Genre:
Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy/New Adult
Description:
“Descended
from humans and a vanished race of elemental beings, only the
Awakened know the truth about our world. Only they can hold back the
fanatic Handmaidens of the Skaath Diurga--shadow creatures born from
an ancient betrayal.
However,
the Circle of Awakened is incomplete without the Child of Heaven: a
human destined to Wield the Spirit element. Before she can Awaken,
she must die.
Heaven has
no memory of dying, except the experience of death itself. It’s
that memory, of a place called ‘The Between’, that convinces her
the man claiming to be her Guardian might not be completely crazy.
Besides, even crazy is better than the life she’s leaving behind to
be the Circle’s Wielder of Spirit. All she has to worry about now
is her training, and figuring out how to fit in with the Awakened.
Tragedy
strikes when one of the Guardians is killed, and ulterior motives
thrust Heaven into the middle of the Circle’s quest for justice.
She’ll have to decide just how far she’ll go for the people she’s
come to care about.”
Author:
“Caitlin
O’Connor searches for truth in fiction, and drags her characters
through hell to find it. A proud eccentric who aspires to be
omniscient, she enjoys listening to music, trying to understand
physics, and admiring unusual works of art. She lives in South Africa
with her son and a malevolent lovebird that requires daily libations
of blood.” Learn more about her at her website, or visit her Facebook page.
Appraisal:
I grabbed
this quote from Ms. O’Conner’s website: “Reality is my greatest
influence as a writer, and people my chief inspiration. I write to
explore that enigmatic alchemy that exists between light and dark,
and to search for beauty in the dark corners of the soul.” Trust
me, she accomplishes this in her debut novel, Finding
the Phoenix.
Heaven,
Vinny for short, is a complicated and interesting character. We don’t
know what her real name was before she died, but learn quickly she
comes from an abusive background. She is very guarded about her past
and it will take time to fully know her. I do like what I have seen
so far though. While she is insecure, she is learning to be more
assertive and to trust as she becomes more confident.
The premise
of the plot is good versus evil with a load of twists thrown in to
complicate the story line. Shades of gray are explored in fundamental
and personal ideals. The Handmaidens and shadow creatures are
frightening and devastatingly evil. One of the things I enjoyed most
in this story is the development of relationships’ between the
Guardians and their Wielders. Ms. O’Conner has an excellent handle
on all of her players. Heaven has a lot to learn about herself, and I
believe the Circle isn’t even aware of the reaches of her
abilities. I am enjoying the roller-coaster ride so far and can’t
wait to see how things develop in this series.
I would
recommend Finding the Phoenix
to all readers who enjoy Urban Fantasy with interesting, complicated
characters.
FYI:
Finding
the Phoenix is the first book
in The Celestial Talisman
Series. It contains strong
language and British and/or South African English spelling
conventions.
Format/Typo
Issues:
I
encountered no significant proofing errors.
Rating:
***** Five stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Print
Length: 235 pages
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