What a great start of a trilogy. I am definitely looking forward to following the remainder of this story.

I AM THANKFUL TO THE PUBLICATION HOUSE AND HOUSE FOR PROVIDING ME WITH ADVANCE READERS COPY AND ALL MY OPINIONS ARE NOT INFLUENCED BY ANYONE
IT WAS GOOD BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS QUITE SLOW AT TIMES

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

"Foretold" by Violet Lumani is about a girl, Cass Morai, who has OCD and is struggling with the death of her mother. When she has a vision of a boy dying in front of her, she is quickly swept up into a whole new world of scrying and magic.

This book wasn't for me. Maybe it's aimed toward a younger audience? (I'm 22 and mainly read YA). I don't think that the author knows how to write teenagers in a way that doesn't come off as semi-cringey. The plot was generic, easy to follow, and the dialogue just felt stilted and a bit off. It's not /bad/, but it's just a little off, if you know what I mean. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and I generally felt neutral about everything throughout the whole novel.

The one plus of this book was how OCD is portrayed. As someone who also has it, I found myself really resonating with the struggles of the protagonist. Many people think of people with OCD are just neat, but the author gets into the intricacies of intrusive thoughts and compulsions. For me, that's enough to give this book 3 stars. I think it's important for mental illnesses like OCD to be more common in popular media so people understand them properly.

Foretold is an interesting book that I don't think I'm the right audience for. The concept was incredibly appealing, and the cover is gorgeous, two reasons why I requested it on NetGalley, and I'm glad I read it, but I'm not the target audience. And that's fine! Violet Lumani is a talented writer, and the way she describes OCD and mental illness is spot on. I've never seen OCD written using the techniques that she does, and I think she does so effectively, giving the reader a deeper understanding of just how stifling OCD can be. For readers of this genre, I'm sure they'll love Foretold, and I hope to see its success!

The cover drew me in, so beautiful! Foretold starts slow, I couldn't get through the first couple chapters easily but its packed with magic and action. The author's skill at describing OCD was on point

The first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover (so gorgeous!) and from reading the synopsis it felt like my kind of novel, but after finishing it I feel slightly underwhelmed.

The story focuses on main character Cassie (love the name) who suffers from OCD and imagines the worst possible situations - to make matters worse these are actually visions. When she foresees the death of her neighbour, she needs to learn how to control her abilities and try to change the future.

First off, it took me a long time to read and this is really unusual for me. This was mainly because I found the book quite confusing to start with. I actually wondered if I’d missed a chapter because I didn’t understand the concept of their magic at all and it felt like I’d just been thrown in to this random world where all these people can suddenly see the future. There were a lot of different types of magic and the characters go to all these classes to learn different techniques, but I just felt nothing was really explained. How did they get these abilities? Where did the group come from? How was her mum involved? I have so many questions and there just weren’t any answers!

I did like the portrayal of Cassie’s OCD, and felt how this affected her life and her choices was accurate.

The book really picked up in the last half but then I felt like the story was quite abrupt when it ended so although I feel quite underwhelmed overall I will probably choose to read the sequel just to see what happens next.

This book is actually quite fun. You have Cassandra, who finds out that she's magical enough to enter a magical school. However, something happens in real life that's bothering her so much that she can't really concentrate at magical school, and her OCD won't let her just get on with her life. I enjoyed the teenage relationships Cass has with her friends, and of her "discovering new territories" with Colin, but eventually it got a bit too Young Adult for me.

This book had many good qualities: a heroine with mental illness and dealing with grief, a magical world right under her nose that she's inexplicably drawn into, supporting characters that deal with their own trauma while helping their friend, and an overly supportive parent.

Sometimes I didn't quite understand how the scrying worked. Even with explanations it was difficult to keep straight but I enjoyed how Cassie learns and develops as a person and scryer.

Foretold starts slow and then the story unfolds as the main character discovers a whole new world that she and members of her family belong to. The story is engaging and the only problem I had with it was the whole OCD constant insertion into the it. I hope the next book does not put so much emphasis on OCD. It distracts from the main story.

Foretold is a debut fantasy novel that starts off at a slow pace but picks up when the story starts to unfold itself, packed with action, unique magic, and charming characters. However, what stood out the most to me was Lumani's skill at accurately depicting OCD, anxiety, and grief.

This book was just not for me. It took me a month plus to get through it. It sounded amazing and the cover is pretty but I was, unfortunately, not a fan.

