Not like other little girls, Leah has always had a very strong intuition. So strong , in fact, she can sense illness or acute distress in others. Being different from her classmates isolates her at times, as she tries to not only make sense of her abilities but prevent them from being misunderstood. A fated graduation trip with her beloved aunt and two best friends brings Leah to a life she can no longer deny: she has a gift to heal others. This beautiful debut by Lisa Fougere takes readers on a journey around the world and asks readers be open to the possibilities of the impossible being made possible.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Have read very similar books over the years, at 3 that I remember, all with the same theme. Healer finds powers, hides them, then comes out. Religious groups oppose them, others want to control them, have this power for themselves. The main character was well developed, the world was as we know it, had some action. The main character was a little whiney, always doubting herself. The other characters were just supporting, no life of their own. There were no surprises, nothing unusual. This book was well edited and had a solid ending with an opening for future works. I did read the entire book so rate it ok.

This was an interesting and intriguing book about 4th grader Leah discovers she has the power to heal. But what happens when explained events she is in start to make her an outcast. Everyone becomes a rude bully because they are scared about what they do not know. I like how to story is almost laid out like a journal because Leah also enjoys learning about and using unique words. Leah is a very strong and likeable character and I enjoyed her journey. Is this story for everyone? Possibly not but it also is not what you think, which is good. Recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Lisa Fougere and Lisa Fougere Pub for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 4/13/21

Seems like I'm in the minority here, but this book wasn't at all to my liking.

I've always been fascinated by mythology, Gods and their powers, troubles and tribulations, so, theoretically, the premise of this story of a young girl discovering she has healing powers tied to a distant relation to the Egyptian Goddess Isis should have been right up my alley. But, I just don't think it was well executed.

My issue was basically in how this book was written. The first few chapters, written from the perspective of a young girl were downright infantile, with an overuse of quotation marks. And while I understand the writing style correlated to the character's age at that point in the story, I still found it to be unnecessary and annoying. After all, there are plenty of stories written from the POV of young kids, like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, to mention a couple, that at no point have that childish tone to them. Also, overall, there are just way too many exclamation marks.

Beyond that, the level of exposition was tortuous. At times I felt like I was reading a Wikipedia page, or copy and pasted research. Other times, like during the therapy session near the middle of the book, I felt like I was just reading someone's stream of consciousness. Like a person writing down their thoughts in a journal to try and make sense of something that's troubling them. I just found the writing to be very monotone and not at all engaging; the pacing too slow and meandering, focusing for too long on trivial details or small facets unimportant to the main plot.

Regarding the characters, I felt like they were all pretty much interchangeable, they were so similar. The aunt, the two friends, the professor and the boyfriend. All fiercely supportive, endlessly nice, relentlessly helpful and ridiculously comforting. Also, I'm not sure what the point of adding a love interest even was. There was basically no development to the relationship, and it had absolutely no bearing in the story overall. He could have been a cousin, an acquaintance or another friend and the story would have been pretty much unchanged.

I think the idea of this book was good, ancient Gods and superpowers always have great storytelling potential. But as far as how the concept was rendered and realized? Sadly unsuccessful and boring.

**I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

2.5 star read.

It’s not that this book is a bad book. I think the story was actually quiet intriguing and spellbinding. The way the book was written was totally different from others I’ve read. It is kind of like sequences in a diary. The reader gets a very unique perspective in this book, both spiritually and imaginatively.

For me, the book felt very choppy, and lulled more often than I would have liked. Also there was periods of speech that I felt like they were a little too ‘young’ (for lack of better word) in comparison to the rest of the book.

5/5 stars

Genre: Adult Fiction

Description: Leah has a gift. The ability to heal others with the touch of her hands. This should be a dream come true, but her world begins to crumble under the weight of such a responsibility. With so many desperate people, how can one woman possibly help enough? Especially when there are those who seek to tear her down. Leah fights to control a situation evolving at lightning speed, and threatening life as she knows it.

Pros:

- Well crafted characters.
- A lot of detail.
- Very creative and original.
- You can tell the amount of research and thought that went into this story.

Cons:

- The format is a little hard to read at times but I think it may just be the transition to Kindle and not the author's fault.
- It's a little slow to start but once it gets going... wow....

Would I recommend it?

Absolutely!!!

Alternative medicine gets a bad reputation from some of those in the medical field who practice more Western medicine than Eastern. As a practitioner of Reiki, I appreciated a story like this where the main character has a gift for healing, but has a hard time of it.

As a child, Leah senses when someone is ill just by touching the person. Of course teachers are not going to believe a child can do something like this and it has a long standing effect on Leah. People can be mean and none are meaner than children sensing someone who is different. It makes Leah learn to hide this gift, but sometimes it sneaks out and causes more grief. Her aunt/guardian wants to protect her and yet also seeks to help her understand that she is not the first in the family to have abilities outside the norm.

Growing up with this gift makes for a not normal childhood, leaving her with few friends, but the ones she makes are determined to help her process this knowledge and ability. The journey is partly done in secret until they are outed and must face the zeal of those who need healing at any cost.

A well done story. I'm glad I read it and hope others who have these abilities will read it and feel free to come forth with theirs. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

THE HEALER is a standalone book (at the moment) that tells the story from an almost diary-like perspective of a young girl who finds out she has healing powers. She learns through her dreams how to use these powers and then the consequences of her actions become a concern. This story follows her from her youth in fourth grade to the 'old age' of nineteen and a half, with everything that happens in between.

This was an intriguing story with plenty of research evident within the pages. The one thing I really loved was although spirituality was mentioned, religion did not play a big part. On the whole, this story moved along nicely but I did find a few places where it seemed to drag (for me) or was a bit choppy. Leah is most definitely the main character and I personally would have liked to have known a bit more about the other characters - Rafi, Isaac, and Alex especially.

If I could give half stars, then this would be a 4.5-star read. I am hoping there will be more from these characters. A huge congratulations to Lisa Fougere on her outstanding debut novel. Highly recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

at first i didnt know what to make of this book..there was so much detail and not enough healing...but then all of a sudden wham it changed and it was a bit of a rollercoaster of a ride....

i actually enjoyed this one...and i can imagine for any would be people with healing abilities this is more or less what you have to go through on a day to day basis..

brilliantly written if at times a little to much detail but enjoyable

will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors work