4.5 STARS

What a completely original and engrossing story!! It’s difficult to categorize this book into one specific genre but I could not put it down.

A compelling story of a psychic-medium filled with self-doubt, this book also delves into a mystery with lots of dysfunctional family drama along the way. There’s also a bittersweet romance but it’s all done beautifully.

The story is told in separate points of view from Thomas and Sylvie’s perspectives. Both have more in common than they first think. Thomas is looking for a career-saving piece of investigative journalism, by exposing Sylvie as a fraud. Although Sylvie seemed like the real deal to me (I do believe in psychics and intuition), she herself is filled with doubts.

”Is Thomas right that I’m rationalizing fraud? My reflection in the mirror blurs, like I’m losing definition, beginning to disappear. My heart doubles its beat. No. I’m the real deal and help people.”

Both are masters of manipulation and gamesmanship and I loved the cat-and-mouse lasted of the story. Sylvie takes a big gamble allowing Thomas to meet her family but the encounter pays off for Sylvie: Thomas finally sees the dysfunction that has shaped her.

Whether or not you believe in mediums or psychics, this book offers a fascinating glimpse into the “business” side of things. Will Thomas ever fully trust Sylvie or believe in her gifts? And do they have enough trust to love each other unconditionally?

Burying my face in her hair, I whisper, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You will,” she replies. “It’s the human condition.”

There’s also so much more to this magical book: the foster care system, mental health, repairing family relationships, as well as the beautiful bond Sylvie and Thomas both have with their pets Moose and Christopher Robins. This book really defies genres and I hope it gets the wide audience it deserves. Part thriller, part romance and a tiny bit paranormal, Sylvie and Thomas truly came alive as characters in this very original, touching and gripping story. I read a lot of books, but this inventive plot really stands out. Highly recommend!!

(Special thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy via NetGalley! All thoughts are my own.)

This ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and WOW.

I cried multiple times reading this - and it’s been a short while since a book has moved me to tears. I found myself incredibly drawn to both Sylvie and Thomas as characters, feeling like I watched them grow and grow in the short span of time that they knew one another.

It was beautiful, it was frustrating. I loved it.

"Today an image slips through the carefully constructed peace . . .
Pale sand beneath my feet, a blue-green ocean, foam nibbling at my bare toes. Behind me, a castle—ornate turrets dotted with pale pink shells, a drawbridge made from delicately curved driftwood, beneath it, a moat where tiny paper boats rock in the breeze. A wave gathers on the horizon. It grows taller and white horses gallop across its face. When the wall of salt water strikes, the castle will be destroyed and with it a treasure, something precious . . .
The vision disintegrates. Ghostly lips brush my cheek. I know what’s coming next. A whisper I’ve heard intermittently my entire life."
--------------------------------------
"“It’s important you understand that I don’t have a clear definition for what I do. Psychics use their intuition or spiritual guides to gain information about the past, present, or future. Mediums are channels that deliver messages from those who have passed over. I’ve been called a psychic-medium, and that’s as good a definition as any. But the truth is that I’m not sure why I hear voices, see images, sing at times, or scribble notes—it just happens and I can’t tell you how because I truly don’t understand it.”"

Sylvie Young has just gotten a TV deal, the product of a successful run of live stage performances and a top-tier agent. Life is good, and about to get better. Sylvie’s shows are of the psychic sort. Select audience members, offer a connection to a lost one, solve some riddles, answer some unanswered questions, and mostly, offer comfort. Syl is very good at this. But not all of her connections are of the psychic sort.

Thomas Holmes is a cynical reporter on a mission. For personal reasons, Holmes believes that all psychics are fakers. It is elementary. His current project is to profile several psychic-mediums, intending to expose their chicanery and, if at all possible, destroy their careers. Which is something he knows a bit about. His own career in journalism has suffered some major blows, to the point where this major takedown piece may be his last chance to salvage his own career.