4/5

I will say it takes a special kind of book to make me stay up til 4am to make sure I finished it in one sitting. This book 100% — could not put it down.

I agree with other reviewers that the middle was a little slow; however, the middle did not spare me from crying along side the main character. The ending felt like a whirlwind, but I felt it fit the plot well.

One of my favorite things from this book was how Cassie’s OCD was portrayed. I felt raw with her the whole time and her internal monologue really hit home how these experiences ran her down. I have never read a book with such honest depictions of mental illness and wow it truly changes the reading experience.

I am extremely excited to read the next book. 2022 can’t come fast enough.

CW: death, grief, blood, cutting

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an eARC!

First of all, let me say that this book is not what I was expecting, and I was pleasantly surprised by the end of it. To be honest, I was confused by the first 10 chapters of the book, mostly by the descriptions given to the secret organization of soothsayers. However, as the story progressed, I understood more, and the story got better. There are several plot twists in the story. The main one was a little too predictable, but the details surrounded it made the story unique and set the tone for the next book.

The thing I loved the most about this book is that the main character has to deal not only with her "magical" problems, for lack of a better word, but also with the struggles of a mental illness, which in this case is OCD. For me, this detail made the main character more real, and it also made the book a little educational, which I think is amazing.

I had the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review, thanks to NetGalley and Uproar Books.

2/5

Honeslty, I am a little conflicted. I thought the premises sounded really interesting: Cassandra, who has OCD and always imagnies the worst possible situations, learns she has the ability to see and maybe even change or influence the future.

Sounded really good on its own, was disappointing. I liked the way the book handled OCD and panik attacks, portraing them in a realistic way instead of romanticising it, as it is the case in a lot of other media. The rest of the book was just average: the world building was one of the biggest issues, there was this big info dump at the beginnig and that was it, at the end I still had no idea how the magic system and the scrying even works. The characters were just meh, nothing special nothing too bad, I just couldn't bring myself to care about anything, not even Casse. The romance was again just kind of boring, while it was obvious Colin was going to be the li, it just happended so quickly, they hung out and bam she was in love, which wouldn't be a bad thing, it just came out of nowhere and felt rushed.

While I'm glad there wasn't a love triangle in this book, I definitely feel like there's going to be one in the next book: cute-neighbor-who-is-already-boyfriend-and-loves-her and then hot-kinda arrogant-everyone-crushes-on-heartbreaker-guy. The set up is there and honestly I'm surprised the whole oh do i love him or the other guy didnt' happen.

(It is written in present tense, something I'm not a big fan of, I don't know wheter it was that or the entire writing style, maybe it just wasn't for me)

Now onto the biggest "problem": the pacing. The first half was just plain boring, I had to push myself to even pick it up. The second half was a little better, but the only really interesting part that grabs your attention are the like last 10%.

All in all it was just a really average book, it had its issues but it wasn't horrible.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. In a nutshell, Cassandra Morai is diagnosed with OCD after her mother dies when she's 13. The story begins when Cassandra is 16 about-to-be-17. When her OCD gets really bad, she gets glimpses of the future. Cue meeting the boy next door, Colin, who Cassandra has glimpsed dying. Cassandra's Aunt Bree (father's sister) introduces Cassandra to an organization of scryers and she the story follows Cassandra as an initiate trying to learn the magic she needs to save Colin on the down low. This organization, called the Theban Group, as a very Google Headquarters-meets-Ministery-of-Magic vibe. There is also something much bigger as work with this organization, which seems to be warring with outside, rogue scryers.

This story is mostly about Cassandra trying to save Colin, but the author also lays the foundation for whatever the plot is going to be in the next book (at least that's what I assume). There is a lot of things that happen and Cassie is used as a pawn in what seems to be organization v. rogue scryers, but none of that culminates in a big scene in this book. Which is why I assume it's going down in the next book.

I loved the characters. Cassandra's inner monologue is one of my favorites of all the MC's I've read. She's witty and intelligent and just a little on the cynic side. I loved the representation with regard to mental health. Cassie's OCD wasn't like a token trait so the book can boast mental health representation but still treat the character like she basically doesn't have it. Cassie is constantly battling it and it causes a stir in a few places. It's really well done. I also love the side-kickish BFF Regan. She's like a season one Caroline Forbes, and I get the feeling she's going to be well-developed in the second book. Griffin is the Ron to Cassie and Regan's Harry and Hermoine, and he plays some vital roles and provides much comic relief. Then there's Sebastian, who is supposed to be in a love triangle with Cassie and Colin, but I don't really see it yet. I see that there's a draw there, but it kind of happens fast and it's not like he's a sweet-talker or anything. There are a few romances between characters, and none are mature romances. It's all very beat around the bush or insta-love which is more believable because the characters are 16-18 years old. I would not expect nor would I believe a romance written like it was between 30 year olds. So, I actually liked the younger love aspect and how it was written. And again, I feel like it's something this author will do a good job at propelling forward in the next installments.

