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amm823's review
5.0
I couldn't put this book down. This is a book that makes you anxiously turn each page. Can I say that I can't freaking wait for the next book in this series? 5-stars indeed
jkjoy_books's review
5.0
This book started a little slow for me, but boy before I even hit the second chapter I was hooked. This was the author’s first book and I must say very well written first book. The proofreading and editing were perfect.
This is a story of a very strong willed girl named Delaney who just happens to be a witch who falls in love with a werewolf named Reid. Well someone is going around killing witches, they kill a witch that happens to be a friend of Delaney’s, and she is determined to investigate this on her own to find out who is killing these witches.
The coven has hired Reid to investigate the situation and find the killer, and he sure cannot keep Delaney out of doing her own investigating even though she knows her own life is in danger, she is not going to let anyone try to protect her. It is hard to tell you too much here without throwing in any spoilers. So just pick up a copy and read it, you will not be sorry you read this book.
I am hosting a book tour and a book review for Pure Textuality PR, so they offered this book to me free for hosting for them.
This is a story of a very strong willed girl named Delaney who just happens to be a witch who falls in love with a werewolf named Reid. Well someone is going around killing witches, they kill a witch that happens to be a friend of Delaney’s, and she is determined to investigate this on her own to find out who is killing these witches.
The coven has hired Reid to investigate the situation and find the killer, and he sure cannot keep Delaney out of doing her own investigating even though she knows her own life is in danger, she is not going to let anyone try to protect her. It is hard to tell you too much here without throwing in any spoilers. So just pick up a copy and read it, you will not be sorry you read this book.
I am hosting a book tour and a book review for Pure Textuality PR, so they offered this book to me free for hosting for them.
bezzarina's review
1.0
Delaney is a lightning witch-- an unregistered witch, always on the run to avoid detection from the local covens. Her power is unique, but also a danger she needs to hide. There is a prophecy that one born with the power of lightning would be the end of all witches.
This possibly could have been an interesting book in spite of the overused prophecy trope, but the writing was stilted and choppy. It read more like a rough draft than a finished novel. Had this not been free, I would have been upset that I spent money on it.
This possibly could have been an interesting book in spite of the overused prophecy trope, but the writing was stilted and choppy. It read more like a rough draft than a finished novel. Had this not been free, I would have been upset that I spent money on it.
dani_reviews's review
3.0
See this review in its natural environment, Dani Reviews Things.
The Lightning Prophecy is an enjoyable, if a bit predictable, new adult paranormal romance, told from the perspectives of Delaney (a lightning witch) and Reid (a private investigator with a predatorial side). The story was exciting and different, and the chemistry was hot, hot, hot! However, the book was held back a bit by the lack of editing and some unbelievable emotional reactions. This is a good start to a trilogy that I will be following up on!
Best and worst
The best thing about this book: The overall plot was fresh and exciting.
The worst thing about this book: There was too much emphasis on describing people on each meeting (i.e. what they wore).
First impressions
Let me start with the cover. It's rather intriguing, though some font and colour changes could help. It shows a girl in a storm, which is fitting considering what Delaney, the heroine, is. However, it might confuse some potential readers because – GASP – it doesn't fit the usual look for a paranormal romance. In fact, the cover gave me the impression of a YA fantasy/paranormal.
Aren't NA PNRs supposed to have a front-facing girl right up in your face, or a hunky man with his shirt off? Hey now, don't get all up in arms. You know what I mean. You know it's true. So PNR fans, don't let the cover lead you to think there isn't the usual PNR offerings in here! You'll get your hunks and your face-fanning, don't you worry. ;)
Plot
I'm going to jump to the best part of the book – the underlying story arc itself. Delaney is a 26-year-old witch with the power to control lightning, unheard of in the witching world. She must hide her powers for fear of being used, tested on or even killed. Having settled down in Savannah (Georgia?) for a quiet existence, she just wants to have as normal a life as possible while also trying to learn how to control her power. It's all good, until her best friend is brutally torn apart.
Enter Reid, the dominating private investigator hired to look into her friend's murder, which happens to be part of a series of murders. The two are inexplicably drawn to each other, and Delaney refuses to just sit back and let someone else find out who killed her friend, so they must learn to work with each other to solve the mystery before the next murder.
AND WHAT A SHOCKER THE MYSTERY MURDERER WAS.
The book was initially predictable, but Cyr totally threw out a red herring. I thought I knew who the guy was, but nope.
The story was engaging, with moments of heat as well as moments of "OH GOD NO RUN" in a great balance. In fact, I finished the book in a day and immediately looked up the next in the series.
World-building
In this world, there are witches, werewolves and who knows what else. The witches are known to the public and are supposed to register and submit to the will of the Coven, the overarching bureaucratic leaders of all witches. We are told that they are terrible and corrupt. This was an interesting setup, but I felt like there was more telling than showing. What does the Coven do? Why are they thought of as terrible? What do they make their witches do?
The physical settings were described well enough, though my mental images are still a little foggy. I had to build up my own images of Delaney's flat, the areas of the murders, and so on. Also, I know the story was set in Savannah, but I had to check my guess that this was in Georgia. A little more information and setting the scene for international readers would help!
Characters and relationships
There's nothing really new in this book when it comes to the characters. Heroine who stands up to the guys? Check. Tall, muscular and sexy hero with a possessive streak and emotional baggage? Check. Gay best friend? Check. That being said, if you like paranormal romance, this books fits the formula well. The characters weren't bad at all, and I still liked them, but they were a little predictable!
I had two fairly big issues with the characters' reactions in this book:
- When Delaney's best friend died, she barely grieved. Neither did their gay best friend, Troy. Within days, they were talking about her like she died years ago.
