weasley1912's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mollyadaza's review
3.0
Trudged through most of the book to get to a great ending. 3.5 stars
Summary:
If you want found family, a unique magic system interaction, a headstrong female protagonist, and a clever demon all wrapped into clean fantasy with good writing, read this.
I wavered at a 2.5-3 rating for the first 75% of the book where it felt like every other YA fiction book of a young girl with unlimited power and quest to find herself while being mentored by a grumpy dude. Then the last 25% hit and I couldn't put it down. The twist at the end was such a unique take and kept me up late reading. However, it was too little too late to bring the rating above a 3.5
Highlights:
Cypruss was my favorite part of the book, hands down, and it's his actions at the end of this one that would make me pick up book 2 just to see what he does next. I loved the magic system. How Elle eventually interacts with it was adorable and a new take on magic having a will of its own.
Plot:
It begins as a pretty typical YA book with a female protagonist. The party is spoon-fed information by a demon to push them through the story, which felt really forced. And even then, they hardly dwelled on any information given. They remained ignorant for the sake of progressing the story, with the compulsion on them not to seek answers feeling like a weak attempt to fix this plot hole.
Characters:
The characters were over-exaggerations of certain stereotypes (and yes I know this makes sense with the ending but I still didn't think it was done well enough). Adair has glimpses of good moments and great character arc, but the rest fell flat for me.
Writing:
The writing is solid. No gorgeous prose I was gushing over, and at times it felt oversimplified for the sake of explanation though that could be due to being truly YA (very clean, no romance, fighting isn't graphic, protagonist is 16 but acts more like 14). It does get a bit flowery during fight scenes which took me out of the action (a big pet peeve of mine).
I liked it. If the sequel popped up on my Netgalley needing ARC readers, I probably would request it, but otherwise I'm okay with this being the end of Elle's story for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and Derealization Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Summary:
If you want found family, a unique magic system interaction, a headstrong female protagonist, and a clever demon all wrapped into clean fantasy with good writing, read this.
I wavered at a 2.5-3 rating for the first 75% of the book where it felt like every other YA fiction book of a young girl with unlimited power and quest to find herself while being mentored by a grumpy dude. Then the last 25% hit and I couldn't put it down. The twist at the end was such a unique take and kept me up late reading. However, it was too little too late to bring the rating above a 3.5
Highlights:
Cypruss was my favorite part of the book, hands down, and it's his actions at the end of this one that would make me pick up book 2 just to see what he does next. I loved the magic system. How Elle eventually interacts with it was adorable and a new take on magic having a will of its own.
Plot:
It begins as a pretty typical YA book with a female protagonist. The party is spoon-fed information by a demon to push them through the story, which felt really forced. And even then, they hardly dwelled on any information given. They remained ignorant for the sake of progressing the story, with the compulsion on them not to seek answers feeling like a weak attempt to fix this plot hole.
Characters:
The characters were over-exaggerations of certain stereotypes (and yes I know this makes sense with the ending but I still didn't think it was done well enough). Adair has glimpses of good moments and great character arc, but the rest fell flat for me.
Writing:
The writing is solid. No gorgeous prose I was gushing over, and at times it felt oversimplified for the sake of explanation though that could be due to being truly YA (very clean, no romance, fighting isn't graphic, protagonist is 16 but acts more like 14). It does get a bit flowery during fight scenes which took me out of the action (a big pet peeve of mine).
I liked it. If the sequel popped up on my Netgalley needing ARC readers, I probably would request it, but otherwise I'm okay with this being the end of Elle's story for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and Derealization Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
tabatha_shipley's review
4.0
What I Did Like:
+The jarring nature of the opening IS sort of the point. You are confused, right along with Elle, about how this world works. As much as that can feel frustrating, it is a GREAT TOOL to put you in the mindset of our main character.
+The Magic system seems pretty cool. As it builds up and you start to learn a little about how this elemental magic system functions, it’s pretty interesting.
+I love when tropes are played around with in interesting ways. Grumpy and sunshine in a found family dynamic is a trope crossover I didn’t even know I wanted. Then you add in the creative way this played with found family and this one goes down as a very creative use of trope twists.
Who Should Read This One:
-Readers, like me, who enjoy when tropes are played around with.
-Fantasy fans who like things a little darker.
-Magic fans who like when a magical world is explored through the eyes of a new user.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Well written book for fantasy fans.
For Full Review:
https://alltherightreads.com/2023/04/20/2023-book-review-where-the-lightning-goes/
+The jarring nature of the opening IS sort of the point. You are confused, right along with Elle, about how this world works. As much as that can feel frustrating, it is a GREAT TOOL to put you in the mindset of our main character.
