Book Review: ‘Of River and Raynn: The Catalyst’ by Rebecca Ethington

Very excited to be leaving this review right now! Rebecca Ethington is one of my favorite authors and has been inspirational to me to publish my own work just this year! 🙂 ‘Of River and Raynn’ is a brand new series she’s created and I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an advanced copy of the first installment: ‘The Catalyst’! Woot!

Synopsis (as taken from Amazon):

They found me when I was five; a little girl sitting on a bench in Grand Central Station, soaking wet, asking about the rain.

I remembered nothing about how I got there, or who my parents were. I couldn’t even remember my name. I was tagged, labeled and doomed to cycle through state care for the next twelve years; moving from one family to another. They all rejected me as the dreams began to come, the memories began to return, and things around me began to explode.

Now my mind is full of a world of shadows, things that my heart pleads with me to be true, that I hope are only fantasy. That the disturbing past I see is not mine.

When I sleep I hear whispers of magic, and of evil queens, and a world that exists alongside our own. Things that could never be. But, there is one thing I know to be true. That there was a boy who was torn from me. A boy that I know means more to me than a brother, or than a lover. But what he is to me, I am not sure. I hear him cry for me in my dreams, I hear people call him The Catalyst.

I know I need to find him.

I wouldn’t have tried, if I would have known that finding River, would have made all my dreams turn into a haunting reality.

Of River and Raynn – The Catalyst is a Clean Young-Adult Paranormal Romance Language: Mild to Moderate Violence: Moderate Sexual Content: Low to None

The Review – 

The short: 4.5 Stars – Loved it! Took me a few chapters to get into the groove, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down.

The long: Ok, to say Rebecca Ethington writes descriptively is like saying Donald Trump has a little bit of money. Ummm…yeah! This girl can write and I love that she can devote an entire paragraph to exploring one single emotion a character has felt. Having said that, I will warn you – none of her books are short, including this one! 😉 It’s lengthy, clocking in at over 400 pages, but well worth the read! Grab a free weekend and sit down with this baby!

Like I said, it took a bit for me to get into the style in which this book was written. It’s written from both POV’s of River and Raynn, but it also has flashbacks that vary in time, throughout the entire book. At first I found this confusing, but after I pushed through a few chapters, it all started to make sense. Things fell into place and I knew what to expect with each chapter.

She also does an excellent job keeping the reader in the dark from the beginning, forcing you to continue reading to get to the meat of the storyline. She has created an entirely different universe, of which we know nothing about, but she politely gives us clues with each chapter as we read. It was sort of like a treasure hunt and it was downright fun to experience! 

And she doesn’t disappoint at the end either – be prepared for a twist you won’t see coming, in the last few pages! You knew going into this thing that it wasn’t a stand alone book, but I had no idea where she was going to take this! Looking forward to book two, I am (said in my best Yoda voice) 😉

Ok, so now you’re rolling your eyes at how darn right excited I am over this thing and all I can say is, find out for yourself! She has actually made this series of books an interactive experience – one you can check out right now! She will be releasing a series of short videos at http://riverandraynn.com, if you’d like to jump right in before you get a copy of the book.

She’ll also be signing books at this event, in case you’re in the area and can grab tickets to it. Don’t miss out! I so wish I could go, but won’t be able to, so give Rebecca a hug for me, if you get there!! (Side note: While you’re at it, give Jennifer L. Armentrout a big ole’ kiss for me! I love the tar out of her, too!) 

Ok, that’s my plug, peeps. Hope you enjoyed this review and be sure to recommend it to others! I’m sure Rebecca would appreciate it, too! 😉

Happy Reading, friends!!

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