It is a light story and easy to read. The world building isn't the most complex within the genre and I was confused by some inconsistencies within the narrative. I found the characters interesting, but nothing memorable and neither of them stood out particularly to me. After the plot twist near the end I was excited thinking the ending was going to be something great, but it left an underwhelming aftertaste.
Overall, I don't think it's a bad story, just that I would have liked better character development and a more impactful ending.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I read this in one setting up half of the night to finish it because I was so entrantsed in the story. It was so good. I really liked this book.
I just reviewed Where the Lightning Goes by Jackary Salem. #WheretheLightningGoes #NetGalley
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A big thanks to NetGalley and Derealization Press for providing for an eARC exchange for an honest review. As well as Derealization Press and YABC for then providing a physical ARC.

What is your first memory? Perhaps it's something mundane like an early birthday or your first bicycle. For Elle, her first memory is falling out of the sky.

Where the Lightning Goes by Jackary Salem is a YA fantasy novel that follows the life of Elle, after a wizard tore her soul in half and stole all her memories. Just an ordinary Tuesday, right? Elle's only remaining memory is of falling out of the sky. Which leaves plenty of the plot to answer and fill in with mystery and intrigue you will only find in a Jackary Salem novel. Escaping from her bleak home, Elle is faced with a world that has a bite worse than its bark. And the only way she hopes to survive it, is by gaining her magic. But that's easier said than done.

What I liked most about Where the Lightning Goes is that it was a never-ending unraveling mystery. Where one mystery ended another began, and so on and so forth until we were met with that dramatic plot twist, then decent end. Which often lead to me being confused as to what was actually going on. But Salem had a way of reeling me back in with their delicate lyrical writing.

Though if I were to change anything, I feel Salem needed to add just a few more hints as to what all was going on. Their mystery and intrigue often muddled the story and hurt the plot. To the point that I nearly wanted to give up and pick something else to read. But Elle kept it going. Along with the awesomeness that was Adair, Honeycutt, and Leslie of course.

Overall, this is a solid fantasy that I would recommend to anyone just starting to get into the genre that won't mind a few head turns and confusion.

Description
After a powerful wizard tears Elle's soul apart and steals her memories, she's locked in a house to rot. Her only remaining memory is of falling from the sky,
I enjoyed this book over all although i did not particularly like all the characters in the book but the way they are written makes sense to the over all story and I did like the main character. I enjoyed the world building and magic system and found it interesting. I have read a lot of fantasy books lately and this felt different to what I have been reading which I found enjoyable.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an
ARC of this book

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the book’s publisher for the advanced review copy. The world-building and plot were intricate, and overall, I found the story immersive. However, I struggled a bit with the characterization. Between Adair, Adair’s heart, Leslie, Clarissa, Elle, Perun, the wizard, the older demon and the younger version, Quincy, there way simply way too much going on and it was quite difficult to follow. And the Painted Lady seemed too alike the talking portrait from Harry Potter, as if the author liberally borrowed the idea. Altogether, however, I think readers will like it, but it seems a bit too complex for YA readers to follow. I would target new adults as my targeted audience if I were the one marketing this book. Then again, the prose is quite juvenile so I see why it is classified within the young adult fantasy genre. This book’s a bit hard to pin down, like a cloud. I guess that’s what happens when the main character falls from the sky. I appreciate the experimental prose and the uniqueness of the storytelling. The author’s commitment to selling the epic journey was consistent and devout throughout.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this early. So I was confused thru most of this book. It kept me intrigued to keep reading to finish but it just jumps off almost like you the reader itself has fallen from the sky. It’s good just know you will be lost. I am not sure I would reread this however due to that feeling.

Where the Lightening Goes by Jackary Salem is not categorized as a mystery, but it sure felt like it should be for most of the book. I was really pretty far into things before I felt like I have any sort of clue what was going on. And while the measured, deliberate approach to learning information in appreciated, here it just felt like it was being withheld without any real hints until very far along. Ultimately, I still don’t really feel like I understood everything that was going on even after finishing. In a series (which I see on Goodreads that this is numbered #1 as if there are to be more) where there is an overarching story, it makes sense to be left with questions so that a reader is enticed to read the subsequent book(s). Unfortunately, I felt like this was more of a case of the information not being thought through by the author versus withheld to make sure I read more.

Once we started to get hints and foreshadowing, I felt like I was getting hit over the head with them. Subtlety was certainly not he approach employed by the author. I don’t want to spoil, so it is hard to explain much, but characters and who they actually are in relation to one another (except our bad guys) starts to fall into place and was super easy to guess once the author actually does drop a hint or two.


