I was so confused on what was going on that I had to dnf at like 83 pages. The premise is pretty cool but the execution was not. Especially when I spent most of it going "huh???"

This was not the book for me.
The world/magic system wasn't clearly explained and I found myself lost and trying to catch up more often than not.
I did enjoy the main characters, however the most intriguing character to me was Cypress and he didn't appear all that much.
That being said, if there is a second book with Elle and Cypress' adventure I will be in line to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for access to this e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

I don't think this was a bad book. It just wasn't really my style. I was intrigued by the plot summary, but felt like there wasn't enough world building and it just didn't keep my attention very easily.

I definitely think this would be suited for YA fantasy readers and I usually enjoy YA fantasy, but this is much better suited for a younger audience.

This book starts off with a really interesting concept — Elle can only remember falling from the sky. This fantasy story is wrapped in the big mystery that will require Elle to recover her memories from the sky castle.

A wizard broke Elle’s soul into pieces and stole her memories. Her last memory was of falling from the sky, which made no sense. After escaping the house she was locked into, the outside world seemed vicious and beautiful. Magic was everywhere, everyone was selfish, and even those telling the truth lied. Elle believed recovering her memories was possible with the sky-castle from her dreams, but getting there required magic she didn’t have. Getting an enchanted painting, stealing a sword from a dragon’s den, and outwitting a demon was the beginning of her journey, and she didn't know where it would end.

This is the first volume in a new series and is very fast-paced. With Elle's missing memories, just about everything is a mystery. This definitely serves as a hook to draw us in from the start. The House was empty, and she had a single friend willing to help her escape. Then she met Adair, a master wizard who was callous and cruel, who had magically cut out his heart and placed it inside a painting, where it named itself Leslie. The wizard's full name had been Leslie Adair, Leslie wanted to help Elle while Adair wanted to remain alone. The trio eventually joins up to find the castle in the air from Elle's dreams, and the dwarf adventurer Honeycutt needs her magic soul-rending sword to defeat the magician calling himself a God within the castle.

The journey to gain allies and find the castle is a fun and twisting one. There are some clues along the way as to what really happened, but it all clicks into place in the final quarter of the novel. Elle learned magic the hard way and tried to figure out how the Demon manipulated them throughout the journey. We still don't know exactly why by the end, though demons bartering in souls for power and boredom seems to be as good an answer as any. The soul splitting and memories tied to it was new to me and kept me reading for more. It's an interesting concept, and a great start to a series exploring the world, the magic available, and what happens next.

Not gonna lie, this book was a little disappointing. The story is extremely confusing at the beginning. The first 100 pages I kept asking myself, “what’s supposed to be happening right now?” The synopsis given for the book doesn’t align with the story very well either. What’s mentioned in the synopsis doesn’t happen until 2/3rds of the way into the book! I didn’t enjoy the book dragging for the first 200 pages. There was so much of nothing going on. I understand the introduction of characters and some of the required world building but I didn’t feel like the major plot of the story was present until nearly the end. I guess the “major twist” of the story at about page 120. It’s very obvious and almost upsetting to know what the end is going to look like. The pacing is clunky and the book is really wordy. A lot was repeated over and over and over. Even some of the nuances of the characters were used multiple times to a point of annoyance. The only reason I’m giving the book 3 stars is for the action scenes. Salem knows how to write a good fight. That’s about it. The characters are shallow. The writing is elementary. The pacing is a mess. For a debut though, it’s okay. Not great! But I made it through.

Jackery Salem weaves a tale of finding yourself even in the darkest of life's moments. Elle doesn't remember anything before she fell from the sky, but her tenacity and determination lead her on a quest to recover her memories and leads to so much more.

At the start of the book you feel just as lost as Elle, but as the story builds and pieces are put together, the action and emotions of the characters weaves a beautiful story and the ending is action packed.

Thank you to Net Galley for the early access, as well as the author and publisher.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2.75/5 stars

This was...fine. The concept was interesting, the writing wasn't bad....but it felt very incomplete. It was like the author had storyboarded out the major plot points, but failed to implement smooth transitions between scenes. It was very unpolished in my opinion and left me more confused than satisfied most of the time.

I would definitely want this author to keep writing, but I wouldn't recommend this particular book too highly.

Nobody loves to DNF but I've come to realise that if you are not enjoying there's no point forcing yourself to read it.

Sadly i had to DNF this book at 54%. Even though this book was beautifully written i was not able to get hooked to the story. Even if I would have finished it I, would have given it a very low rating and I didn't really want that.

In case of Fantasy I love romance, which was missing in here... The plot was moving too slowly, i found myself skipping multiple pages in certain instances to understand what happened.

It still might click for someone else, it just didn't do for my taste.
Thank you for sharing with me this copy of the book.

An exciting story following Elle on her quest to find out where she comes from, chasing lost memories taken from her. Just like life, she finds that one mystery leads to another rather than giving her answers she just gets more questions ! An enjoyable story that left me wanting to read more.

I thought this was a well fast paced book with an interesting concept and I enjoyed it, but I don’t think it was all for me!