Both are struggling to deal with their origin stories (Sylvie even opens her shows by telling hers, at least what she knows of it) and their self doubts. Sylvie’s arc is a quest to find out what really happened to her biological parents, explain why she is beset by nightmares of a particular sort, and maybe discover where she acquired her very real personal talent. But is it real, really? Thomas suffered a trauma in his youth that has defined his life. Until he can confront that, the life he has made for himself will never be a proper fit. This is the true core of what Nan Fischer is writing about.

"One of the seeds that started this novel with my fascination with imposter syndrome—the inability to believe one’s success has been legitimately achieved or deserved. I wanted to create a character, Sylvie, on the cusp of achieving great success but who doesn’t quite believe she deserves it. I made Sylvie a psychic as that gift is controversial—the perfect job for someone doubting her abilities due to all the critics!" - from Hey It’s Carly Rae interview

Thomas has run into some dead ends digging into her past. There are no records of her parents’ supposed plane crash deaths when she was four. He wants her help to dig into this further. She has an interest, as it is a mystery to her as well. And if she can prove to him that she is not a grief vampire, he will drop her from his story. Of course, he expects he will never have to make good on that, as psychic powers are all BS, right? And the game is afoot.

"the stories we tell from childhood that have shaped who we are – are based on old and sometimes faulty memories. It’s up to each of us to decide what to accept or discard from our origin stories and to decide who we ultimately want to be in life". - from the Jean Book Nerd interview

Many of the curtains Sylvie needs to part were placed there by others. Thomas erected his barriers to self-knowledge himself. Part of their interaction is Syl challenging Thomas to look deeper into the sources of his own demons, as Thomas challenges Sylvie to examine the ethics of how she is making her living. ("What was the fair lady's game? What did she really want?" - Sherlock Holmes in The Second Stain)

As one might expect from a book categorized as romance, these two develop an attraction. That complicates matters. How can a journalist write an objective piece about someone with whom he is romantically engaged? He may be trying to take her down, but she is also looking for ways to manipulate him into a more benign view of her and her work. The cynic vs psychic dynamic is entertaining for a while, but Thomas’s relentless disregard of evidence gets a bit old. Really, dude? Still?

Fischer gives us a particularly interesting look at the profession of psychic-medium, offering a perspective that elevates it beyond being merely a connection to another side, whether real or faked. She connects it to something greater.

The structure is alternating chapters, his and hers, both first-person narratives. The voices are effectively different. It is a cat-and-mouse competition, although it could easily be a cat-and-dog one. Sylvie’s constant companion is a very large Great Dane, and Thomas travels with an elderly feline. (Fischer even manages to give her own dog, Boone, a cameo) He keeps trying to find holes in her schtick. She keeps trying to move him beyond the purely factual. Another Holmes might say when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth, but Thomas clings to his biases tenaciously.

I was not all that taken in by their supposed attraction, never quite bought it, and wanted the sex scenes to be over quickly. But I did enjoy their mutual interest in helping each other out. I also had trouble with Sylvie’s relationship with her parents, who seemed far more reluctant to share information with their daughter than seemed reasonable, particularly considering that she is a grown-ass woman when she is pleading for intel about her past, intel that they have. Their rejection of her seemed unnatural, very un-parental.

What keeps the story moving along is a steady stream of interesting clues and the pair’s ingenuity on following up on them. There are some pretty nifty twists. It is fun tagging along on the procedural, mystery-solving element of the story. Overall, Some of It May Be Real is an engaging story, a mystery, wrapped in a bit of fantasy, a quest of self-discovery featuring an ongoing cynic-psychic battle, as both Sylvie and Thomas dig into their origins as a way to confront their demons and feelings of inauthenticity. It offers some intrigue, some chills and some very real tears. It is authentically entertaining.

"What surprised me most about writing Some Of It Was Real was that I thought my research would lead me to a conclusion about what I believe. I watched documentaries, movies, and TV shows about psychics, clairvoyants and mediums and read studies and articles written by individuals whose goals are to prove the supernatural is a hoax. But in the end, the only real conclusion I drew was that some of it might be real." - from Thoughts From a Page Podcast

Review posted – August 26, 2022

Publication date – July 28, 2022


I received an ARE of Some of It Was Real from Berkley in return for a fair review. Wait, does the number four have any particular meaning for you? I am also seeing something shiny. Sparkles, maybe? No, stars. Yes, definitely stars. Thanks, folks.

