“‘She’s gone!’ Katrina’s eyes were big as saucers. I guess she didn’t really believe that I would disappear because the color had drained from her face as she stared wide-eyed and slack jawed at the center of the circle. The others opened their eyes in awe. I felt the strength of the circle fluctuate with the drop in energy, and the vibrancy of the colors dimmed as the group’s anxiety increased causing the contraction of their auras.
Then I noticed the woman . . . ‘Hello, Salena,’ she greeted me with a smile.
‘My name is Amalya Gaian. Welcome to the Fifth Dimension.’”
Salena Hawthorne is coming of age in more ways than one. And, the changes she is experiencing go way beyond simple hormonal overload. When her “family gift” comes on with a vengeance, Salena has to learn how to channel her developing psychic abilities to stop a pandemic from wiping out millions of lives.
Her newfound gifts of reading auras and inter-dimensional travel give Salena more trouble than she is ready to handle. With the weight of several worlds on her shoulders, Salena will need to call on her family, the Society of the Silver Moon, her Spirit Guide, and a few other unexpected allies to take on the supernatural enemies that threaten their very existence.
As the great-granddaughter of the inventor of the drinking fountain, Sallie Haws spent 26 years using her Organizational Psychology degree to make a positive impact on her family’s business where she held jobs from file clerk to President. Her passion for writing was fed by taking creative writing classes and by a voracious reading habit of paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy novels.
Quantum Spirit – Apocalypse is the culmination of years of personal and professional life experience combined with the desire to entertain and inspire adults and teenagers. Sallie lives in Reno, Nevada with her husband, son, daughter and a spoiled black cat.
I have a certain difficulty rating young adults or children books. But one thing I have always in mind: a good young adults book must be also enjoyable for those who are not that young anymore. This book was written in Salena's voice and I had to keep in mind all the time that she is just a 13 old American teenager. I think I was bit harsh with her while reading this book, I even disliked her a bit, but I am not part of the normal target audience for this book. Would I give this book as a gift to a teenager/young adult? The answer yes!
***I had the opportunity to read and review this book thanks to JKS Communications, a literary publicity firm! I received a print copy in exchange for my honest review. No compensation was offered or accepted***
Quantium Spirit: Apocalypse is a young adult fantasy that introduces many different concepts to the targeted age group while enticing them with the idea of magic. I would like to get the negatives of my review out of the way so you are left with a positive note! This book lacks copyediting and desperately needs it. It suffers from bad punctuation, overuse of quotation marks, random capitalizations that are out of place and inconsistent with repeated phrases, semi-colon misuse, etc. It is very informal writing, which is appropriate to the targeted age group, but the lack of copyediting will knock you out of Reader Zone time after time because it makes the writing a bit awkward.
Okay, now that the grammar is out of the way, let's continue on to the book! This is a YA fantasy with a really interesting premise of a young girl with psychic abilities whose friends have accepted the fact that she has visions and a guardian angel named Angeni. On the arrival of her menses (period), she drops into a coma at school. When she awakens a few days later, she discovers more burgeoning powers such as the capability of seeing auras and interdimensional travel. In fact, she is the first Third Dimensional being to be able to do this and all at the tender age of 13.
The dimensions are explained as are the chakras, Akashic Records, life & death thoughts, etc., in an lecture-y manner by Salena's Fifth Dimension guide and her new Fif-D new friends. (That's the slang in the Fifth Dimension!) It's very wordy but explained in a manner that middle graders would be able to grasp the concept and then it's peppered with a 13 year old's vocabulary and boy-craziness. I really liked the different elements the author pulled together and the explanations of such elements as well as the aura colors, etc., but I found I had little patience for Salena's boy-crush tangents and her tone towards her parents. Her joking around towards her parents came across as rude and something I would never have gotten away with as a pre-teen. It's very disrespectful and not something I would tolerate either. I found her hard to like; rather, I would like to reach through the pages and smack her. HOWEVER, I am not the targeted audience age -- I'm thirty six years old. I am also a first generation on my mom's side and a third generation on my dad's side; respect is a big thing for both sides of my immigrant family. While I would not have liked anyone who spoke to her parents like that at thirteen, I imagine that today's middle graders would bond with her quite well and relate to the way she talks to her parents. Today's parents seem much more relaxed and tolerant of snotty little tones and sarcasm than my parents or I would be.
This book picks up in pace around 30% in with the discovery that Salena will be the key to solving the Blue Flu pandemic as it is energy/chakra based as opposed to physical based. Salena, able to traverse the two dimensions, will be key in solving this especially as she learns that forgiveness and love are the key to everything in the Fifth Dimension. There are no fears, hatreds, or angers there. It sounds pretty ideal, truth be told; a utopia of Star Trek proportions where it is all about the greater good, peace, love, and harmony. The Power of Intention rules the roost, shaped by forgiveness and love, and I really like this message for young adults as it teaches them to think beyond themselves, don't answer hate with hate, and to hope. The most intense power in the world is your will -- choose love, choose forgiveness, focus your intent!
