Unfortunately this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention. I am sure other people will love it!

This is a very interesting book, about 3 different women's lives all from different eras, their lives intertwine through past life memories, and dreams, the flow of the writing is this book was lovely and each characters story interesting, I look forward to reading the next book as it is part of a trilogy.

I really enjoyed this book. I haven’t read the first book in the series but that didn’t effect my understanding of the story.

Premonitions follows 3 different characters in 3 different timelines. A shaman in 1577+, Adele in Gex, France 1776+ and Amelia in New York in 2018.

It becomes clear early on that Amelia and Adele are linked. It later transpired that they are the same person reincarnated. The story seamlessly moves between all 3 characters.
I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series. Thank you to the publisher and #netgalley.

Premonitions by Daniela L Norris
Review by Dawn Thomas

176 Pages
Publisher: John Hunt Books / Roundfire Books
Release Date: June 28, 2019

Fiction, Past Lives, French History

The book begins in 1500s in Africa with a Medicine man saving the life of an infant. We then move to the 1700s in France. There we meet Adele. She is married to a merchant’s son and has two children. She runs into a former suitor and begins to question the decisions she made with her life. We jump to 2018 and find Amelia, a mother of two living in the United States. Her estranged husband asks her to give them another try for the sake of the children. Amelia must decide what is important to her.

The book is written in both first and third person. The story is well written and fast paced. This is the second in a trilogy. Since I did not read the first book in the series, I felt as if I missed out on information. The story ends with an abrupt cliffhanger which can be frustrating to some readers. I am hooked on the story and now have to wait for the next book to find out what happens in the three timelines.

Sometimes in your life you feel like something you’re experiencing has already happened in an uncertain past. This is what happens to Amelia, a New York-based novelist, who starts having visions and dreams about her past after a traumatic divorce that forces her to go hypnotherapy. Gradually we see how Amelia’s life is directly interwoven with other two stories: the story of an African young apprentice that turns into a medicine man after the death of his mentor during the African slave trade; the life of Adele, a French young woman, that decided to abandon her husband in order to fly away with her real lover, Jules, a fencing teacher, during the years that preceded the French Revolution. The connection between Amelia and Adele, the two main female characters, is amazingly evident. Both of them have left their husband after a twenty-year marriage and both of them are trying to empower themselves and to escape the traditional view that depicts women as obedient wives. They’re more than that. Also between Jules and Noah, the fencing teacher of Amelia’s daughter, there is an obvious connection. They’re both fencing teachers in two different eras. Noah’s trip to Paris is for him a revelatory journey of his past.
Daniela Norris tries to demonstrate throughout the novel that our life is not completely a series of man-made evolutionary experiences, but it is also full of coincidences and déjà-vu. Our current life might be influenced by past lives. Maybe there is a karmic connection with our past, but it’s something we can choose to believe or not. The idea of connecting three stories taking place into three different eras is what makes the novel even more powerful. I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series.

We approach this story on three different timelines. Whether or not these lines of time are peopled by the same souls is entirely up to us, the readers.

We encounter the witch-doctor of a small West African village in 1577. Childless himself, he takes on the training of the son of the local mute woman. From a young age, he trains this young man in the ways of a sixteenth-century community medicine man.

Amelia is the divorced mother of two teenagers in New York City in 2018. Her daughter Jen is deeply into fencing. Amelia, an author, has consulted a hypnotherapist concerning her problems with insomnia, anxieties and the weird, intense feelings of deja vu she experienced while in France a little over a month ago. Amelia is perhaps also getting deeply into fencing instructor Noah. Until ex-husband Don talks his way back into the family, that is.

Adele is 18, living in Gex, France in 1776. She has been courted by the local school teacher, Jules, who has her heart, but also lately she has been pursued by the son of a wealthy local shopkeeper, Pierre who promises her travel and Paris in time. Because her family prefers it and her friends encourage it, she decides to marry Pierre. They have two children together, but Adele is stifled in her confining life of wife and mother. Pierre will not allow her to work, even in the family-owned store, and they have never been out of the township of Gex. Her mother councils patience and gratitude for the life she has been gifted with.

We alternate between these three timelines, these three locales and cover many years, seeing these worlds through other eyes.

We see through the eyes of our in-training Medicine man as white slavers kidnap or murder all the young men of the village, the Witch Doctor and some of the women and girls, as well. The slavers leave behind only a shiny long pointed instrument of unknown purpose.

We look through the Eyes of Amelia as she talks Noah into a trip to modern France with her, to see if he too is haunted by the little city of Gex and the old parts of Paris.

And we see through the eyes of Adele, as she runs away with her schoolteacher Jules, now a fully qualified maitre-d'armes, once her children are grown, seeing Gux and Paris as it was during the French revolution.

What does it all mean? Do we believe in coincidence? Premonition? This book is the second of a trilogy but completely stand alone. I will be looking for the other two, to have the whole of the story in my hands.

