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Pagan Eyes #1
Initiation
Author Rayna Noire writes paranormal fiction with realistic Pagan characters. The Pagan Eyes series introduces the Carpenter family whose members face personal issues, along with time travel, danger, and death.
Initiation is Leah’s story.
Leah Carpenter thought being the only witch in her local high school was hard. That was until she inexplicably found herself in the past running from an angry mob, which turned out to be much harder. Growing up comes fast as she wrestles with surviving in another century and mistaken identity. Fast thinking, luck, and whole lot of magick might get her out of her current dilemma; then again, it might not.
Initiation is Leah’s story.
Leah Carpenter thought being the only witch in her local high school was hard. That was until she inexplicably found herself in the past running from an angry mob, which turned out to be much harder. Growing up comes fast as she wrestles with surviving in another century and mistaken identity. Fast thinking, luck, and whole lot of magick might get her out of her current dilemma; then again, it might not.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 19, 2013
4 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 17, 2014
This was a great book, rich with details and vivid characters. Leah is the reluctant hero, uncertain as to why on earth she would be chosen to fulfill some destiny in the past. At the beginning, she can't comprehend solving the problems of her current life with the trio of Mean Girls taunting her at school or the crush she's too afraid to talk to. The idea of solving the problems of her past life self, Arabella, with witch hunters hot on her trail and a scorned former love now serving as a priest sending those hunters after her? Way too much for her to handle.
Watching Leah grow more confident and comfortable in her own skin (funny enough, this growth happens mostly while living in Arabella's skin) is a real treat. Her character development feels natural. Her family dynamic also feels natural. I LOVED that her family was so involved in everything that happened to her instead of it being a big secret and a burden she carried on her own. I really enjoyed how Leah traveling back in time almost felt like you were slipping into a historical fiction book. It all felt very well researched and this just added to the intrigue pulling me back to the book.
I really appreciated how Leah's journey to the past has just as much to do with what she needed to learn in the present as what she needed to do to help things in the past. My only let down was that the ending felt a bit anti-climatic. In some ways, that was really good since this book was a refreshing take on fantasy. But I didn't really feel an impact with her confrontation with Lionel, and it all happened really fast. I'm glad this is the first book in a series because I really feel like I'm not done with these characters yet. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Leah and her family.
Watching Leah grow more confident and comfortable in her own skin (funny enough, this growth happens mostly while living in Arabella's skin) is a real treat. Her character development feels natural. Her family dynamic also feels natural. I LOVED that her family was so involved in everything that happened to her instead of it being a big secret and a burden she carried on her own. I really enjoyed how Leah traveling back in time almost felt like you were slipping into a historical fiction book. It all felt very well researched and this just added to the intrigue pulling me back to the book.
I really appreciated how Leah's journey to the past has just as much to do with what she needed to learn in the present as what she needed to do to help things in the past. My only let down was that the ending felt a bit anti-climatic. In some ways, that was really good since this book was a refreshing take on fantasy. But I didn't really feel an impact with her confrontation with Lionel, and it all happened really fast. I'm glad this is the first book in a series because I really feel like I'm not done with these characters yet. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Leah and her family.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2014
3.5/5.0
For those who enjoy a story with magical witches this is a great choice!
Read full review in the 2014 November issue of InD’tale Magazine.
For those who enjoy a story with magical witches this is a great choice!
Read full review in the 2014 November issue of InD’tale Magazine.
January 11, 2015
Our story starts with Leah, who is an average teenage girl with the desires and wants attributed to that age. She is interested in boys, not drawing attention to herself and surviving high school. However, Leah has a secret: she is a witch and her family practices the old ways making her different then everyone else. If that is not bad enough she keeps popping back in forth in time and she has no control over when it happens. Coming into her powers,running from witch hunters and trying to figure out what she is supposed to do in the past does not leave a lot of time to get the boy she likes to notice her.
I found this to be a very interesting reading experience. Ms. Noire blended the past and the present in such a way that the reader is captivated by the insightful reflection of the mechanism used in the quest for control and power. Even with the benefit of history, we still as a people have a tendency to persecute those who are different and don't conform to the norm. The witch trials, religious wars, gender equality and even bullying are examples of the extreme measures we will pursue to bend people to certain ideals. The author used magic, love and history to point out that sometimes the answers we seek in the present can be found by looking into the past.
I found this to be a very interesting reading experience. Ms. Noire blended the past and the present in such a way that the reader is captivated by the insightful reflection of the mechanism used in the quest for control and power. Even with the benefit of history, we still as a people have a tendency to persecute those who are different and don't conform to the norm. The witch trials, religious wars, gender equality and even bullying are examples of the extreme measures we will pursue to bend people to certain ideals. The author used magic, love and history to point out that sometimes the answers we seek in the present can be found by looking into the past.