It does seem a little preachy and proselytizing in this manner, but the overall theme is a wonderful one. And who better to understand than a young protagonist not yet soiled into cynicism by the world?
"Learning to overcome fear through love, compassion, and forgiveness is the [fundamental] purpose of every soul who chooses to incarnate in the Third Dimension." Seeing as how we live in Earth, the Third Dimension, I would say this is a great message and one we could all think about throughout our daily lives!
Salena Hawthorne is psychic. More than psychic, she’s descended from an ancient Mayan goddess of the moon. When the onset of puberty sparks a new world of powers, such as the ability to see auras and the power to enter the fifth dimension, Salena realizes she’s more than just psychic. Her friends and family, awed but terrified of her new ability to disappear on demand, start trying to figure out what it all means. Coincidentally, around the same time a disease strikes Malaysia, killing all who catch it. There doesn’t seem to be a connection between the two at first, but Salena’s spirit guide, Angeni, fears it’s the start of something big. As Salena learns more about the fifth dimension and the Fif-Ds that live there, she gets involved in all sorts of crime, corruption, and black-blobbed sickness that threaten to wipe out humanity. Since Salena’s the only one who can move between the fifth and third dimensions on command, it seems like it’s up to her to save the world.
In all honesty, I started off this book thinking I wouldn’t like it. Salena’s voice was sometimes whiny and immature (saying things like OMG) and as a writing style I’ve never been fond of putting thoughts in italics. The characters are introduced in large batches, making names like Lisa, Keia, and Leah blend together. But the book caught my attention, and I grew to like Salena’s spunky inner voice. Haws creates a world of the fifth dimension, where anything is possible to create from thin air, given that you have the willpower to create it. At times it can get into info dumping, but the information is interesting so I didn’t mind too much. Her characters grow and develop, limited only by the huge amount of characters included which left Salena with not enough time to interact with everyone. Still, it was obvious that everyone had their own story even if the details of it weren’t fleshed out from Salena’s point of view. Haws included a nice and not-too-overbearing romance between Salena and Jace, which I only wish could have been expanded on. Mostly the story engrossed me, as well as the world of the fifth dimension which Haws developed so well. Salena’s voice was fitting with that of a 13-year-old, and like I said, annoying at first but her sassy commentary and realistic way of dealing got me hooked. Overall, it was an enjoyable read with a positive message of love, forgiveness, and acceptance. I would recommend this book to any teens with a love for fantasy, but mostly teenage girls of a younger age category (11-15).
Who would have thought that all it took to save the world was love, caring, and a positive attitude toward life? Salena Hawthorne is a young teen who discovers these things as she goes on this journey to figure out how to work her gifts, what her purpose is, and to help save the world. She learns many things along her way, including things about different dimensions, how to travel between them, and her gift with seeing people's auras. Her family and friends in both dimensions that she travels between are essential to her journey of discovering the cure to what was causing millions of deaths around the world. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. It was such an amazing read and I honestly could not put the book down once I started it. The journey that Salena goes on is so incredible and she learns so much about herself and those around her. Fear is our biggest enemy and it is one that many people let control in their lives and she shows that it is possible to overcome the fears that many have just by learning to love and forgive. It actually made me start to re-evaluate my own inner thoughts and the fears that I have. It was just incredibly well written and has gone straight to the top of my favorites list and I have a huge favorites list. I just can't stop talking about how awesome of a book it was to my friends and I'm now impatiently waiting for the next book to come out just to see how Salena's journey will continue. If you can get your hands on a copy of this book, take the chance and read it and don't pass it by.
Enter the amazing world of Quantum Spirit - Apocalypse where as long as you have a wonderful support system, a strong heart, and a positive mind you are able to do anything; saving the world included! This book features a female character of thirteen years old but she is a strong, intelligent girl who isn't afraid to tell it like it is or to jump headlong into dangerous situations in order to preserve the safety of her friends, family, and the world. She is a fantastic role model for girls of any age AND she somehow manages to balance her homework and saving the world, a feat in of itself if you ask me. She doesn't need a prince charming to saver her but rather depends on the love of her loved ones for strength; something we should all do a little more of in my opinion. It is a fantastic story of an 'average' person being thrown into an extraordinary situation, and by extraordinary I mean the ability to travel across dimensions, see auras, and enter a giant crystal! This book emphasized the importance of a strong and loving support system, positive thinking and looking at the human race as something that can be saved rather than something that is doomed regardless of what is done. If you are searching for a great, upbeat tale that will make you feel as though you can go outside and change the world this is the book you need to read. I don't want to say too much lest I give something away but, in summation, IT IS A MUST READ FOR ALL AGES!!
I could have skipped Salena's dirty panty episode in chapter one. I think young readers would be more drawn into the book by beginning it with Chapter 2 where "A beautiful meadow enveloped by craggy mountain peaks and flowing waterfalls surrounded me." (p. 5) The exploration into the fifth dimension in Chapter Five by the Sisterhood of the Silver Moon would have been another great way to hook the reader at the beginning of the novel.
