Pages: 364
Released On: 28/09/2024
A fantasy tale woven with secrets and lies, heartbreak and love, but ultimately centred on the battle between good and evil.
It should have been the happiest day of Grace’s life—the day she married Charlie and found the family she had always longed for. But as a war between The Celestials and The Fallen looms, Grace unknowingly stands at the very heart of the conflict. The life she yearns for unravels as she uncovers her extraordinary lineage.
What is so special about Grace? Why are the ethereal beings going to war? Can she conquer her own fears and rise above the chaos?
*****
Thanks to Hallie for sending me a copy of her book in return for an honest review.
This isn’t my usual genre of book, but it sounded intriguing, and I was very happy to give it a read and see what I thought about it. And let me tell you something – it was gOOOOOOOOd!
It’s a bit difficult to review without spoiling it so bear with me.
It’s got everything to keep you keen – romance, thriller, fantasy, action, supernatural.
It has almost 50 chapters which means they are relatively short, and I much prefer a short chapter. Especially in a book like this as it adds to the frantic nature of the characters and the plot.
We have “normal” people, mystical magical people, and those who are somewhere in between, and they all work well. There are a lot of them, and so I won’t go into detail about them because we’ll be here till next Christmas otherwise. But everyone is given enough of their own time to develop their individual stories as well as their place in the wider story. There are goodies and baddies and those on the fence, ones I liked, ones I loved and ones I hated.
Grace is an interesting main character. She is lost and alone, but she has this inner strength that seems to do her well, she just doesn’t know how much she’ll have to rely on that inner strength in the future. She felt very real – which seems funny in a book about Celestials and the Underworld – but you could see her being an everyday person caught up in this magical war. It starts off as her story, and whilst she is probably still the key player, we do get to follow others in their story, and it ends up being quite even in terms of who we focus on.
It is sooooo addictive. I thought I’d read a little bit before bed and before I knew it I was 1/4 of the way through and hooked! I read it in less than a day, I just couldn’t put it down.
There were twists and turns and surprises, left, right and centre, with some drawing audible gasps and even tears from me, which doesn’t happen all that often with books.
It is so rich and layered, full of depth. The work Hallie must have done to get all the details just right is very impressive.
Of course there is nothing bad or lesser about self-publishing or indie publishing, but it is an unfortunate truth that they generally don’t get the promotion that big published books do, and so people miss out. But this is as good as any fantasy book on the shelves of major bookstores today, and it thoroughly deserves its place alongside them.
I believe this is the first book in a series and I really hope it is a long series. I want to stay with Grace on this new journey and am really looking forward to how Hallie continues it. I need book two, like, now. Or preferably yesterday. I will be keeping my beady eye out for the next installment.
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