I named myself.After I waking up in a strange cabin without a single memory, there was only one thing I knew for certain: I was all alone in this world. Since then, I’ve been living off the grid, doing whatever I can to avoid attention. It’s been a lonely life, but a quiet one… Until now.Weird things are happening all around me. Things I can’t control or explain: The tornado. The explosion. The … or explain: The tornado. The explosion. The massive sinkhole. The car that’s been following me everywhere I go. I tried to pretend everything was okay, to go to class and blend in, but when a confrontation with the professor sent me into a blind panic, every light in the lecture hall shattered in a not-so-conspicuous shower of sparks. Now Aiden claims he knows “what” I am… and that others are coming.
Which means there’s one more thing I now know for certain: I can’t let them find me.
If only I knew who they were.
*
“I absolutely could NOT put this down! Buy all three now, because once you start reading, you won’t be able to stop!” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon Review
“This is contemporary fantasy + magical realism at its finest. Thrilling, suspenseful, plus the perfect amount of romance!” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon Review
“I loved this trilogy more than The Hunger Games – and I read that series 5 times!” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon Review
“I gave this book 5 stars only because the website wouldn’t let me give it 6” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon Review
“This book sucked me right in and I could not stop reading” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon Review
“The world Rener develops is intoxicating and vivid – I was sad to leave it” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon Review
“perfect character development and excellent pacing” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon Review
“I cannot quite put into words how the novel completely captured my attention” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon Reviewmore
Having read through some of the reviews, I honestly am taken aback! I find it hard to understand how anyone would rate this book less than 4.5 or 5! I personally found the story very intriguing and interesting. I mean, what’s not to like? A young woman, Aspen, finds herself alone in an abandoned cottage, with no memory of who she is or how she ended up there. She befriends her neighbour and tries to live off the grid as much as she can. Until one disastrous day, when a truck almost plows into her, strangely veering away at the last moment. So starts this thrilling tale which gets more exciting and interesting as the book progresses. There is a fair amount of mystery as the plot thickens as well as conspiracies. Aspen has to figure this all out, which she does, with an assistant professor. As they realise the extent of the lies and betrayal they discover even more pertinent information, setting a course for answers. It’s a perfect ending for a start to a series and makes one eager to read the rest. Which I definitely will!
The Lighning Conjurer: the Awakening (book 1 in a trilogy) was such a fun ya fantasy that even the most mundane parts were entertaining and kept me reading.
5/5 stars
We are introduced to Aspen who 3 years ago woke up in a cabin with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She doesn’t have any id, and she hasn’t received any mail since she woke up. Everything changes when she attends a lecture at a university.
Let’s start with Aspen. Aspen was such a great solid main character who had everything you want in a ya main character. She was fun, her inner dialogue quite intriguing and her secrets while being slowly revealed were so much fun to discover. Aiden was so easy to love as well. He was super supportive and although you’ll find yourself hating him at times, he’s such a perfect counterpart to Aspen. Evelyn is perfect. If there is such thing as having a book grandma, I am fully claiming her as mine!
The plot… this plot was captivating. It starts out so slow and snowballs into me wanting to rush into the next book immediately. The magic system in this book isn’t something we haven’t seen, but the actual powers themselves are so fascinating, and I can’t wait to know the actual depth of them.
This is a really fun and easy ya fantasy series and I honestly can’t wait for books 2 and 3. They are out now available in ebook and paperback on Amazon!
The Awakening by Rachel Rener is the first book in a Contemporary Fantasy series called The Lightning Conjurer. I have been hearing good things about this book and now I can see why! This story will hook you from page one! There’s mystery, intrigue, and danger. There’s also an interesting magic system. Aspen has been robbed of her memories and identity, but these setbacks have only made her stronger. Aiden is an associate professor who is trying to help Aspen. He has a backstory that we learn more about toward the end, but I think he hasn’t yet told her everything. He’s also handsome and ignores the attention that other females give him. He only has eyes for Aspen. I can’t wait to find out what happens in The Enlightening! I grabbed a digital copy from a book promotion site. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Aspen has lived for the past three years without any form of ID or any memory of who she was. A kind neighbor helped her from time to time and she found a cash-paying job at the local diner, but since she didn’t know the cause of her memory loss, she tried to stay off the grid. When she learned that she could audit courses at the local college (without any registration), she jumped at the chance, only to find that the assistant professor instantly hated her.
