A novel you’ll devour in a single sitting.
When you’re a sixteen-year-old girl with major, life-altering OCD, you tend to get really good at steering clear of challenging situations. For Cassandra Morai, traveling through an intersection or meeting a new neighbor ranks fairly high on the list of difficult problems. A discerning friend with a special talent for accurately perceiving the world around her urges Cassandra to, “Confront your problems, drag them into the light. They grow in the dark.” This sounds like blasphemy to this girl who is still mourning the death of her mother. Everything Cassandra does, everyplace she goes, is an exhausting battle for her own self-control. It doesn’t help that she’s begun seeing some horrific visions of death. Her father, the cute neighbor, her sage friend. Without warning, an aloof Aunt storms into Cassandra’s life for the first time in years with a bizarre, yet completely alluring offer to study magic and hone her very real scrying ability. Alarm bells clang in Cassandra’s head, warning her of all the potential germs, awkward conversations, unhygienic handshakes and uncontrollable situations. But the desire to prevent a real tragedy sends her deep into a world of predictions and prophecies, all while fighting her own inner anxieties and outside forces that are determined to take advantage of her gifts.
If you enjoy a magical urban fantasy with a sassy protagonist, then Foretold by Violet Lumani is the book you’ve been waiting for. Wracked with OCD, Cassandra is the perfect imperfect heroine. Although she copes with her disorder, she’s never able to fully turn it off, a real encouragement for readers dealing with anxieties of their own. The mystical world Lumani has conjured is intriguing, making you wish you could step through the unassuming doors of the Theban Group to shop at the frenetic market and discover your own abilities! With sinister Aunt Bree, feisty new friend Regan, and a host of other friends and foes, the secondary cast adds to the pace and tempo of this well-crafted tale, and none more so than insightful Mrs. Otero at the local bodega. It’s impossible not to love her as she remains an anchor for Cassandra. With a stunning cover, a flawless edit, marvelous chemistry between the characters and a plot moving inexorably toward a breathless climax, Foretold is a novel you’ll devour in a single sitting.