For the full review, with formatting, and links to interviews and more, please head to my site, https://cootsreviews.com/2022/08/26/some-of-it-was-real-by-nan-fischer/

I absolutely adored this book and can't say enough good things about it! I've made it my mission to spread the word, especially on Bookstagram, because I believe this book deserves more hype.

I don’t want to pigeonhole this one as a romance; it is a romance, but it’s also a bit of a mystery and family drama, too. Sylvie is an up-and-coming psychic medium on the verge of stardom, and Thomas is an investigative reporter for the LA Times. Desperate for a big story, he sets out to prove Sylvie is a fraud and “grief vampire” who takes advantage of mourning people. Sylvie, meanwhile, was adopted out of the foster care system at age 6 and is desperate to learn about her birth parents, though their identities seem to have been wiped from state records.

Do you believe in psychics?

I grew up in the era of Miss Cleo TV ads and famed television psychics promising all the answers... and most everyone I knew believed them all to be scammers. I've had my palm read and done countless tarot card readings, had my future displayed in a crystal ball and even had a professional read my tea leaves. Did any of the predictions come true? No. Would I still do all those things again? Of course! It's fun to believe!

In Some of It Was Real, a journalist, who's mother has ben bankrupted by the "grief-vampires" threatens to expose famous psychics including a young medium named Sylvie Young. He's determined to prove her a fraud - and although she does research some of her audience members - she's set to prove some of it IS real.

Together though, these two have a LOT of secrets and when things start coming to light- it might just destroy them both.

This was a fun look into the life of famous psychic-mediums and all that goes into living with such special abilities and sharing them with the world. I loved how these two souls collided and whether you are a believer or not, you will walk away believing that anything, is possible.

‘Maybe that’s why there are no do-overs in life. You can’t survive if you have to replay situations, hurt the people you love again and again.’

Some of it was Real by Nan Fischer is nothing at all like we expected. We thought more along the lines of a romcom and we couldn’t have been more wrong if we tried. This story is a real heartbreaker of a story. A woman lost in life seeking answers and peace through her psychic abilities and a broken man self-enforced to live in his brother’s shoes whilst needing to prove that clairvoyants are con artists. This is the story of Sylvie and Thomas, brought together at a point on their timeline where one needs the other no matter how much they’d argue against that notion. It was fraught with passion, emotion and mystery. It was weighted by tears, heartbreak and guilt. It was shrouded in deception, lies and manipulations. This Author wrote a powerful book with complex and intriguing characters in Sylvie and Thomas, both of whom have had traumatic pasts, both suffering from some type of identity issue; a compelling page turner from start till finish. We couldn’t put it down.

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

Sylvie has grown up in a very religious home, one which she joined from foster care at a very young age. Whilst she remembers everything since the day she arrived, what came before is hidden and locked away. Sylvie dreams, she hears voices and she communicates with the dead. However, her own tragic story eludes her grasp. Her adoptive parents have all but disowned her as she travels the country putting on psychic medium shows helping people find peace. The burden on her shoulders is not an easy one as she suffers the premonitions and the heartbreak as if it was happening to her. She’s say she’s happy and content but Sylvie is anything but. She’s desperate to find out who she is and where she came from. Her confidence is at its lowest, she feels alone and scared. However, no one wants to help, rather the one man she feels a tinge of connection with is hellbent on destroying her and ‘her fraudulent kind’.

‘The worst blows, even when they’re not intended to harm, are the ones we don’t expect.’

Thomas needs someone to blame for his mums unhappiness and struggles. He needs someone or something to save him. Although, he doesn’t believe he is the one needing saving. Rather he carries an enormous guilt on his shoulders for what happened to his dad and brother. Thomas wants and needs to be liked, loved and accepted for himself. But first he must disprove everything to do with psychic mediums.