But that synopsis makes the story sound a bit too ordinary, if mysterious. Let’s try again.
As Aspen was riding her motorcycle, she saw a semi coming her way and was immediately thrown out of its way by a tornado, although the weather had previously been calm. Back at home, she lowered herself into a cold bath, wishing the water was warm, only to find it heating up around her. Then when she had a confrontation with Aiden, the assistant professor, the light bulbs exploded around her. She soon realized, now with the help of Aiden, that she had remarkable powers – in fact, the extent of her powers hadn’t been seen for thousands of years.
The magic system in The Lightning Conjurer series is elemental by nature. Some people are able to control fire, others water, still others wind, electricity, or earth. A few people have control over two or three elements, but that is uncommon. Aspen has all five. As the pacing of the story picks up and Aspen begins to uncover what may have been her past and is certainly her future, she is summoned by a powerful agency that promises to protect and train her. But they have their own secrets. Will she want to stay with them as those secrets come to life? Will she be able to leave if she chooses to?
Aspen and Aiden were fantastic characters, both with unrevealed pasts that impacted their responses to the world and to each other. Evelyn and Robert were delightful secondary characters. And the villain was believable, a woman willing to go to any length necessary for power. Although, I suspect we will find a much bigger baddie as the story continues. The romance worked, it built over time.
Content warning: There is one scene where a man climbs through a woman’s window and begins taking off his clothes and forcing himself on her. It doesn’t go very far, isn’t what it seems, and is the only such scene in the book, but I felt the need to mention it because it did throw me off.
Overall, this was a fantastic story, with so many twists I did not see coming. I cannot believe this is Rachel’s first book! The writing was so polished, it read like she had been doing this for years. I will definitely be finishing this series
Holy Smokes on a cracker! This is one heck of a ride and I couldn’t put it down. It has so many twists and twists throughout the story. It pulls you in and glues you to your seat. Aspen is an excellent female lead, she is intelligent, kind, warm, with a side of feisty. She is down to earth but not letting anyone push her around. Aiden is a superb male lead where he is supportive and caring. He adds a beautiful element to the story.
Our other support characters like Evelyn makes the story have those amazing funny moments that just makes you laugh out loud. Of course no story such as this can’t not have its evil characters too. That made the story flow so greatly that you can just fell their sliminess. The descriptions throughout the story added a fabulous element so you were easily able to picture the scenes in your mind. Talk about one action packed amazing story, this is one definitely worth reading.
The Lightning Conjurer: The Awakening was an amazing read, absolutely great debut from this author. It’s written from the perspective of Aspen, an early to mid-twenties woman with no memory of who she is.
I sincerely enjoyed that this ‘finding out who you are’ novel was written from an older perspective, I would call this New Adult (versus young or just plain adult) as it is a sense of discovery with more mature undertones and higher stakes. I don’t want to spoil too much of anything because honestly the secrets and hidden information along with their revelations are what make this book so great. But I will say that it made me feel like I didn’t need to be eleven years old waiting for my Hogwarts letter to come to have something likewise amazing and interesting happen in this character’s life.
In short, really refreshing storyline and plot, very minimal formatting errors (I did not find any typographical errors!) so I definitely feel that this indie book is high quality and well worth the read. Plus, look at her amazing new cover! I cannot wait for the next to come out.
This book is utterly amazing. I have no words for how much I loved it. The only thing I can say is that it honestly was as enjoyable as Harry Potter. I’m not kidding. It’s THAT good.
I found this book to be a new and refreshing take on magical realism and couldn’t put it down until I finished reading it. The author writes very well and I love her characters – even the bad ones!