What I Didn’t Like:
-The opening is jarring. You feel like you don’t know WHAT is going on. In fact this whole fantasy world takes a little time to get used to and feel settled in.
-I’m not a fan of original spelling to show regional dialect and this book has a character written that way.
-Despite having a main character who appeared young, this never really felt like a young adult book. There’s nothing inherently adult about it, nothing that would make me hesitate when handing it to a young adult reader, it’s just worth mentioning that it didn’t feel like it would fit the current market for that age group.

What I Did Like:
+The jarring nature of the opening IS sort of the point. You are confused, right along with Elle, about how this world works. As much as that can feel frustrating, it is a GREAT TOOL to put you in the mindset of our main character.
+The Magic system seems pretty cool. As it builds up and you start to learn a little about how this elemental magic system functions, it’s pretty interesting.
+I love when tropes are played around with in interesting ways. Grumpy and sunshine in a found family dynamic is a trope crossover I didn’t even know I wanted. Then you add in the creative way this played with found family and this one goes down as a very creative use of trope twists.

Who Should Read This One:
-Readers, like me, who enjoy when tropes are played around with.
-Fantasy fans who like things a little darker.
-Magic fans who like when a magical world is explored through the eyes of a new user.

My Rating: 4 Stars
Well written book for fantasy fans.

I really tried with this one but ultimately I lost interest. At first I was enjoying it but after awhile the MC became annoying and all the falling felt trite. I just couldn’t get into the story or the characters. Not for me. 2.5 rounded up to 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

Magical. A truly beautiful read with plenty going on to keep you entertained.I really liked Elle and really felt the frustration if her lost memories,

Thank you NetGalley and Derealization Press for an advanced arc to review. All opinions are my own.

There are books that you absolutely love, and there are books that just don't hit you right. While I had no complaints about this book, it just wasn't for me.

The concept and ideas in this book were fascinating, I immensely enjoyed discovering and piecing together what happened to our FMC, who lost all her memories when she fell out of the sky. Some of the plot twists and discoveries were a long time coming, there wasn't a a lot of subtlety in that regard but this author held out on one or two surprises at the end which I appreciated.

Unfortunately, I did not like our main characters very much and that really affected my reading experience. This started almost immediately from the beginning when Elle made some rather awful decisions in order to save herself. I think one character was supposed to be written as unlikeable but, for me, they all seemed selfish and not the kind of people I would want to go on a quest with. Or even to a grocery store. There's one side character who I would have loved to see more of, but I'm pretty sure they will become a more prominent character in the next book!

I did enjoy the world-building. It's a narrow view of the world, even with shifting POVs but I liked the descriptions of different places they visited, the magic system, as well as the few side characters seen. There is a big theme in regards to grief, and I think it was written really well. There are a lot of ways that a person grieves, how they process and how they deal with things that are out of their control. This was done exceptionally well by the author so kudos!

The climatic scenes towards the end of the book did hook me in finally, and I felt like I could really appreciate the character's journey to get to this point. It will be interesting to see where things continue on.

This book gives me so many Alice in wonderland,Narnia and Coraline vibes ! We starts with a young woman who decide to go after her memories in a world full of threats and magic. Some people may complain about the lack of explanation for some of the magical elements or the world building,but for me it all settled very well if we considerate even the MC know everything than was going on. The visuals of this book where on point ! Full of magic and beauty,such well and fast paced written. Highly would recommend this one !
Thank you net galley for having my opinion on this one !

I'll admit that when I read the summary, I was immediately intrigued, but that first chapter had me questioning things…

Thankfully, I'm one of those to give a book at least the first 50 pages before admitting defeat. And I'm so glad I stuck it out!

The book may start a bit odd, but it truly is amazing, and I'm curious to see how the story progresses.

This book was a fun quick read. I wish the story went more into world building and provided a litfle more depth. Overall I did enjoy the story but never felt completely hooked.

This book almost gave me Coraline vibes during the first half of it. It's a fun tail about love, loss, and realizing things about yourself. I ended up loving all the main characters. All their personalities were unique and complimented each other well. I enjoyed how everything came together at the end and all my questions were answered.

Where the Lightning Goes by Jackary Salem is a novel that follows Elle, a young woman who has had her memories stolen by a powerful wizard, leaving her locked away in a house. After managing to escape, she finds herself in a world filled with magic and danger, with her only clue to her past being a memory of falling from the sky. Elle sets out on a quest to recover her memories and find the key to her past, encountering mythical creatures and facing numerous challenges along the way.

One of the standout aspects of this book is its fascinating concept and the fast-paced nature of the story. The characters are well-written and the queer representation is a welcome addition to the narrative. However, the lack of explanation regarding the world and the magic system can be frustrating and confusing, with elements appearing without any prior mention or explanation. The inconsistency throughout the book and the lack of subtlety in the hints and foreshadowing also detracts from the overall reading experience.

While the quest narrative is meant to drive the story, it doesn't always feel fully supported by the actual events of the book, leaving the reader with many unanswered questions. Additionally, the language and wording can feel off at times, making it difficult to stay engaged with Elle's chapters.

In summary, Where the Lightning Goes has an intriguing concept and some well-written characters, but the lack of explanation of the world and magic system, inconsistencies throughout the book, and lack of subtlety in the hints and foreshadowing may make it hard for readers to stay fully engaged with the story.