‘If you let people get too close, you’d have to answer the hard questions, and they’d really know you…’

Sylvie and Thomas journey was vividly compelling and exhaustive. It was frustrating, distressing and intensely thrilling. It was hopeful, sweet and powerful. It was quite the surprise read and we’re so happy to have gone in blind, having no inkling on what was in store or to come as we frantically power read the end with our mouths hitting our kindles. What a fabulous surprise this book was!

‘There are moments when you know, with absolute certainty, that if you take a step, utter a word, or make a decision, nothing will ever be the same. There is no return to before – and for better or worse, your life will begin again from that moment on.’

This book was enemies to lovers (ish) romance was a surprise delight! Sylvie is a professional psychic medium and Thomas is determined to prove she's a fraud. Together they spend a week travelling and getting to know one another while also searching into the mystery of Sylvie's past. Part family mystery, part steamy romance and 100% fun. I loved Sylvie's emotional support dog and that Thomas travelled with his aging cat. Great on audio and definitely worth the read!! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

‘Maybe that’s why there are no do-overs in life. You can’t survive if you have to replay situations, hurt the people you love again and again.’

Some of it was Real by Nan Fischer is nothing at all like we expected. We thought more along the lines of a romcom and we couldn’t have been more wrong if we tried. This story is a real heartbreaker of a story. A woman lost in life seeking answers and peace through her psychic abilities and a broken man self-enforced to live in his brother’s shoes whilst needing to prove that clairvoyants are con artists. This is the story of Sylvie and Thomas, brought together at a point on their timeline where one needs the other no matter how much they’d argue against that notion. It was fraught with passion, emotion and mystery. It was weighted by tears, heartbreak and guilt. It was shrouded in deception, lies and manipulations. This Author wrote a powerful book with complex and intriguing characters in Sylvie and Thomas, both of whom have had traumatic pasts, both suffering from some type of identity issue; a compelling page turner from start till finish. We couldn’t put it down.

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

Sylvie has grown up in a very religious home, one which she joined from foster care at a very young age. Whilst she remembers everything since the day she arrived, what came before is hidden and locked away. Sylvie dreams, she hears voices and she communicates with the dead. However, her own tragic story eludes her grasp. Her adoptive parents have all but disowned her as she travels the country putting on psychic medium shows helping people find peace. The burden on her shoulders is not an easy one as she suffers the premonitions and the heartbreak as if it was happening to her. She’s say she’s happy and content but Sylvie is anything but. She’s desperate to find out who she is and where she came from. Her confidence is at its lowest, she feels alone and scared. However, no one wants to help, rather the one man she feels a tinge of connection with is hellbent on destroying her and ‘her fraudulent kind’.

‘The worst blows, even when they’re not intended to harm, are the ones we don’t expect.’

Thomas needs someone to blame for his mums unhappiness and struggles. He needs someone or something to save him. Although, he doesn’t believe he is the one needing saving. Rather he carries an enormous guilt on his shoulders for what happened to his dad and brother. Thomas wants and needs to be liked, loved and accepted for himself. But first he must disprove everything to do with psychic mediums.

‘If you let people get too close, you’d have to answer the hard questions, and they’d really know you…’

Sylvie and Thomas journey was vividly compelling and exhaustive. It was frustrating, distressing and intensely thrilling. It was hopeful, sweet and powerful. It was quite the surprise read and we’re so happy to have gone in blind, having no inkling on what was in store or to come as we frantically power read the end with our mouths hitting our kindles. What a fabulous surprise this book was!

‘There are moments when you know, with absolute certainty, that if you take a step, utter a word, or make a decision, nothing will ever be the same. There is no return to before – and for better or worse, your life will begin again from that moment on.’

Fun, refreshingly original and not what you expect, but thoroughly good fun!

At first, I felt a little cheered as I thought this would be a cheery, feel-good romance, and true there is romance but not what I expected. Yet once I started reading I fell in step with the story and began to love it for what it was.