Confusing in many ways, and throughout many parts, the book had a number of high points. There was imagery, like the descriptions of the impossible market, that were wonderfully crafted. The banter between characters was funny, sad, thrilling and enjoyable. The character development was really one of the best parts of this. And while there was clearly plot, to get us from the start where Elle falls from the sky to the end, I fell that the story has concluded without leaving me with the ability to explain the world that was built.

It also did have a decent ending. While (as explained already) I am still left with a number of questions – maybe I didn’t read it carefully enough (then agin maybe I read it too carefully as I will note there is a statement “Perun was always a god, yes…” and then again, there is a section later discussing how Perun became a god as a child and I hate inconsistencies like that so when I notice them, I tend to read the rest less carefully) but I still don’t have a great handle on the system of magic and why we have demons and magic without any real philosophical or theological road map to provide guidance on the story. The end tied up a lot, addressed the major issues and motivations of each character, and left me satisfied with the way the story ended. I didn’t feel cheated, and the questions I had weren’t about what happened to characters, and I liked that.

Elle, Honeycutt, Adair, Leslie make a pretty awesome troupe once they come together. It is interesting to see how the author sees the personification of certain traits or elements of a person, like a heart, and how they are expressed. The biggest promise for any sort of sequel, to me, is in the idea of a prequel or the backstory for Elle. Overall, if you are looking for a story about a magical adventure, in a decidedly unique presentation, this is not a bad read. I think on balance, it would get 3.5 stars.

This fun story follows Elle. She is 16, but has no memory of her past. The first thing she can remember was falling from the sky. Especially, the story follows Elle on her quest to recover her memories as she travels through a world full of magic and demons. I don’t usually read fantasy, so I found this book when I decided to give the genre a try. I found the book easy to read and the characters to be well written. Half way through the book, I (thought) that had figured out a major plot twist. I was, pleasantly, incorrect.

A young adult fantasy adventure book. An enchanted world filled with good and bad magic, wizards, dragons, and demons. A young girl must navigate her dreams and empower magic to survive. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to the book for an honest review.

Where the Lightening Goes is the debut novel for Jackary Salem. It is about a girl Elle who escapes the only life she’s known to explore a world full of magic, demons, and dragons. Taking place in an inventive world of magic, Where the Lightening Goes is sure to delight fans of the fantasy genre. With enough originality to keep you interested and a charming main character, the book is an exciting start to Salem’s Impossible Series. Looking forward to seeing what’s next for Elle!

Thanks to Derealization Press for the ARC!

Rating: 2 / 5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Jackary Salem for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I truly thought this book had potential and was interested and intrigued by the cover alone. I had fun reading it. I just felt quite disconnected and not fully interested the full way through. Overall an interesting book.

𝘗𝘭𝘰𝘵 - The plot of Where the Lightning Goes is very fast-paced. We immediately jump into the action with Elle plotting her escape from the House, and from there is a story full of magic, demons, enchantments, dragons, and mysteries. Jackary Salem did a great job at incorporating plot points that added up to a fantastic conclusion at the end of the story.
𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 - I really enjoyed getting to know the characters of Adair, Leslie, and Honeycutt. They were all so different but worked together so well. Elle, the main character, was where I struggled a bit. 10 years ago, she fell from the sky with no memories, and then spent the entire time after that in a windowless room with little to no interaction with others. When she finally escapes, many of her actions seem contradictory to me. There are times when she is very immature. She doesn't know what basic words mean and has an almost childlike fascination with the world. This is what I would expect from someone with her experiences. But other times, she is very wise or suddenly has great control of her magic. To me, these two sides to Elle didn't quite match up.
𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥-𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 - The magic of this world was interesting. It has your basic elemental magic with some additional abilities mixed in, including the idea of soul magic. There were several times the magic didn't quite make sense to me, but ultimately these inconsistencies didn't affect my enjoyment of the story. I would have loved to learn more about the politics of the world they traveled through, and if there's a second book we might just get that!
𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 - The writing of this book was pretty simple. It reads as a YA book, so it didn't get to into the complexities of a high fantasy novel. At times the writing was almost too simple for my taste, but that could have been due to the way Elle was being portrayed.
𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘖𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 - This was a solid fantasy book. There were parts that worked for me and parts that didn't, but the main plot and the ending were great, imo.

This was a great start to the Impossible series, I was invested in what was going on and it did what I was hoping for. The characters were unique and felt like they belonged in this universe. I'm so glad I was able to read this and hope the series will continue.

"The only pain Adair could feel was physical, and no amount of sentiment would change that. At the same time, the deep emptiness inside him did spawn a sort of discontent and, with that, a yearning to be whole. They weren’t emotions, per se, but the parallel existed."