I was really excited to read this book. Unfortunately I found I just couldn't get in to it and couldn't relate or warm to the characters.

The start of what promises to be a brilliant new series. Well put together, don't expect to get anything else done until you've finished it! Oh, and start thinking about the consequenses of your actions....

What most impressed me about this novel was the realistic depiction of OCD without the need to glamorize or unfairly depict it. "Foretold" avoids those disgusting tropes of making every person who suffers from mental illness to be a sociopath or a nutjob. Instead, the female protagonist suffers from a relatable condition. As someone who also deals with OCD and anxiety, I must admit that this is one of the most forgiving and accurate depictions of mental illness in a young adult novel. The plot of this novel is intriguing, the characters are realistic, and the premise of the story is entirely unique.

Wow, what an incredible start to a series. The concept is fun, the mystery and suspense kept me completely engaged and the characters are GREAT! I love the humor so much. The banter between Cassie and Colin is perfect. Then again between Regan and Griffen. Such great development. The twists in the story took the breath away. even when they were predictable, they still managed to catch you off guard. I will definitely be recommending this new book and cannot wait for the next one!!

This story just didn't work for me at all. I DNFed it early on and I just couldn't pick it back up. The story and characters and just the whole thing just didn't work at all. It was very boring I will say that the magical system/idea in this one sounded very interesting but the execution just fell flat.

Cassandra Morai is surrounded by death. She sees things that others don't see, and even foreshadows the demise of her new acquaintance, Colin. Little does she know that she is actually a scryer and holds supernatural abilities passed down from her father's side of the family. Her aunt, Bree, brings her to Theban group, a school of sorts for people like her. However, in the throws of her OCD, Cassie struggles to come to terms with her abilities and tries to stop the future at the same time. But who's side is she really on? On this adventure of self-discovery, Cassie learns how powerful she really is, and the true cost of saving a life.

It took me a really long time to get into this book. I found it to be very slow-moving and often found myself to be annoyed by how much emphasis was spent discussing Cassie's OCD over and over again. Once I got two-thirds of the way through the book, things started to get interesting. The ending was also a huge (and very sad) surprise. While I probably wouldn't have picked this book up on my own, I am looking forward to reading the second installment in The Scryers series.

Thank you Netgalley and Uproar books for the arc.

I came across this book because of its cover. It is gorgeous. Then, the blurb sounded intriguing, so I picked it. It turned out to be a decent read. It is not mind blowing but it captured my attention enough that I want to read the next book in this series.

The main character, Cassandra Morai, has OCD and anxiety. I think the author explained the mental health rep accurately. Cassandra's mental health is discussed in detail and it also plays a prominent role in her life. Overall, I liked Cassandra's character but some of her decisions were stupid which led to some heartbreaking outcomes.

Her friends, Regan and Griffin are quite likable characters. I admire their loyalty to Cass. Their banters were funny to read. But, I wish the author had explored the other characters more like Pict, Sebastian, and Mr. Welborne.

The magic system and the story is interesting but I felt it lacked detailing in some parts and characters. The ending is the highlight of this book, it is great and unexpected. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

Foretold centres around Cassandra, a teenage girl with OCD and anxiety. She sees death and devastation all around her, and is always thinking of the worst outcome to every situation in her life. Until one time when it’s not just a figment of her imagination or a product of her mental illnesses. A boy who has just moved in next door, Colin, is destined to die. She has foretold a death before so she knows this is a real vision. She involves herself in a secret organization in an attempt to save him.

I'd like to start by saying that overall I did enjoy reading this book! Are there some things that (in my opinion) could be improved, sure. But overall it was a decent YA fantasy novel.

The novels main strength is the concept. I found the whole world of Scrying really interesting. The concept felt pretty fresh in the world of fantasy and I was excited to see where the book would lead.

I thought the world building was reasonably well executed but I could have done with a bit more detail. I'm definitely hoping we get some more detail in the next book (I want more ins and outs of how the magic works for example). This will add some richness to the world Lumani is creating!