This was such a good book, I'm very impressed and can't wait to read the next one!

(Than you Netgalley and Uproar Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

I had never read anything to do with scrying or looking into the future so i didn't really know what to expect and was worried i wouldn't enjoy it but i actually really did. I loved the future predicting aspect of this book and reading about all the rituals and omens was so interesting.

The idea of the TheBan group reminded me a little bit of Men In Black with the secret entrance and the building underground. Obviously fighting aliens and predicting the future are very different things but the whole secret organisation aspect gave similar vibes. I'm not a huge fan of insta-love and Colin and Cass's romance was very quick to develop but i did like their relationship and Colin is such a sweet and adorable person. The ending was such a huge surprise, i never saw it coming. I presumed from the beginning that something bad would happen near the end but i never expected that! I just wanted to give Cass the biggest hug.

I did have a couple negatives with this book. Firstly, it is a little slow in places, especially at the beginning. It takes a while for it to get into the main plot but once it gets going, its really good. My biggest issue is with the world building. The writing style is really good but the world building was defiantly lacking in places and i found it hard to imagine thinks like the Coil.

But, overall, Foretold is a really good YA fantasy that intertwines the real world with the fantasy whilst also showing how OCD effects people in everyday situations and i'm looking forward to seeing how the series continues and develops

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First I must say the cover of this novel is what drew me in it’s beautifully done.

Cassie struggles through OCD and I appreciate the fact that this is mentioned throughout the novel rather than just a paragraph here abs there. The author does an outstanding job of accurately describing OCD. But her OCD she finds out is in part to her psychic abilities abs not only that her aunt is a part of this secret society of others with similar gifts. All should be well but of course in the book world, something must always go wrong. Her love interest the adorable Colin is destined to die. She will do whatever it takes to not witness another devastating vision come true so she joins her aunt.
This ending was really surprising unfortunately I can’t say more without spoiling the entire thing but in regards

to the love triangle, I am most certainly team Colin.

Why hide behind walls when you can control what's being built beyond them?