+The Magic system seems pretty cool. As it builds up and you start to learn a little about how this elemental magic system functions, it’s pretty interesting.
+I love when tropes are played around with in interesting ways. Grumpy and sunshine in a found family dynamic is a trope crossover I didn’t even know I wanted. Then you add in the creative way this played with found family and this one goes down as a very creative use of trope twists.
Who Should Read This One:
-Readers, like me, who enjoy when tropes are played around with.
-Fantasy fans who like things a little darker.
-Magic fans who like when a magical world is explored through the eyes of a new user.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Well written book for fantasy fans.
For Full Review:
https://alltherightreads.com/2023/04/20/2023-book-review-where-the-lightning-goes/
noodlenchen's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It took me a while to fully get into it but I ended up enjoying this book a lot! The story's moving super fast which works well for the overall unraveling mystery and the completion og various quests the characters have to deal with throughout this book. However, that fast pacing made for a rocky beginning (in my opinion) as the main character Elle seemed to be thrown from one situation into the next one – I think that's why I didn't get into the story world immediately. And it also made it feel as though the plot was cutting corners here and there, quickly diving into the next plot point and skipping over parts of traveling, for example. Next to the mystery aspect (which had me really excited) and the magic system, I think the characters are the greatest strength of this book. They're all flawed and not necessarily nice people on their own but they're so much fun. Going forward in this book series, I hope the story gets more room to breathe and the world gets more flashed out in detail.
So, if you're into mystery and/or fast-paced fantasy at all, this book's definitely worth picking up!
So, if you're into mystery and/or fast-paced fantasy at all, this book's definitely worth picking up!
bookmindedmag's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
prisoner_of_books's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
<i>"A god? That's too bad. If you're a god, there's no one for you to pray to."<i/>
I can only describe this book as a fantasy mystery where four chaotic individuals with varying personalities work together to get to the sky facing magical markets, dragons and demons along the way. Elle is the first person we meet, she was trapped in a house and doesn't remember anything before the House apart from falling from the sky. She escapes and enlists the help of Adair and Leslie who have their own troubling past. During their journey they find Honeycutt, a dwarf who is also travelling to the sky. Together they must defeat the demon and god in the sky while unraveling the growing mystery unfolding between them.
I REALLY LOVED this one!! I didn't expect to love it as much as I did to be honest! The premise sounded interesting, the cover was beautiful and I loved the title so I requested it from NetGalley! And OMG it was amazing!! I actually recommend not reading the synopsis right before you read the book because I dived into it after forgetting the synopsis and thought it was way better because it actually gives away a pretty big plot point!
Anyway I thought this book was so interesting! The magic, while being just elemental, was nothing like I've read before because we are with Elle as she is learning magic and it is described SO well. The world could've been fleshed out more because I honestly didn't know what the heck was happening there, but the plot and characters definitely caused me to overlook that, why I rated it 5 stars in fact.
The plot was AMAZING like I think it would be the perfect buddy read because you guess along with the characters and the things that you guess, aren't even close to what happens but everything makes so much sense!!? The mystery was PERFECT and the plot twists are also PERFECTION. I wasn't expecting that AT ALL but UGHHHHH it was just perfect!
Now the characters. This was very much a characters driven story and it is lucky that the characters where also such a great part of the book! Elle was driven and resourceful and i absolutely LOVED her character! It was so great to read about! Leslie was good ans so was Adair, I loved the whole concept of soul magic and how he was his heart! They were both written so well with this concept. Honeycutt was also a great character and I loved how much she added to the team. Then Cypress! Omg what a demon he is literally so good and smart and wth!!! Anyway I loved every single POV and was never bored!
I highly recommend this book if you are in the mood for a fast-paced fantasy book with a unique soul and elemental magic, amazing characters, a very intricate plot and riveting mystery! With some added bonus of found family, interesting villains, deep characters with their own unique personality, SUCH GREAT plot twists and engaging writing that literally transports you into the story!
Thank you to Derealization Press and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my thoughts and all opinions are my own.
I can only describe this book as a fantasy mystery where four chaotic individuals with varying personalities work together to get to the sky facing magical markets, dragons and demons along the way. Elle is the first person we meet, she was trapped in a house and doesn't remember anything before the House apart from falling from the sky. She escapes and enlists the help of Adair and Leslie who have their own troubling past. During their journey they find Honeycutt, a dwarf who is also travelling to the sky. Together they must defeat the demon and god in the sky while unraveling the growing mystery unfolding between them.
