The first book in J. H. Tepley's The Lightwatch Chronicles, entitled The Guardians, unfortunately felt like it never quite found its rhythm. The pacing is plodding at best and, at times, it felt like I was either drowning in long-winded exposition or slogging through interactions between characters that ultimately did nothing to move the plot forward. There’s a frustrating imbalance where, at one point, you're overwhelmed with information, only to find yourself at a loss for understanding the world and the characters just a few pages later.

All across the board, the exposition—whether it's delivered via dialogue or plainly in the text—feels forced and poorly executed. Dialogue is either exposited at us or entirely useless to the story, rather than existing as a form of natural conversation that reveals anything meaningful. The dialogue, as a whole, feels unrealistic, and I never once felt like the characters were real people. They felt more like caricatures every step of the way. The foreshadowing is awkward, serving to add to the book's problems as it's vague to the point of being frustrating. It feels like the author intentionally leaves the reader in the dark on occasion which, in turn, becomes more annoying than intriguing.

The plot drags considerably as well. At almost 500 pages, there’s far too much unnecessary filler that ultimately detracts from what might have been a decent story. It feels like the potential is there, but it's buried under layers of fluff that either don't contribute to character development or world-building in any way or, as forced by the inclusion of such useless scenes, show the author playing catchup by throwing all of this information at the reader in one go. What could have been a compelling narrative is lost entirely in the excess.

In the end, I think it's reasonable to say that this book might have had a solid foundation but lost it somewhere in the unfortunate pacing and lack of focus. I truly believe this book requires extensive editing to trim down the excess and adjust the in-scene writing to allow the story and characters to truly shine. As it stands, the reading experience is a long, uncomfortable slog—one that ultimately leaves you feeling disconnected and disappointed.

DNF 30%

I tried to read this book but I didn't feel anything while reading it. It didn't conveyed nothing and the characters were featureless. Don't know what else to say. Not my cup of tea.

Full review to come.
I deeply apologize, but life is a handful lately and I'm using all my free time to read, not review. I hope everybody understands.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t one that I connected with.

I found that at times the writing was more interested in sounding clever than trying to connect the reader to the plot. It had me mentally checking out of the novel quarter of the way through and it was a struggle to continue.

Others may enjoy this book, however it just wasn’t for me.

This is a first for me by this author and I have to admit... it was the cover that drew me in... but that said, it didn't disappoint... I enjoyed it and will re-read again.

This book takes you on a magical journey which, if you read between the lines, you'll be able to relate to in your own everyday life in some shape or form.
It's packed with timeless truths and lessons. Three warriors on a journey of discovering their higher purpose and their true essence.

The author’s expertise in the areas of mindfulness, meditation and finding a life purpose clearly shines through.

The book inspired me in so many ways... I'd recommend reading it with an open mind and heart, picking what is important to you. It definitely needs reading more than once.

Would recommend for anyone on their own path to self-discovery.

Thank-You Netgalley for my ARC.

Tepley's book is a quick read. A group of warriors is trying to stay one step ahead of the Shadow, which had destroyed their world and many others. The Shadow attacks without warning and disappears. Plot flows smoothly.

I'm not sure what I just read.
In fact, I'm going to keep this super short because it's so not for me.
This is a cult dogma. Literally. The author is part (or creator) of a cult. And this is a 'story' that aims to impart the cults aims. It's literal propaganda.
At least this was made obvious by the note from the author. Its honest. But I was aware she is literally part of a cult so I could not even focus on the (admittedly poor) plot line of the 'novel'.
This might be the best thing since sliced bread for some, but I don't do religious doctrine thinly disguised as fantasy.