I received a free electronic copy of this interesting novel from Netgalley, Daniela I Norris, and Roundfire Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this book of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

I have to hand it to the author; this one is a bit different from others I have read. I normally do not read books with different time eras mostly because I get a bit confused at times and don’t particularly like jumping back and forth between eras, but this one managed to hold my attention from the get-go, and the book was not that long a read, so it was not that difficult for me. In this case, there are three different story lines: present day New York, France during its revolution and 16th century West Africa. Present-day New Yorker Amelia is torn between a man she has a relationship with that she thinks can work and her husband who wants to try their marriage again. Then, there is Adele, in France, who is in a loveless marriage, not the wonderfully happy, glittering union she had dreamed of, and who still filled with the schoolteacher she wants (who just happens to cross her path). Finally, in Africa, the shaman’s apprentice witnesses white men destroy the village, taking up the role of the shaman, who must protect the village should the white men return. The author has made these stories intertwine with each other, through memories and dreams.

I do not like cliff hangers. Is this book one? Sort of. There really is no firm conclusion or ending—but there is also a third book in the trilogy. I did not know there was a first book that I had missed, but I did not have difficulty reading this one despite that. In addition, as I said, this one is not that long, I wondered if perhaps a better way to present the story would be in one longer version (if it was not too long). The ending left me unsatisfied, which is one reason I found this book difficult to really like as much as I wanted. As I said, I do not like cliff hangers. Nevertheless, the story, with the three tales mixed in nicely with each other, jumping from one to the other by chapter, moved well and was interesting. One thing that made it interesting were the three characters, around whom the story focused. Each was an interesting character herself, and, together, they made the book a fascinating read. This is a book that is a bit different, and I really think needs to be read as part of the trilogy, to get its full impact and story line. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

Description

Premonitions hints at past lives and common experiences, as it draws subtle connections between people on their personal quests for adventure, love and family. Amelia Rothman, a foreign-rights editor from New York, has a turbulent personal life. Adele Durand, a young French woman, marries the wrong man in 18th century revolutionary France. What do these two women have in common? Is it possible that an apprentice medicine-man in 15th century Africa and an ancient sword hold the answers to a question which transcends time itself? Premonitions in the second book in the Recognitions trilogy.

My Review.

Premonition is the second book in the Recognitions series. The story opens with a prologue set in 1500s West Africa where a healer works his premonitions magic on a baby. The story continues to Paris around the time of the French Revolution and then Amelia sets off on a journey to explore these other lives she learns she has lived through a hypnotherapy session.

Overall the book was enjoyable and easy to read. Would like to see more from this author.

This book was provided for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was surprised to find that this was the second book in a series, not that it mattered too much. Read in a day, as it was quite a short story with approx 176 pages. I tend to avoid books with different timelines as it's not something that i particularly like in a book, but must say that on this occasion, i did. It is the first time that i have read a book by this author and hope to read more.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers. This is my honest review, freely given.

Thanks to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I did not realize this was indeed the second in the series, if I had I would have read them in order. I don’t usually like books with different timelines and characters but this was the exception as it worked very well. Although the writing was enjoyable I found the ending abrupt and frustrating.

I received an ARC of this book from net galley, at the time i was unaware it was the second in a series.
I don't think the fact that I hadn't read the first novel impacted on my reading. However i do feel as though this book is unfinished.

Amelia is in a relationship with her daughter's fencing coach Noah. When her estranged husband asks for a second chance she reluctantly agrees. However their relationship seems more than strained and Amelia is herself unsettled by some strange results from recent hypnotherapy sessions that lead her to believe that she has led other lives/

The book becomes three narratives in West Africa of the 16th century, Paris around the time of the French Revolution and America in 2018. Amelia sets off on a journey to discover the realities of these other lives taking Noah with her.

For me the book's real narrative was not well portrayed. Her current relationships had no real purpose in the book and I feel the author would have been better to concentrate on the past lives scenario. It was a very quick read but lacked depth. Although i didn't dislike the book neither did it set my imagination alight and I have no real desire to go back to the first in the series or continue with the third.

I read this book without having read the first in the trilogy but this didn't stop me from enjoying or understanding the book. I will, however, go back and read 'Recognitions'.

'Premonitions' follows three story lines, set in present day New York, France at the time of the revolution and 16th century West Africa. In America, Amelia has a new relationship with a man she feels connected to, however her husband has asked if they can give it another go... In France, Adele lives in a loveless marriage. She had imagined a glittering life with her husband, with trips to Paris and dancing, and finds herself unhappy and unfulfilled by motherhood. She still holds a candle for the local schoolteacher and one day their paths cross again... Meanwhile in Africa, white men ransack a small village, taking away the young men and killing many. It is witnessed by the shaman's apprentice who must now take on the mantle of his teacher and become the witch doctor for the village and potentially protect the village should white men return.