In terms of the characters, I found them to be generally likeable.
Cassie is a decent heroine if a little dim/naive at times. I thought that her OCD was well represented and not just a gimmick to make her seem "unique". I also liked most ofbthe other members of the gang: I thought Regan was amusing and I enjoyed some character development from Griffin. However, all in all the characters could have done with a bit more complexity and development. It felt like they were each based on a core train (sparky, dramatic, nerdy etc.) and hadn't fully moved beyond that to become well rounded, engaging people.There's also a vague love triangle implied which I wasn't the biggest fan of.

In regards to the plot and pace, while I liked the overarching narrative and was genuinely surprised by some of the twists, the novel was sometimes rather confusing as the pace was rather inconsistent. At times it was so quick I found it a little overwhelming. Additionally, I found some of the dialogue a little clunky sounding at points.

However, I do feel like the intended audience is a little younger than I am; the book definitely feels like it's on the younger end of the YA spectrum. For me overall I found it a quick, relatively easy, and pretty enjoyable read. I wouldn't say I'm hooked but I would definitely be interested in seeing where things go in the next book!

Thanks to NetGalley for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pros:
Colin
The OCD and Anxiety representation

Cons:
Lack of world building and character development


Unfortunately I found myself taking forever to get through this book. I felt like the story was lacking a bit and I really wanted more world-building and character development than we got. I will definitely read the next book in the series because I want to see where the plot goes and think this was a decent setup to a potentially fantastic series. I recommend checking this out if the plot intrigues you as it was still a decent read I just wanted MORE from it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Uproar Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First up, the cover is absolutely stunning, and the synopsis had me intrigued and eager to pick up this YA novel. 'Foretold' is the first book in The Scryers trilogy - and what a promising start it is!

Cassie, the main character, has lived with anxiety, OCD and catastrophic visions her whole life. But when she has a vision of her new neighbour Colin dying, she knows it's not her imagination because she has foreseen a real death before. Cassie joins a society of scryers, the Theban Group, to learn about her abilities and try to save Colin.

I really enjoyed the magical world in this novel - entering the headquarters of Theban Group for the first time was reminiscent of my experience of discovering the Ministry of Magic or Diagon Alley for the fist time. The novel deals well with Cassie's OCD traits: they're a clear part of her character and we get a true feel for how her mental health presents something invisible to others that she has to battle in various settings.

Without giving away too much, the ending was brutal and despite the synopsis stating that 'cheating death will cost her everything', I was totally blindsided by it. I am looking forward to the next book in this trilogy and to seeing where Cassie goes from here!

This was such a great book! I was really rooting for Cass, and I thought Lumani did a great job of portraying Cass's OCD and extreme anxiety. It felt authentic, and I also thought it was interesting how her anxiety over the "what-ifs" made her more attuned to the "what-wills."

The other characters were also well-drawn and so fun to read - the friendships in this book were developed well, as was the main romance. The world felt zany but realistic, as did the characters, which are all the things I look for in a fantasy book.

Early loved the characters and everything that happened in the book ! Cant wait to read more from the author

I received “Foretold” by Violet Lumani from the publisher as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All of my opinions in this post are my own.

Note: This book was written in present tense.

Anyway, this cover was absolutely gorgeous. It’s what ultimately got me to pick the book and then I was entranced by the synopsis of a main character with an OCD diagnosis because you don’t see many books these days that deal with disorders. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the book. I was really conflicted about this review because on one hand I wanted to love this book because of what it was supposed to include, but the story was lacking and I felt like there was problems with the execution of the book. There wasn’t much development between characters or the build for the plot which was disappointing. I did, however, like the way panic attacks and OCD was portrayed. Ultimately, I just couldn’t get into the book, didn’t feel invested in the characters, and it took me a long time to read. This book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Uproar Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!<

**Please note that this review is not in any way intended to harass or offend anyone. All opinions are my own.**


Before starting this review, I would like to mention that I DNFed this book a little over 50% of the way in. I found the world-building, writing, characters, and plot all to be uninteresting and quite lacking, which is why I think that a 2.5 star rating is appropriate.