I identified with the references to Reno as I am a Northern Nevada resident. (Swope Middle School, U.N.R.)
Sallie Haws' writing skils make for an enticing read. "This man really disturbed me, espcailly when I finally focused on his face, and he was smiling. It was a patronizing smile; the kind you imagine the wolf having in Little Red Riding Hood."(p. 31)
References to the paranormal and metaphysics should appeal to a young adult audience. The author's experience in psychology allows her to tie her novel to the damaging effects of fear. (p. 392) The list of colors in relation to personalities and experiences as well as a glossary were great appendages to the book.
I hope a hardbound version becomes available so we can add a copy to our school library. I think it will be popular with our junior high audience.
This review for Sallie Haws Quantum Spirit - Apocalypse is for a novel received for free in a Goodreads.com First read Giveaway.
I want to give Ms. Haws all due credit. This is a very well written book. The characters are well developed and the pacing in the novel is a fine mix of action and character development. It should have taken a much shorter time to read this novel but the subject matter just did not spark my interest all that much. This is of no fault to the plotting or the writing style these were both very good. I was just never able to "buy-in" to the idea of a disease of the Chakra.
For someone who is interested in alternative medicine and "Crystal Healing", this novel will probably be a wonderful place to begin. The author clearly has strong feelings about the abilities described in this book. I just found the entire thing to be a bit "hippy dippy" for my taste.
So I guess I would give this 4 stars for the writing style, and 2 stars for the storyline, giving a grand total of 3 stars.
I would definitely read more from this author, but not more from this series.
Thank you JKS Communications for sending me a copy of this book to review! I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book..especially since I haven't read anything like it before. Overall, I really enjoyed this book..it had some flaws but overall it was an interesting read.
What I really liked about this book was how different is from other books on the market. I really haven't read anything like this before and it was really refreshing to read a book like this one. I thought the writing was flawless. I also thought the main character Salena was really great. It was nice to see a strong willed character and I thought she really grew as a person throughout the novel.
What I didn't like about the book was the mythology and the gifts of reading auras. It was just a little too much for me and out there. It just wasn't my cup of tea. I think for other people who are interested in inter-dimensional travel and auras, this would be the book for you! For me, I just couldn't really get into it.
In the end, this wasn't the perfect book but I LOVED the writing style and I'm excited to see what Sallie Haws has to offer in the future.
Enthralling and thought-provoking, this was a great read.
Haws has combined reality and fantasy in an exciting story with plenty of twists and turns. I will admit though that it took me a while to get a feel for this book, and even though the events that took place at the start of the book were quite intriguing, I only really got sucked in when all the drama started with the "Blue Flu" outbreak and then the discovery of what Traders Pharmaceuticals was really up to.
I enjoyed getting to know each character and their personalities flew of the page, bringing them to life in so many different ways. I loved journeying with Salena between dimensions and learning the differences between to fif-Ds and the thir-Ds. And the thrilling race to save the world only upped the intensity of this book.
I think the biggest message from this story was not to allow fear to control our lives, and that if we do, we run the risk of losing ourselves. We have to face our fears and embrace them. We also need to learn to let go and to forgive.
The Epilogue was a great set up for the second book. Will the bad guys get their revenge or redemption? I cannot wait to find out!
When Salena ends up in hospital she’s at a loss as to why she ended up there in the first place. She learns she has developed psychic powers that have been kicked into overdrive. She had some really good friends in the form of Leah, Katrina, Keia and Sam and her spirit guide Angeni. They help her through the new adjustment period that she's going through. It was good storytelling with all the sarcasm,a teen with newly acquired abilities can muster and a caring support system with family and really good friends. It also had a lot of humor, like when Angeni pops in unexpectedly and Salena’s just a little bit peeved at her for showing up that way. Even her Uncle Jack was very funny. The villains from the mean girl clique and the other set of villains were well, mean and you really wanted them to get what they deserved and find out what will happen to them eventually. It was a good enjoyable read you’ll enjoy and it had a very intriguing ending that makes you want to read more.
In this YA paranormal romance, 13 year old Salena is psychic and has a spirit guide. Like a new-age Harry Potterish story, only Salena has the ability to save the world because she is the only person who can travel from the 3rd dimension to the 5th dimension. In this new-agey story, she and her group of friends and her parents and some of her friend's parents all are fine with the whole psychic realm and together they try to find a cure for the blue flu, which is not a virus, but something that attacks people's energies and their chakras and Salena can see people's Auras so she can also see the blue flu. The book includes a love triangle of sorts. I was a bit surprised that being all new agey and into the psychic energies and all, the people still ate hamburgers and meats. I would have thought they would have been vegan due to the negative energies and all. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.
Excellent easy-breezy summer read! I loved the concept of 3rd and 5th Dimensional travel, and of course, the cleansing of our spirits with love and forgiveness! I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and can't wait for the next book in the series, Quantum Spirit Redemption, which the author graciously provided us with a preview at the end of the book.
This book was interesting to say the least. It was filled with positive emotions to the highest extent and showed how far some positivity can go. Good book