I REALLY LOVED this one!! I didn't expect to love it as much as I did to be honest! The premise sounded interesting, the cover was beautiful and I loved the title so I requested it from NetGalley! And OMG it was amazing!! I actually recommend not reading the synopsis right before you read the book because I dived into it after forgetting the synopsis and thought it was way better because it actually gives away a pretty big plot point!
Anyway I thought this book was so interesting! The magic, while being just elemental, was nothing like I've read before because we are with Elle as she is learning magic and it is described SO well. The world could've been fleshed out more because I honestly didn't know what the heck was happening there, but the plot and characters definitely caused me to overlook that, why I rated it 5 stars in fact.
The plot was AMAZING like I think it would be the perfect buddy read because you guess along with the characters and the things that you guess, aren't even close to what happens but everything makes so much sense!!? The mystery was PERFECT and the plot twists are also PERFECTION. I wasn't expecting that AT ALL but UGHHHHH it was just perfect!
Now the characters. This was very much a characters driven story and it is lucky that the characters where also such a great part of the book! Elle was driven and resourceful and i absolutely LOVED her character! It was so great to read about! Leslie was good ans so was Adair, I loved the whole concept of soul magic and how he was his heart! They were both written so well with this concept. Honeycutt was also a great character and I loved how much she added to the team. Then Cypress! Omg what a demon he is literally so good and smart and wth!!! Anyway I loved every single POV and was never bored!
I highly recommend this book if you are in the mood for a fast-paced fantasy book with a unique soul and elemental magic, amazing characters, a very intricate plot and riveting mystery! With some added bonus of found family, interesting villains, deep characters with their own unique personality, SUCH GREAT plot twists and engaging writing that literally transports you into the story!
Thank you to Derealization Press and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my thoughts and all opinions are my own.
residual_sizzle's review against another edition
4.0
Where the Lightning Goes felt like a Studio Ghibli movie to me the entire time I read it. (Only to be solidified when I saw that the Author had a cat named Chihiro :) ) If you are a fan of Hayao Miyazaki and found family, this one is likely for you. It is reminiscent of a bunch of different films, the most prominent in my mind being Castle in the Sky and Howl's Moving Castle. The idea of a girl falling to earth from some mysterious place in the sky, and a sorcerer who has no heart are big pulls from Studio Ghibli.
This is not to say at all that this story is unoriginal. I really really enjoyed it and was blown away by the ending, I didn't see it coming at all. The settings and the magic were all incredible. I loved the dynamic of all of the characters, and their individual personalities. There is LGBTQ+ representation (a Sapphic relationship), found family, elemental magic, soul magic, dragons, dwarves, and demons. It was such a rich read and I am so thankful to Netgalley and Derealization press for the opportunity to have read it.
This is not to say at all that this story is unoriginal. I really really enjoyed it and was blown away by the ending, I didn't see it coming at all. The settings and the magic were all incredible. I loved the dynamic of all of the characters, and their individual personalities. There is LGBTQ+ representation (a Sapphic relationship), found family, elemental magic, soul magic, dragons, dwarves, and demons. It was such a rich read and I am so thankful to Netgalley and Derealization press for the opportunity to have read it.
moonbell's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
adancewithbooks's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
Thank you to Derealization Press and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
I was drawn to Where the Lightning Goes by that incredible cover. But unfortunately the book itself could not quite live up to it.
I am going to start by saying that I think that the synopsis already gives away more than it should. We don't discover the soul splitting in the book until at least the halfway point. You can't give that kind of thing away in your synopsis. It takes away the effect that you want with following Elle who has no memories of who she is.
The idea of magic, sky-castles and soul splitting seems quite magical and amazing but I never got any of that feeling from this world even if for Elle a lot of it is new. The plot of finding who Elle is and the other parts of her souls are, relatively easily figured out since she stumbled upon them basically. I wanted more from that search. It could have been used for further world building and for Elle to get to know this part of herself. This younger self, before that she joins with her other halves. In fact, I think I would have preffered that she not find her other halves in this installment already.
But the author has very different plans for Elle clearly. I'm just not sure I want to be apart of them.
virginiaw61's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this fantasy story full of magic. I was not sure how I liked it for about the first quarter of the book, but I am glad I kept reading. I liked the magic and the characters in the book. I was a bit confused in the beginning but I figured it out as the story kept unfolding. I liked Elle and her traveling companions. I loved all the action in the book. I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.