Once you forget all about this being a romance (yes there is romance entwined, but that is not the main focus of the story) this is a solid, mesmerizing and enticing read. The characters are wonderfully written and you can't help root for them and the plot is so original, I ended ed up being completely glued to the page

I loved the plot, it's delightful and intriguing and well worth a read if you are yearning for something a little different|!

Some of It Was Real was unlike any contemporary romance I've read recently.

Sylvie is a psychic-medium who doesn't completely understand her gift or her impending fame. Thomas is an LA Times reporter who wants to prove she's a fraud. Together they go on a journey to explore family trauma, the mystery of Sylvie's origins, the truth of her gift, and the reality of their attraction for one another.

I enjoyed every moment.

I’ve read several fiction books recently about magic and psychics and I guess that’s a current trend. This is also a story about family, trauma, and believing in yourself.

** I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

A lovely story focused on a psychic medium and a journalist who is determined to out her as a fraud. Fischer takes two characters who are broken by their pasts and helps them heal together.

I really enjoyed Sylvie's progression as a character. Author Nan Fischer did an excellent job of taking readers through Sylvie's journey and how she discovers who she really is. That particular part of the plot felt natural and realistic. The mystery was compelling and made an impact.

While I understood Thomas's driving need to expose Sylvie as a fraud and his dedication to his story, somehow I felt like their portions didn't gel. In the parts where the two are bickering or downright fighting about her claim to being a true psychic-medium, the tension and conflict felt appropriate. The romance that develops between them just didn't seem to fit. It came off more as a distraction than anything else, and while the writing was good I found myself getting impatient in those sections to find out more about Sylvie's past. At times the romance and the mystery were competing for my attention, and it felt like the book wasn't completely sure what it wanted to be in those chapters.

I wanted to know more about Sylvie's work and to hear more stories about the people she'd helped or not (including the people Thomas had planted at her shows.) The ending felt a little messy and unsure of itself. Reading Sylvie's portions made up for that.

If you like books about mediums and want to "visit" Portland through a novel, then this might be for you.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing, for the gifted copy of Some of It Was Real. 🔮{partner}

Genre: Fiction
Trope: Romance/Mystery
Format: 📖
Pub Date: 7.26.2022
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆.5

"If someone you loved met a violent end or suffered an illness before passing, that wasn't their life. It was all the years before then - every joy, celebration, adventure, and love. Death is only a moment."

I went into Some of It Was Real thinking it would mainly be a romance — I was very wrong. The first 100 pages of this book had an exceptional tense undertone. I kept telling myself, 'one more chapter, one more chapter,' until I finally had to force myself to put the book down. But, once I had set the book down, I wanted to pick it up again and see where the story would take me.

Psychics and mediums have always been an interest of mine. Do I know that there are fakes out there who scam people? Yes. But, I think there are people out there who are authentic. So, amongst all the drama of this story, I was still cheering for Sylvie.

As for the characters, I loved Sylvie. I knew she came with a lot of baggage (her parents treat her terribly), but I still liked her. I didn't love Thomas; he was too wishy-washy for me. I wanted him to either get on with it or get over it. But, the stars of the show? They were Moose and Chris (dog and cat). They were my favorites, and I was a mess reading the chapters that focused on Chris' health decline.

🔎 Tense - more of a mystery than I expected
😤🥰 Enemies to lovers romance
📖 One more chapter.. one more chapter
🐕🐈 Chris & Moose

❌ - This story deals with death (of all kinds), but the most brutal chapter for me was losing Chris (no spoiler, you know it's coming from the first encounter). The death of an animal is never easy, especially when that animal has been with us for almost our whole life.

Special thanks to Berkeley Publishing Groupand Netgalley for the ARC of this book..

This story is about psychic mediums and Sylvie Young, a psychic medium has been gaining more and more popularity, buy at times is unsure of herself. Just as she is on the edge of her big break, she is approached by a man named Thomas who happens to be a reporter who wants to write a story on her, exposing inconsistencies in her background. Which I admit were intriguing.. Thomas also had a bad experience w her line of work and thinks allpsychic mediums are frauds.