I received a free e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Foretold is the first installment of The Scryers series as well as the YA debut of the author.
It follows Cassandra Morai a.k.a. Cassie, who is diagnosed with OCD after the devastating episode of her mother's death from the big C and she can vividly see death and havoc all around her. She imagines the worst fate for herself and those who are close to her. Even dogs rub on her leg will make her feel like she's dying and never sees the next daylight.
But not this once, this time her head and mind is not playing tricks on her, he's dying. Cass's new neighbor, Colin is destined to die. She's been foretold a real death before her, and every instinct is making it a real vision rather than her OCD messing up with her. But she doesn't want him to die. She'll put everything on the line for him.
Aunt Bree (with whom I had a tough time trying to understand and adore, but failed miserably) convince her to be tutored in an organization of sooth-slayers, where she can control and learn to transform the future she foresees, but magic isn't easy, and unraveling fate's threads always comes with a cost. And evading death is going to cost her everything.
The characters were well-written. The dialogues in particular were enjoyable. Cass was a difficult character to connect with; despite the fact that the book is told from her point of view, I didn't feel any stronger emotional connection to her than I do with other characters. She's obstinate while still being broken. With all that has happened throughout her life after her mother's passing, as well as her OCD, she isn't really self-assured, which isn't my kind of woman character, but it's understandable. Collin was a lovable character with his own series of family feuds hanging above his head and a nomadic living due to his father's political career, but he desired friendship. He was perfect, at least from Cassie's POV, we didn't get to know much about him after she goes off for the training, and I don't like insta-love or the teen romance but their relationship was acceptable to me until Sebastian came into the picture. Bastian, huh, he's the most mysterious character. I need to know why he did what he did. Everything. From the beginning. I really really want him to be the love interest though I hate love triangle romance (it's so repeated trope on almost every book these days that I got immune to it.) He's one of the organization's prefects, as well as the place's potential boss. Regan was a wonderful friend and confidante, but I despise her young men. Yes, really. Noah irritates me because he is so irrational (but I know, he has every right to be angry and what he did was protecting his Girlfriend but he had no right to do what he did.) Griffin, he's my candy honey pie, omg, I loved him so much (not as much as Sebastian, but because he's a mysterious character, I'm not sure if I should trust him just yet), his witty dialogues, and how he helped Cassie with all his might, and how he was willing to make sacrifices for his friends. (I want Regan to break up with Noah and start dating Griffin. Seriously girl, time to reconsider your choice!) Pict, a slew of teachers and Magpies, Theodore, Bracchy, Mrs. O., her father, aunt, and plenty of others, too many to mention; I can't write about them all, so you better grab and read the book. (I am lazy and typing ain't burning my fingers calories!)
I loved the reference of OCD and how difficult it is for the diagnosed people. It's so hard, really heard. The grievances of losing those who are close to you. Mrs. O's taking care of Cass and her relying on the former. The friendship and the bond the characters formed were one to adore. I like the father-daughter bond, their lasagna Friday nights, and playing trivinometry (yes, there is such a game; I was misreading it as trigonometry.)
When reading, the organization's realm was a little difficult to envision, and I'm still unsure how the coil is to be pictured. (I need help here) Overall, the environment created was difficult for me to imagine, but it was simple to read about. (When I read a novel, I like to imagine a world in my head.) The pacing of the book was decent, but at times I felt dragged, but it picked up speed towards the end.
As I previously said, I am not a fan of teen romance, so Cass and Collin's interaction didn't appeal to me at first, but her desire to rescue him eventually won me over. (However, if you ask me, I would not have put my life on the line for someone I had just met a few days before.) I'd rather have found a new boyfriend, as Griffin said. Cass, I may be able to assist you by making a great boyfriend recommendation. Sebastian, to be precise.) I didn't like the way she was resistant to meet her Eleanor (and I wish to meet her now...) though it was totally understandable as her state of mind was havoc.
There's a lot more to this novel than I can talk about it; there are a lot of plots left waiting for the next book that you won't find until you give it your full attention. And I'm looking forward to reading the next book as soon as possible. (I understand this is an ARC, and the next book won't be out until next year, but please, author, send me a blurb to live on.) I'm curious as to why Cassandra was spared by the assailants. Who Cassie's mother is and if she performed the same rite for her. Why is Pict that icy?. Why is Pict so cold. What power Cassie actually behold. Mrs. O, who is she? Where are her friends? What's going on with Collin and her relationship? And WHY SEBASTIAN DID WHAT HE DID?! (Yes, all these are spoilers. Why did you all even proceed to read? Dumbos!) I really wanna know about all this. I'm really looking forward to reading the next installment of the series.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an arc in exchange of an honest review / First i really liked how OCD is treated, it was very well handled, we can really see what it is to live with it, and showed how it is without complex and wasn't in the usual cliché.
i didn't like the romance it felt like she had feelings for him at first sight, there's no real development;
the concept was really good, i liked that it came all from her OCD she's always seeing the worst that could happen but it was in fact a vision she could try to prevent.
Now it was really confusing, the pace wasn't stable and the worldbuilding lacked delicacy, suddenly everything about the secret organisation and the magic system is thrown at us and that's it. I found myself ending up skimming because of all the repetitions that yes Cassie has a new life, it''s dangerous and have to make a sacrifice it was said so many times, it took a lot of time until something actually happened. The plot was predictable too with a love triangle it's fairly easy to guess at it.

;

Thank you NetGalley and Uproar Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Where to begin... honestly, I fell in love with the cover, which is how it usually works with me, and although I was a little unsure about the synopsis, I decided to dive in.

Foretold tells the tale of a young woman, Cassandra Morai, who sees death and devastation all around her and suffers from severe OCD and extreme anxiety.

As I said, I wasn't too sure about the synopsis (just for my personal taste), and although the first 20% or so of the book wasn't the smoothest of beginnings, the rest of the book was pretty brilliant. The combination of fantasy and reality works really well. There is honestly such a broad range of character development that you seriously fall in love with so many individual personalities.

There's romance. The 'bad' boy (sorta). The best friend. The supportive parent. The loss. The love. The feeling that everything that happens in this book could happen in our world.

*SORTA SPOILER BUT NO DETAILS*

I cried multiple times throughout this book. My heart raced. I smiled. All the emotions were felt!

I really can't wait for the next book to come out. The ending broke my heart and I honestly can't wait to see what happens next.