To some extent the stories intertwine, through past life memories, or shadows of them, and dreams. But don't expect any conclusion at the end of this book as there is a third book to come.

I thoroughly enjoyed 'Premonitions'. My reasons for not giving it four stars are firstly that it seemed rather short and I wondered if the three books of the trilogy might sit better as three parts of a longer book? Also, it ended incredibly abruptly. I was reading on my Kindle and at 90% it was suddenly finished. The three stories had unfolded at such a lovely pace and then they simply stopped. The shaman's story had come to a moment of pause, but it with the stories I felt as though the end of the book had been torn out.

I look forward to the conclusion of the trilogy and recommend Daniela I Norris as an author. Her writing is well paced and easy to read and she easily drew me into the three different worlds.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book.

I liked this short book: it's engaging and entertaining. There were two issues: it was too short and I didn't read the first in this series even though I think I had no issues in understanding the plot and the characters.
I look forward to reading the other installment in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This novel is the second of a series of three novels, in which an Amelia Rothschild, an American mother, begins to recall lives that may or not be memories of earlier incarnations.
She feels impelled to take time off to visit France with a colleague who could be more, finally turning her back on her ex. The memories begun to clamour
Moving backwards in time, the story turns on the one hand to the memories of a young Shaman who lived in the fifteenth century and more particularly, to young mother and wife Adele Durand whom, despite her guilded cage of relative prosperity, feels stultified and utterly unfulfilled. That was surely, of course, the lot of most women those days, whose husbands did not encourage active participation in the affairs of the outside world. Gradually, though, we get to learn about her adolescent sweetheart, a schoolteacher who did not possess means, but who did capture her heart. But the year is 1789 and her true love has dedicated himself to a revolution, as both hasten to Paris......
Meanwhile in the present, our current heroine's friend also finds traumatic fragments of memory beginning to resurface, as they visit certain Parisian monuments. Where is this all leading?
The more grisly ramifications for Adele do not resurface in the way some readers might have wished for - this novel is not for horror afficionadoes, though end of this trail did seem to end a little abruptly. The main theme is of course about romantic love and how it may survive subsequent incarnations - and whether or not life dilemmas might be better resvedvon future incarnations. No doubt, the third edition in this trilogy will continue to pick up further lost threads.
This novel should certainly appeal to romantic-minded readers and those who are already fascinated by the question of whether or not there really can be memories of past lives.

This was the 2nd book in series by this author. I did not know that.
This was a paranormal great story line tjat will captivate you till the end. I did not know that too.
This was a short book to read. I wish I knew that too.
I am looking forward to another book by this author because what I read was great! You will find out that too!

“Premonitions” wraps three very different centuries and locales of people together thru a chain of subtle effects where the distance of time and place don’t really matter. The characters in each are believable and relatable with colorful descriptions. I hadn’t read the first book, “Recognitions”, but once the third book is released I think it would be best to start at the first and read thru all three. I could sense that I was missing something and I’m interested to see how the story of Adele/Jules and Amelia/Noah progress in the third book. This is a quick and entertaining read.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks so much to John Hunt Publishing, Roundfire Books and NetGalley for making it available.)

Premonitions is the second book, having not read the first one I did just fine with it. The book was surprisingly short, but I would read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book to read and review honestly.

It is probably because I did not read the first book in this trilogy before starting off with this one that I felt like something was amiss? I mean, like I was supposed to know something before but I didn't?

However, that did not make the story less interesting! It had me very intrigued from the start and things got eerier with the parallels between Amelia-Noah and Adele-Jules. I'm not sure I understood the relation with the African medicine man but all in all, it was a nice read.

This is a spooky love story about a couple who’s connection seems to span more than this life and how it is all interwoven with a witch doctor. It’s the second book in the trilogy and I can’t wait to read the last part as the ending left me desperate for more.

Premonitions

by Daniela Norris

A great sequel to Recognitions, a book I remember thoroughly enjoying a few years ago. In Premonitions, we meet all of the same characters as before, with the action still set in the same three very different eras. The story begins in West Africa in 1577 in a primitive village of mud huts and medicine men; it then moves forward to 2018 before moving back to 1770s France. The action alternates, in staccato chapters back and forth between the three time frames as the past life links between the characters in each era becomes ever more apparent. At the story almost feels autobiographical, especially when Norris mentions writing her previous book, Recognitions and makes references to the writing of this one. My one reservation with this book is its length - I was reading it on my Kindle and it said I had another 22mins to go, when it came to an abrupt and totally unexpected end. I thought there must be an error, but it seems not. I read it in one evening and it left me feeling that this three part series would have been better published as one, or at the most, two books. With thanks to Netgalley, John Hunt Publishing and Roundfire Books for the ARC in return for an honest review.