October 2, 2014
Initiation tells the story of Leah, a high school girl from a witch family. Leah didn't really believe in magic ... until she started traveling to the past in her dreams. When the dreams spread to the waking world and she starts to come back with injuries sustained in the past, she knows its serious. Thanks to her grandmother, she knows a little about why she's going back to visit a past life. She has to accomplish something there.
This is a YA novel, and the language shows it a little. I felt sometimes that I was being 'told not show' as the old saying goes. My other fault with the novel was I felt the author was trying to make a statement about religious intolerance. However, she went a little far with it and I felt like she in turn judged other religions by stereotypes, exactly what her main character was so mad about people doing her her.
Apart from that, the story is really good. It's about coming of age and find out there are more important things in life than we thought in high school. Its about valuing family, which the author did a particularly beautiful job with. Not many stories these days show a whole family!
This is a YA novel, and the language shows it a little. I felt sometimes that I was being 'told not show' as the old saying goes. My other fault with the novel was I felt the author was trying to make a statement about religious intolerance. However, she went a little far with it and I felt like she in turn judged other religions by stereotypes, exactly what her main character was so mad about people doing her her.
Apart from that, the story is really good. It's about coming of age and find out there are more important things in life than we thought in high school. Its about valuing family, which the author did a particularly beautiful job with. Not many stories these days show a whole family!
March 30, 2015
At first this story started off a little slow. But after a few pages I was really into this book. This girl Leah, grew up in a pagan home. She has started to be able to read people's thoughts as well as travel back in time to a different century. At first she thinks it's just a dream, but then she realizes that she is actually going back. In present time, she can still taste the fish that she ate back then and smell the stench on her clothes as if she were still there. She can't control when she comes and goes and she has to figure out what the purpose is for her to continue to go back to this specific time period. If she dies in that century will that mean she won't exist in this current century? It would be tough being Leah with all these unknown questions. After all, no one in her family has gone back in time. Or have they? Find out when reading this book, I am already starting on book number two in this series. I'm hoping it is another page turner as this one was.
June 5, 2020
I did the audio of this story of witches,magic and learning what it means to grow up with this secret! All of the characters come alive with the wonderful narration this story has. Very well researched and when you hear the way the story is written plus putting voice to the story it is just brings everyone alive and I think with the narration it makes the story much more exciting as the story progresses and the way that the story is written. You go from the present to the past and It's done very well where you don't get confused at all! Whether you read the story yourself or the audio,don't miss such a fantastic story. This is a series,so off to the next book! Try both ways,read and then the audio,you will see what I mean.
January 11, 2015
Rayna Noire amazes the reader with the characters in this book. The story just grabbed my attention from the very start. This book is a paranormal story- and has all of the elements it needs to thrill the reader.
This story will have you travel to a world that is dark and witches burned. A world of mystery. It is a story of a young girl discovering self.
This is the first book- and I am anxious to see what happens next- looking forward to this series.
This story will have you travel to a world that is dark and witches burned. A world of mystery. It is a story of a young girl discovering self.
This is the first book- and I am anxious to see what happens next- looking forward to this series.
July 3, 2014
This book was fantastic from beginning to end! Well written and attention-grabbing. I can't wait to read the next one!
August 8, 2014
It seemed to get a bit confusing in some areas and I think the author could have done more with the going back into history but over all a decent read
para-ya
November 9, 2014For star rating and complete review please visit InD'tale magazine online, Nov 2014 issue. http://www.indtale.com/reviews/young-...
April 1, 2015
Rayna Noire delights with her characters and storyline in this paranormal packed with intrigue, mystery, and coming into oneself. Can't wait for the next in this series.
December 14, 2019
Leah lives in a family that practice Pagan ways, but she doesn't tell anyone at school, not even her best friend. But then weird things start to happen, when she dreams about being chased by an angry mob, who want to put witches on the stake. Soon she realizes that it is not a dream, but that she is transported back in time, the time of the Witch trials.
She is there for a reason, to make the wrongs right. But she doesn't know where to begin or what to do. When she is transported back through time, she is fighting for her life. She is chased by witch hunters and somebody who is mistaken her for someone else wants to hurt her.
Can she outrun the witch hunters and when she would die here, would she vanish in the future. Will she be forgotten? But she gets help from an unlikely corner, can they find their way back to their own time.
It's a nice story that touches upon magical abilities and Pagan rituals. Even in this modern times, it is still frowned upon. Leah is courageous even though she is not entirely sure what is happening to her. It is a nice story with here and there some action and some history about the witch trials in the olden days.