When I first set eyes on <Foretold, I saw a gorgeous cover and an intriguing synopsis. A main character with OCD, fantasy, beautiful graphics, scryers, - what more can you ask for? So, I immediately had high hopes.

Instead, the book fell short on many accounts.


Our book follows Cassandra, a teenage girl with OCD and anxiety. She’s constantly thinking of the worst possible outcome to any situation given to her, and it’s always something devastating.

But when she sees Colin, the boy who just moved in next door, die right in front of her eyes, she knows it’s no longer a result of her mental illness. This was something different.


Cassandra, our main character, was extremely irritating. Her OCD and anxiety (which I will cover later) were pretty well-represented, but other than that, she had no redeeming qualities. She was boring and had absolutely no personality. In my opinion, she was just so...forgettable.

Regan, the friend that Cassie makes at the Theban Group - her scrying camp - seems to spend half her time irritated about who knows what. She talks like she’s nine years old, and she is <i>the most</i> over dramatic character I’ve read about in a long time. She overreacts about this one guy’s snarky comments (that aren’t even snarky?) and gets a little too worked up about nothing.

What’s his name again?
*realizing I should know this by now*
Right. Noah is the blandest character in this book. I’m 99% certain he’s part of their ‘friend group’ but I still?? Don’t?? Know?? Who?? Tf?? He?? Is?? I don’t even know what his personality is like. Oh right, he has none. Onto the next character because I have nothing to say about him.

Griffin is your typical Obnoxious Guy Who Constantly Annoys That One Character Until He Suddenly Becomes Nice™. Regan was always “shooting him glares” or “huffing at him” or “moving away from him” because he was just that rude.
Except he wasn’t rude.
At all.
You see, I think he was supposed to be portrayed as obnoxious and annoying but in reality, his only tactic for being snarky was calling Regan ‘Ronald’ or ‘Robert.’ And that was enough to tick her off. Can she not ignore him? Is that not possible at all?

The characters were so, so boring. I couldn’t care less about them.


World-building in this book was hardly built up at all. I hardly even know what any of the places <i>look</i> like. The magic system would have been so interesting, but there was no mention of it other than at the beginning. What are the rituals for? Are there any kind of outside threats to the scryers? Do they have any restraints or limits? How do they even scry visions? What is the full extent of scrying powers?

Some of these are essential to magic and for a world, but they were never addressed. I feel like this book had so much potential for an incredibly intricate magic system, but it fell short and we were left with so many questions.

The only hint of world-building we got was the awfully long monologue during the welcome speech and a few snippets here and there when Cassie entered the Theban Group.


The plot was basically nonexistent. The pacing was inconsistent and slow for the most part, except for a few patches where it would speed up all of a sudden and be incredibly confusing. And the infodumping. <b>There was so much infodumping.</b> This is a trap that many authors fall into, and it’s hard to avoid.

And there was so much in this book. The sheer amount made me disoriented already, not to mention the questionable pacing and boring plot. Things were thrown at you with no explanation nor goal as to where it was leading.

I found the plot to be highly disappointing; it could have been action-packed and reasonably paced, but felt completely aimless.

The romance was also extremely predictable. I foresaw the love triangle, and I couldn’t bring myself to root for any of the characters because I didn’t care about any of them at all. And even so, we barely saw any of the romance. At the beginning, there was a little bit of build-up, and I’m hoping that there was more at the end, but that’s about it.


The writing wasn’t terrible. However, it definitely felt underdeveloped and could use some work. I felt like nothing was explained at all and I was <i>so confused</i> for the majority of the time. The writing style did nothing to make me more interested in the book. It had too much telling and not showing, which is a big factor that you have to keep in mind.

The metaphors were weird, such as when she says: “Disapproval is Mt. Rushmore’d into every line of his face.”

I-
I’m so confused.

Can she not just say “carved” or “shaped” or anything else??

Also, I felt like nothing was described in detail and like I’d mentioned before, I hardly even knew what anything looked like, let alone the atmosphere.

For example:

“Friggin coolest doesn’t even begin to cover it. [...] as I lift my face to that jewel-hued dome. It was real. This was real. I shake my head and laugh out loud, Regan joining me. My eyes feel as if they’ve grown three times their size just to take it all in once more. [...]”

I’m so confused. What, exactly, is so cool? It’s not elaborated on at all. Cassie’s so happy and dumbfounded, but why? I have no idea. In all honesty, I really would like to know what’s so cool about this place. Unfortunately, there is no detailed description.


The one thing that I genuinely enjoyed about this book was the mental health representation. The author breaks the usual stereotypes about OCD and anxiety, which I very much appreciated. Mental illnesses in general are very hard to write, in more ways than one. It’s hard to portray on a piece of paper, but also, everyone experiences it differently. It’s hard to write without being insensitive, but the author did a great job.

I love that Cassie didn’t let her OCD and anxiety control her, but how it wasn’t something that you can “fix” or “turn on and off.” I will say that I have nothing to compare this representation to, so keep that in mind.


Overall, I think that while Foretold had a great concept and promise, it was not executed well. Some parts felt lacking and sloppy which is why I decreased my rating and ended up DNFing it. Thank you again to both NetGalley and the publisher!

2.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Uproar Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Foretold is a book which I think had a good concept, but bad execution. My feelings about it are still conflicted.

It follows Cassandra, a teenage girl with OCD and anxiety. She sees death and devastation all around her, and is always thinking of the worst outcome to every situation in her life. Until one time when it’s not just a figment of her imagination or a product of her mental illnesses. A boy who has just moved in next door, Colin, is destined to die. She has foretold a death before so she knows this is a real vision. She involves herself in a secret organization in an attempt to save him.

I had pretty high expectations for this book. The cover is gorgeous and the synopsis drew me in. But unfortunately this was quite lackluster and ended up boring me. This book suffers from the awful curse of info-dumping. Everything is thrown at you with no explanation, leading to confusion and giving me no interest in the story.

I found the worldbuilding to be lacking. The aforementioned info-dumping made it hard to understand. I wanted to learn more about the magic system and why the Scryers did the rituals they did, how they scryed visions, and much more but I never learned anything else other than the initial introductions.

The characters were ones that I had no attachment to at all. Half of them I knew nothing more than their names. The ones which I had more information about, specifically Cassie (the main character), annoyed me a lot. All the characters were bland and forgettable. I couldn’t understand their motives. None of them stood out at all and they didn’t have original personalities. Also, how are we supposed to believe these characters are as old as they are? The only character with a confirmed age I can remember is Cassie, and she's apparently seventeen so I'm assuming most of the other characters are around that age as well but they all act like ten-year-olds. Whenever I read I want to feel some connection to any one of the characters so I have someone to root for and keep me invested in the story. It is hard for me to enjoy a book when I do not like the characters, and I think that was part of the problem I had with this book.

The romance of this book frustrated me. It had two of my least favorite tropes, instalove and a love triangle. I think most of the book community would agree with me in that they don’t like those tropes either. Sometimes love triangles are okay but this one was extremely predictable. As I said before, I didn’t have an attachment to any of the characters so that made me dislike the romance more. We also only get to see the romance towards the beginning and end of the book, leading it to feel underdeveloped like most of the book. This is partly due to the fact the Cassie was at camp most of the book but I feel it still could have been built on some more despite this.

The pacing of the book seemed non-existent at times and very inconsistent. The beginning was slow. The middle is also pretty slow. The plot only picks up towards the end and even then it’s not very interesting. This leads the ending to feeling very rushed and unsatisfying. The pacing also took a part in me not enjoying the book. Everything felt quite sloppy in my opinion. The plot jumps back and forth and there seems to be no point to anything, just aimless events that don’t help what Cassie’s goal apparently is. The writing wasn’t awful, but like the rest of the book it was extremely bland which didn’t help the pacing or anything else.

To me, the one redeeming factor of this book was the OCD and anxiety representation. I liked how the author didn’t play into the usual stereotypes of wanting everything to be clean and such. I think that OCD, anxiety, and mental illnesses in general are very hard to write. Everyone experiences them in different ways. I do not know whether or not the ways Cassie experienced OCD and anxiety were a self projection of the author’s but I still appreciate how they showed the dark sides of mental illness without being insensitive or disrespectful. I loved the parts where there were lines about OCD not controlling her and how mental illness isn’t a thing you can just “turn off”. To someone who knows nothing about these conditions I think this book would be a good introduction.

Overall, this could have been a good book but many aspects felt underdeveloped which held me back from enjoying it.

I think I would have loved Foretold more if the book had a feeling of consistency. I love the idea, I love the writing style, but the book’s time span seems to skip around a lot. Otherwise, I really liked this book!

I loved this book. I loved that the main character had OCD and you see her deal with that while figuring out how to control these new powers that she has. I do not have OCD so I can't speak for how accurate and well represented it is, but I did love that aspect and I hope it was done well! The characters in this book were so interesting and funny. I loved every single one of them. It did take me a bit to get into this book but once I did I was so excited to see what happened next. I need the next book to get some answers about that little reveal at the end of the epilogue. I can't wait to see where this series goes! I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I absolutely loved reading this book. I got so invested in the plot of the story!
At first, it was really hard for me to get into the book due to the pace of it in the beginning but it eventually picked up and got me hooked. I loved how this book talks about the struggles which Cassie had to go through.
Thankyou to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me this opportunity to review my honest opinion on this book.

4/5

CW: Foretold portrays OCD and death of a parent

Cassie, a 16 year old girl with OCD, can see glimpses of the future. Over the summer before her 17th birthday she is recruited and trained by a secret society of other Scryers (others that can see the future) and she attempts to use her newfound powers to change the future she has seen.

The concept worked so well. I don’t have OCD so i cannot comment on if it was accurately portrayed but at the least I felt like the feelings of anxiety and depression that Cassie also suffered were described very well.

The only things that bugged me was the feeling of time skipping. The book doesn’t really have many of these “time skips” but some of the relationships — specifically with adults — are almost glossed over or skipped to the result. We don’t see the lead up. Foretold, being Violet Lumani’s debut novel, may not be perfect, but it is enjoyable and addresses OCD in a way many YA books have not.

I am looking forward to the next book and the next chapter of Cassie’s story

I had to come back and read this because I couldn't get the synopsis out of my head!

"Everyone has a monster they're grappling with. Mine doesn't take away from yours."
--Foretold

Cassandra Morai is a 17-year-old girl who has life a little rougher than the average high-schooler. Since the loss of her mother, she has been diagnosed with OCD, extreme anxiety, and catastrophic thinking. This means that nearly every moment of the day, Cassie has to fight against her own mind in order to avoid spiraling into fear and despair.

Her life changes dramatically when her Aunt Bree introduces her to a world hidden from the eyes of the masses: a city full of scryers, or people who can divine the future and perform rituals to make small changes. Cassie inherited scryer abilities from her parents and now she will have the chance to hone her abilities and hopefully, save someone important from the fate of a death foretold.

I learned so much about OCD and anxiety in this book, I thought that it did a great job representing the struggle of mental health. The book also dives into the realities of grief and loss. I enjoyed reading about Cassie's friendships as well as the daily life as a scryer initiate. I was impressed with the writing, as Lumani's descriptions easily pulled me into the story. Also, can we talk about the cover? It's gorgeous and instantly drew my attention.

A couple of things really bothered me, however. A lot of the dialogue (especially with the main love interest) gave me a serious case of second-hand embarrassment. Also, many of Cassie's decisions seem to come out of nowhere. I wish there was more explanation as to why she chose to do certain things, because she would often do make decisions that confused me. Cassie's aunt and mentor are incredibly rude and seem to have an unfounded hatred of Cassie, of which I would have liked to understand the underlying reasons.

Overall, I liked this book, even with the things that bothered me. With a little more revisions before it is released, I could see this being a big hit. I gave it 3/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warnings: profanity, grief and loss, drug use, violent imagery, sexual innuendo, mild sensuality, mental health struggles, violence, death, ritualistic self-harm.