- Delaney was a 26-year-old virgin, but despite experiencing a jolt of pain during her first experience, there is nothing that sets the single explicit scene apart from any other scenes in other romance books with more experienced heroines. I'm sorry, but I just didn't buy it. I felt like she should have been more nervous, or she should have shown some excitement and maybe let Reid know more explicitly. It would have been more relatable if she had been anxious about her first time, even if it was mixed with lust. Hell, isn't it a little nerve-wracking to be with any person for the first time, even if you're not a virgin? I don't know. Maybe I'm just pushing my own feelings onto her.
On the other hand, I rather enjoyed the chemistry between Delaney and Reid, if a bit predictable. Sometimes predictable is good! I could certainly feel the chemistry, and Cyr seemed to enjoy taunting the poor paranormals with plenty of interrupted moments. When it finally bubbled up and over, it was pretty damn hot! There was just one major scene, so Cyr allowed for build-up and plot development rather than letting sex dominate the book.
Writing
I think this is what held the story back the most, though not enough to ruin it. The book was initially self-published and then rereleased digitally through a publishing house, and it shows.
- There were a number of typos, enough to make me comment on them. (Again, I have hawk eyes when it comes to errors. Authors, you can use me to your advantage as a beta reader/editor/proofreader.)
- Tense changes everywhere! Sometimes between sentences, sometimes within a sentence. Tense changes can be appropriate at times, but I think this book took it too far. It's a pet peeve of mine, but I tried not to let it detract too much from my enjoyment of the book. (See what I did there?)
- Too much detail was included all at once when describing people at each meeting. Every time Delaney or Reid saw each other or someone else for the first time in a scene, they would describe what they were wearing. Each member of the inner circle of the Coven was given a full name, which were listed one after the next and then forgotten immediately by me. Sometimes it was relevant, but these details should have been worked into the action-driven sentences, rather than have dedicated sentences to themselves. It simply stopped the flow of the writing.
- There was repetition of information that could have simply been referred to rather than explaining it again each time.
That being said, the story was still enjoyable, so the writing was still better than some I've seen recently (coughsparkedcough)! These are things that can all be addressed in future books with a good editor and some self-study, so I have high hopes that Cyr's writing will improve to match the level of her plots.
Overall
While other elements of the book brought down the rating a tad, I still thought the overarching story arc was great and refreshing. I believed I had things figured out fairly early on, but the end surprised me, and it left off on a cliffhanger. Luckily, the second book –The Lightning Legacy– is out, which I'll be jumping on shortly to find out what happens to Delaney, Reid and Mitch!
ciannareider's review against another edition
5.0
**This review has been done in conjunction with NerdGirl. For more information, check them out at https://www.facebook.com/NerdGirl.NG **
LOVE it! I gotta say, the cover attracted me because it reminded me of Percy Jackson book (anyone else??) but the blurb was crazy interesting!
This book blew me away, I was impressed with the quality of the writing, and the really well thought out and detailed world building that we experience throughout the book. I'm a big fan of fantasy books, and this one has edges of urban fantasy, and it was perfect. The author took her time letting us get to know the characters, giving us a few good twists, and really let us have it at the end with that killer cliffhanger!
I love Delaney, she's no pushover, she's got attitude in spades, and life just can't seem to give her a break. She goes through a lot in this book, but she handles it well, and it really allows you to see the character development come into play and her relationship with Reid that werewolf starts to play into it more and more. They make an interesting couple, and I love that it's not one of those "insta-love" situations despite how hot the guy is! ;)
Coming out of the gate for a first book, this author blew me away. It was well edited, it had awesome pacing and the characters were strong, developed and really able to connect with the reader on a deeper level. This book had an interesting concept, I love unlicensed witches, and the whole thought behind why you have to register and the possible abuse of power, and I also really liked that the Coven got involved in supplying Reid, and it's such a conflict for Delaney!
Great writing, steamy sexy scenes, you wouldn't think this was a first book by an author! It really blew me away and I hope I get to read the second one! :)
*I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
LOVE it! I gotta say, the cover attracted me because it reminded me of Percy Jackson book (anyone else??) but the blurb was crazy interesting!
This book blew me away, I was impressed with the quality of the writing, and the really well thought out and detailed world building that we experience throughout the book. I'm a big fan of fantasy books, and this one has edges of urban fantasy, and it was perfect. The author took her time letting us get to know the characters, giving us a few good twists, and really let us have it at the end with that killer cliffhanger!
I love Delaney, she's no pushover, she's got attitude in spades, and life just can't seem to give her a break. She goes through a lot in this book, but she handles it well, and it really allows you to see the character development come into play and her relationship with Reid that werewolf starts to play into it more and more. They make an interesting couple, and I love that it's not one of those "insta-love" situations despite how hot the guy is! ;)
Coming out of the gate for a first book, this author blew me away. It was well edited, it had awesome pacing and the characters were strong, developed and really able to connect with the reader on a deeper level. This book had an interesting concept, I love unlicensed witches, and the whole thought behind why you have to register and the possible abuse of power, and I also really liked that the Coven got involved in supplying Reid, and it's such a conflict for Delaney!
Great writing, steamy sexy scenes, you wouldn't think this was a first book by an author! It really blew me away and I hope I get to read the second one! :)
*I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
sarzwix's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good.
I did hover between 3 and 4 stars on this, because in places it could do with the application of a really good editor. However, it's a really good story overall, I like the main protagonists, and I'm just about to go and find part 2, so I guess that earns it a 4.
I did hover between 3 and 4 stars on this, because in places it could do with the application of a really good editor. However, it's a really good story overall, I like the main protagonists, and I'm just about to go and find part 2, so I guess that earns it a 4.
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