The book picks up at just about 35% and I just loved Sylvies character. Such a kind hearted person and sweet. I didn't like Thomas at first, but surprisingly I wound up liking him as they take a journey into Sylvie's past. There is a lot of grief here and turning from enemy to lover plot.

I'm not a fan of love stories but this story did not disappoint me, rather kept me interested to find out the mystery of Sylvie's past. I liked this book. I'm kind of into psychic mediums myself although probably 95% ARE really frauds. Don't quote me on those stats.

Not a book for everyone but I enjoyed it and would still recommend it. I give it 4 stars for a rating.

This was a book that took some time for me to finish. I found the concept of this read interesting with psychic-medium Sylvie Young who has been steadily gaining popularity and is on the cusp of her big break when she’s approached by Thomas Holmes, a reporter who is out to show the world the truth behind her abilities. While he’s convinced she’s a fraud due to inconsistencies regarding her background, they end up going on a journey together to find Sylvie’s true origin story.

Initially, I was not a fan of Thomas’s character and had a tough time connecting with his POV. I think that’s what had me putting this book down several times, but Sylvie’s character had me picking it up again. I liked her kindness and how she cared so much about not letting others down. I started to really become invested about 40% in. However, once I did I didn’t want to put the book down. The mystery surrounding Sylvie’s background were intriguing and I had to know more. This was an emotional journey that surprised me in the end.

When I first heard about this book, I was very intrigued! After reading it, however, I don't feel like it lived up to the hype I built around it. I will say that this book was a very cute, very quick read. The relationship built around the main characters was sweet, but not something I was completely invested in. I guess my one problem was that I couldn't connect with the characters. I can see how this book will appeal to others though! So, if you're in the mood for a quick, cute read, than this is the book for you.

The saga of me picking up books from a genre I don't typically read continues. Well it wasn't bad. I was intrigued by the psychic theme. I wanted the magical realism vibes, and I got them. Sylvie is a rising star as a psychic, till Thomas enters her world and wants to expose her as a fraud. He has his own motivations to prove that there's no such thing as clairvoyance, and that Sylvie is just a con artist. Both of them go on a journey together to learn more about Sylvie and her past, as well as prove the other person wrong.

There's a bit of a mystery witch Sylvie's past. There's a lot of dealings with grief. There's enemies to lovers plot line. They all kind of worked for me, and did not disappoint. There's a bit of darkness, and quite a lot of sadness that is weaved through out the book.

I'm not an expert on romances, but this was enjoyable.

P.S. The cat dies.

Favorite Quotes:

My memories are a nest of spiders suddenly caught in bright light. They skitter to dark corners.

“Scott and I have been divorced for three years. Heart problems did us in.” “Was he sick?” “No. He thought I was missing mine.”

My Review:

I have a new favorite author who has scribbled out an exceptional piece of writing with uncommonly engaging prose and evocative arrangements of words that smacked me around and squeezed my insides. I could see and hear these people and their revelations and interactions gave me chicken skin! The unpredictable yet realistically unbelievable while believable storylines were laced together with a powerfully emotive writing style that kept me on edge, nibbling on my cuticles, and anxious and even somewhat fearful to keep reading. I generally despise angst but this was fantastic!

Okay, I’m making this prediction now. This book is going to have some serious HYPE! Aaah I loved this one so much!

From the very first page, I was sucked into the story and did not want to stop reading. I fell in love with Sylvie and Thomas. Their personalities were so well written and I found it so interesting how I initially didn’t see them as compatible, but I definitely changed my mind as I kept reading.

This book was so much more than a love story though. Actually, the romance portion seemed to be more of a secondary plot. The main storyline is full of mystery, more of a search for the truth. It was actually perfection.

I do wish that I could’ve seen more of Sylvie and Thomas’ future, but I don’t think that was the point of the story. It also didn’t take away from this book for me at all, so really I shouldn’t complain!

This review has been posted on my Goodreads and my Bookstagram.