualizing it. The characters were real, they had flaws, and I learned to care about each of them. The only about this book that I would criticize is that the ending felt too rushed. The big battle at the end was not even there, it was relayed to us by another character. There were also some things left open, the job loss, was it caused by magic, etc.. These are minor things, as overall the story excelled for that of a new emerging author. I would certainly recommend it and I without a doubt will be patiently awaiting the next book in this series.

Cross-posted on my blog and GR: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/950295972

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

After eleven years David receives a call, the children he had with his girlfriend-on-the-side-for-seven-years are found and since their mother is dead, he takes custody. Bringing two new children to his 'actual' family is even the weirdest part. They have suffered from terrible abuse claim to be dark wizards, a tale David believes they've created to cope with the abuse. But then he learns the truth. Everyone around him - himself included - is a dark wizard.

Being a dark wizard doesn't necessarily make you bad, but destruction is your main trait. And for quite some time in this novel, shattered glass is about all the magic you will get. In the beginning I had some troubles to really get into the story because I kept waiting for something to happen. But this isn't a story with a murder to solve nor is there an epic quest of some sort. This is a novel about David and his family, trying to live with the new knowledge of being wizards, in a world where the use magic isn't always helping you, and things can backfire quite badly. I don't think this is a book for everyone, but once I got that, I didn't mind at all and really enjoyed the rest of the story.

It would have been nice to see some more world building, and to know some more rules of the use of magic. So far. limitations aren't really known, and the exact differences between the good, the bad (and the ugly :P) witches haven't really been explained properly. Which would be understandable given the fact they are all extremely rare and hard to find as they try to mix in with the Mundane (or the normal people), but everyone in this book is. Not only David and his wife and children, also his girlfriend-on-the-side-for-seven-years, his brother, parents, brother-in-law and his wife, and almost all other characters are wizards. And all this in the extremely magical setting of: Texas.

So, if you don't mind a slow story where magic isn't always helping the main characters, try this book. It's the first in the new December-people series (Months are given to each wizard to decide just how dark they are, December is pretty bad though) and I'm planning on reading the sequel as well.

David's world has been turned upside down. On one hand he has found his secret children. Children created during an affair when he was first married. Children he never told his wife he'd spent years searching for. On the other, his wife not only admits that she is a witch, but when first married she erased many of his memories. Now David learns that along with his wife, his mistress, himself and all five children are witches and wizards.
Thrust into this magical world, hidden in a Mundane world of non-magical people, David learns there are many groups. Magic comes in a spectrum of colors, much like auras. Not only does the family need to learn to come together as one, they must learn whether or not to use magic, how and when.
I am torn between Patrick and Samantha being my favorite character. Patrick is a lost soul and seems to feel trapped trying to find his place between a brother who is "Mr. Wonderful" and new siblings being thrust upon him. Samantha is a spring witch stuck in a family of winter witches. She has the ability help others find the good. Spring brings the harshness of winter to a close. I would recommend this to my friends and colleagues. I like the book, but there are a couple adult scenes that take it out of middle school and more to high school readers. I know several adults who would enjoy Destruction! I look forward to reading more books by Sharon Bayliss.