Review: Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop

Turns of Fate (Isle of Wyrd, #1)

by Anne Bishop

Release Date: November 11, 2025

2025 Ace

Ebook ARC; 511 Pages

ISBN: 978-0593954089

ASIN:  ‎ B0DWWFHR19

Audiobook: B0DZQQGZRD

Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Paranormal

 

4.5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Most people come to Destiny Park for entertainment. They come to have their cards read to tell them a bit about their future. They come to walk through a beautiful park and to eat at the hotel’s restaurant. But some people come to make a bargain with the Arcana—to change their fate. And some people come for dark purposes.

When Detective Beth Fahey is sent to Destiny Park to inquire about a “ghost gun,” she will begin a strange journey on which she must learn to navigate the Arcana’s unforgiving laws and dangerous attractions. Her search will draw her into seemingly impossible cases and the secrets of her own past as tensions rise between the Arcana and their human neighbors across the river.

For the Isle of Wyrd is a place where the dead ride trains to their final destinations, predators literally become prey, and seekers’ true natures are revealed in the ripples of destiny unknowingly stirred in their wakes.

 

My Thoughts

Turns of Fate is the first book in a new by the author of a couple of series that I really like, The Black Jewels and The Others, and I was thrilled to learn of this new series. This was definitely a slow burn for me, but the more I was drawn into the story, the more intrigued I was by the characters, the plot, and especially the world building. It had that cozy feel that I've been looking for lately, with some very strong subtle messages and themes behind that cozy exterior. This book is extremely deceptive as it seems like a lighter read, but it definitely has its darker side, something I would expect from this author.

 

The Isle of Wyrd is home to the Arcana, and while the people who live there live by their own rules, they do work with humans from time to time when something important happens. How this is decided, I will leave for the reader to discover as it is important to the story.  However, the humans don't really know a lot about the Arcana and have learned to tread very carefully in their dealings with them, as "words have power" and "intentions matter". The plot itself started off slowly and what I thought was going to be one mystery to solve turned into multiple mysteries, all of which the author managed somehow to tie together and solve satisfactorily by the end.  I really had to admire how all the threads were gathered together, woven into a richly satisfying world building, and pulled you into the story.  The more enmeshed I got into the world, the more I wanted to learn.  And like I already mentioned, there were some pretty dark themes running through this book so it is very deceptive, themes about abuse, family loyalty, abuse of power, death, bullying, lying, gambling, obsession, and it goes on.  

 

While there were multiple POVs, the MC was Beth, a detective sent to the area to fill a position left open due to medical reasons. She is young and sometimes reckless, not always following the rules of the Island of Wyrd, something that gets her in trouble.  And while I did enjoy the variety of characters in this book, I actually felt like character development was the weakest part of this book, with a lot of the development being mostly one-dimensional.  It's not that the characters didn't have their own unique voices and personalities, they did, but that's pretty much it.  Other than Beth, and maybe Jack (who is one of my favourite characters), I just didn't really connect with them because so much focus was on the development of the world and on the story.  Now, I did find the same thing happened in the first book of the The Others so I'm not really worried about this as I expect the author to fully flesh out the characters as the series progresses, but in this book, that wasn't the focus.

 

Verdict

Turns of Fate seemed to be more like an ensemble novel rather than having a main character anchoring the story. I don't know if that will change in future novels, but while it didn't affect the richness of the world building and I really enjoyed the multiple mysteries, it did affect my connection with the characters as I thought the development was more superficial.  However, the stories do intertwine in such a fascinating way that it almost overshadows that lack of development.  I highly recommend this book, and any other book this author has written, and look forward to the next book in this series.