She is there for a reason, to make the wrongs right. But she doesn't know where to begin or what to do. When she is transported back through time, she is fighting for her life. She is chased by witch hunters and somebody who is mistaken her for someone else wants to hurt her.
Can she outrun the witch hunters and when she would die here, would she vanish in the future. Will she be forgotten? But she gets help from an unlikely corner, can they find their way back to their own time.
It's a nice story that touches upon magical abilities and Pagan rituals. Even in this modern times, it is still frowned upon. Leah is courageous even though she is not entirely sure what is happening to her. It is a nice story with here and there some action and some history about the witch trials in the olden days.
October 31, 2016
This rating is for the Kindle version of this book! I had to sit on writing this review for a couple of days so I could formulate my thoughts on this book, the actual book is 4 stars, it’s a well-written story about Leah, a teenage girl who just so happens to be a witch. Leah has trouble embracing her Wiccan side, but when she’s thrust back in time, a time when witches were burned at the stake, her innate abilities save her in more ways than one. Sounds good, doesn’t it? What ruined the book for me was the narrator, she takes way too many pauses and I just found her delivery boring and I kept drifting off, I can’t imagine this audiobook keeping the attention of a young teen, not a good sign. Considering that I listened to a sample before requesting this audiobook, I had to go back and relisten to the sample, and yep it has the same problem, how did I overlook it? Purely because of the writing of Rayna Noire, the sample was so interesting I didn’t pay as much attention to the delivery by the narrator as I should have, but when you start listening long term the problem becomes glaringly obvious and I gave up on listening to it.
Luckily, Pagan Eyes is available on Kindle and I cared enough about finishing the story to buy and download the book and I highly recommend it, not only for teens but anyone who likes a good urban fantasy or paranormal book.
Luckily, Pagan Eyes is available on Kindle and I cared enough about finishing the story to buy and download the book and I highly recommend it, not only for teens but anyone who likes a good urban fantasy or paranormal book.
January 12, 2016
An exciting tale about Wicca, time-travel and one's destiny!
This first novel in Rayna Noire's Pagan Eyes series in an excellent opener to the series and I am excited to read what happens next. Rayna has written an intelligent story and in such a way that it was relatable to the reader in the sense that the family and main characters of the tale are average in the way they cope with their day to day lives as they try to blend into society. The challenges of adolescence is another theme that is described well. Key characters, like Leah and Nana, in the beginning stirred my curiosity and kept me wanting more and wondering where the story will go. The idea of time travel and tying that into Wicca, which I have always found to be an interesting field and have looked into as well, and one that is still very much alive now, made for a great adventure . Her character's thoughts and messages about the church and their dark past is well depicted in this story. I found her message about the importance of family quite moving as well. The story as a whole is tied together perfectly and a great read! Highly recommended!
4.5 out of 5
This first novel in Rayna Noire's Pagan Eyes series in an excellent opener to the series and I am excited to read what happens next. Rayna has written an intelligent story and in such a way that it was relatable to the reader in the sense that the family and main characters of the tale are average in the way they cope with their day to day lives as they try to blend into society. The challenges of adolescence is another theme that is described well. Key characters, like Leah and Nana, in the beginning stirred my curiosity and kept me wanting more and wondering where the story will go. The idea of time travel and tying that into Wicca, which I have always found to be an interesting field and have looked into as well, and one that is still very much alive now, made for a great adventure . Her character's thoughts and messages about the church and their dark past is well depicted in this story. I found her message about the importance of family quite moving as well. The story as a whole is tied together perfectly and a great read! Highly recommended!
4.5 out of 5
April 29, 2015
This is the second book on Pagan culture that I’m reading, so it’s not a new topic. And since I’m already familiar with the Wiccan culture, I was able to appreciate the research that has gone into this book, about the present and the past. To be historically and culturally accurate while spinning a fantastic tale is indeed a work of art. Initiation is a fascinating read, well embellished and nicely crafted.
I like the subtle personality differences between Leah and Arabella and how Leah has to change to cope with the past and all that it brings. This is the first book in this series and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. A great read!
I like the subtle personality differences between Leah and Arabella and how Leah has to change to cope with the past and all that it brings. This is the first book in this series and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. A great read!
January 11, 2015
Absolutely loved this book, it was a fast read but well worth picking it up.The story line gets your attention right from the start and you find it hard to actually put it down. This was the first time I had read anything from this author. But I will be looking up the rest of their work.
The characters are well defined and make you feel like you actually know them
The characters are well defined and make you feel like you actually know them
April 17, 2016
It was a nice book, but the ending felt rushed....
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews