Piercing The Fold

Piercing the Fold #1

by Venessa Kimball

“I'm Jesca. I have intense nightmares nightly and hallucinations of dark auras closing in on me daily. Strangers’ faces distort before my eyes and I hear voices in my head. All symptoms of insanity, ‘illusions in reality’, right? Wrong. This is my reality and it has been set askew.”

Jesca Gershon Sera discovers that she is part of a legacy and a fellowship of guardians destined to protect the human race from a galactic event that will invade and evolve our world.

*The Piercing the Fold series is intended for Mature Young Adult and Adult readers due to the the paranormal and unorthodox scientific concepts addressed throughout. This series contains a rich mixture of the paranormal, science fiction, romance, adventure, and suspense. *

Genres: Paranormal, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Ebooks, New Adult, Young Adult

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2012

About the author

At the age of five, Venessa Kimball began writing books made of scrap paper and bound with colorful yarn. The worlds she created were about beautiful unicorns and heroines. 

In 2012, Venessa published her first novel as a career author. She’s currently independently published.

Venessa is the best-selling author of eight novels. Her books fall into the categories of adult romantic suspense and science fiction/ urban fantasy thriller, as well as psychological/ horror thriller. Venessa has also published a Young Adult coming of age series for her teen readers.

When Venessa’s not plotting a new novel or writing, she’s spending quality time with her family and three dogs in Austin, Texas.

Reviews

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

Piercing the Fold by Venessa Kimball
Book One of the Piercing the Fold series
Publication Date: September 12, 2012
Rating: 3 stars
Source: Gifted from the author

(Old review: original review posted on September 30, 2012)

Summary (from Goodreads):

Jesca Gershon-Sera has an average life on the surface. She is a sophomore in college, has a loving family, and holds a part time job at a local bookstore with her best friend. Her life is pretty normal. Except, under the surface she feels like she is losing her mind. Reoccurring nightmares have plagued Jesca for most of her childhood. She thought nothing of them, until they began intensifying and finding their way into her waking hours. Voices, vivid images and supernatural abilities in her nightmares are beginning to seep into her reality. Ezra Kahn is one of her college professors. Lately, Ezra happens to be everywhere she is; like he is watching her. Along with the slight fear that her professor is stalking her, Jesca fears that she won't be able to handle much more of the insanity that is blurring her reality. On a chance encounter, Jesca confides in Ezra about the crazy happenings. Jesca thought that he would think her to be insane or a freak. But, to Jesca's surprise, Ezra Kahn reveals that she is not a lunatic and that all of the insanity is very real. Instantly, Jesca's reality is set askew. Ezra reveals that he has been sent to help her. He tells her she is experiencing these events in her life because of her inherited purpose to protect humanity from inconceivable catastrophe. Jesca's roller coaster begins here!

What I Liked:

I really liked the world-building in this book. When I read the premise, about a girl having nightmares, I thought that this book would be about seers and witches (for lack of a better word). I was happily mistaken. The paranormal story of this book is not about some supernatural being that has already been fleshed out by young adult or new adult authors (vampires, werewolves, etc.). This concept is not completely new, but it is different. On the surface, the dreams are what they appear to be. But the actual abilities and explanations of the paranormal part of the story are very original. I love that science is a key component in this book. I'm a huge math and science nerd, so I enjoyed the scientific explanation to what happened in the past and present of the characters' lives.

The character development in this book was well done. Readers are able to see Jesca transform from a predictable girl to a warrior. I also liked the character connections of the book. Some of the characters are easy to pick out - who they are related to other characters (I'm purposefully being vague so I do not give anything away!).

The denouement of this first book in the series is excellent, as it gives room for more books to come. I like that the ending was not expected, and that readers will have to read the entire book to know what happened to certain that are introduced only towards the end of the book. I love the title of this book, although I am not sure how it ties in to the book. It was never explained or inferred, so one can only guess. I like it though.

What I Did Not Like:

There were many small things that I could not get past, as well as several larger things. The grammar was one huge thing. The sentence structure was sometimes poor. There were short sentences, and then extremely long sentences right after the short sentences, and the contrast between the two threw me off while reading. There were misplaced quotations marks, dangling modifiers, misused "your", "you're", "there", "their", "they're", and misplaced adverbs. These are grammatical errors that I pick up, but some people may not. Some people may read the book and never be bothered by the grammar. But I cannot help but notice the grammar mistakes, when I spend so much time editing and proofreading my essays for school.

I did not like the introduction of many secondary characters. I did not connect with them, as I did not get enough time to get a feel of their personality. For example Elisha, Corinna, Nate. I do not feel anything towards these characters (except Nate, but not because of him necessarily). There is a love triangle, which I absolutely hate, because I generally hate all love triangles in literature. The first guy I could feel the romance, but the second guy's romance was awful. It was not believable.


I hated the perspective switches that occur in the second half of the book. There needs to be some sort of warning before readers are thrown into someone else's world. Chapter 32 seems very random, after hearing Jesca's thoughts for the duration of the book until that point. There is a switch from first-person Jesca, to third-person Sam and Xander, to first-person Xander, to third-person Jesca, and so on. It was really confusing. You have to finish the book in order to figure out all of the perspective switches.


The "back story" or introduction to the paranormal world is like the perspective switches as well - one page Ezra is explaining things, the next is the actual unfolding of events of what he is explaining. It is all hard to keep straight.

Would I Recommend It:

Yes. Despite the nitpicky things that I just went through, this book was engrossing, and I really do want to read the next book. However, if you do not want to read a book that mentions God, faith, and Christianity, then maybe this is not for you. It did not bother me. It will not offend Christians, or any other religion. But there is mention of religious faith. This book is rated for young adults, new adults, and over.

Rating:

3 stars. (Please do not think this is a "bad" rating. I enjoyed this book and the plot, but I think there are some easy things that the author could do to have a smoother execution. The story and plot are very engaging - especially for science fiction lovers!).

[Venessa Kimball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piercing the Fold: Book 1 was amazing to write and is the perfect beginning to this Paranormal/ Fringe Sci-Fi series. Surfacing the Rim: Book 2 will be released March 2013. Book 3, Ascending the Veil, will be released September 2013. Book 4 (Title TBA) will be released Early 2014.

[Roxanne Crouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Piercing The Fold (Book 1) By Venessa Kimball is the first book in a young adult science fiction series about a girl named Jesca, who starts developing strange powers and having disturbing dreams. She can run fast; she can hear the thoughts of other people, and she has no idea why until her professor at college tells her a story about a scientist named Sebastian and how he used Einstein’s theories to open wormholes to other worlds. Jesca learns the Earth is not as it seems and alien forces are working to accomplish their own ends. Jesca must train to become a guardian and help protect the Earth.

The scientific parts are handled well and sound plausible, and I enjoyed the connections to the past. Did I go look the science up to check if it’s factual? No because I felt it was written well enough, even if the science isn’t correct. I can suspend my belief and enjoy the story.
Piercing the fold has an interesting plot, which kept me reading despite some mechanical issues.

The kindle formatting is handled professionally and the cover beautiful, great job on these details. The book starts out in first person from Jesca’s point of view. It stays that way about sixty-five percent of the book, then without warning, it changes to third person to characters the reader has not met yet. The sudden change jars you out of the story. It’s almost like the reader has accidentally picked up a different book by accident. Some sort of warning of the change would help, such as having parts. The first sixty-five percent could be part one with a large page saying part one. Then when it’s time to change to third person with new characters, the reader would get another page saying part two. This would help the reader to expect a change.

We stay with the new characters in third person for a while except one chapter written in first person from Xander’s point of view. At first, I thought this chapter was Jesca. It took a while of reading to figure out it was Xander. Then Jesca comes back in the picture. I expected the chapters in her point of view to be in first person because that was what was established in the beginning chapters, and other character’s point of view in third person, but that’s not what the reader gets.

The reader experiences random switching from first person to third person between different characters within the same chapter at times. The switching is confusing and unnecessary. I think it’s done so the reader can get the view point of both Jesca and Xander at the same time, but the switching confuses the reader. I found myself stopping and going back to double check whose view point I was in. I think these sections of the novel would work better staying in one person’s point of view for the entire chapter and staying in first person for Jesca and third person for everyone else. Romance readers may be used to head hopping, but science fiction readers won’t like it.

The idea behind the story is excellent and developed well, but I didn’t like the back story being dumped on me over several chapters in a row about twenty-five percent of the way in. It might be better to work the back story in as the info is needed instead of all at once, or find a way to shorten it to one or two chapters. At the beginning, the reader is presented with a back-story dump, too, that I think could be cut or shortened significantly as well, again we can learn the beginning information as the story unfolds.

The book could use another pass to get rid of redundancy. Whole paragraphs have sentences all starting with ‘I’ and could use some variety by changing the structure of sentences. Furthermore, there are sections that basically say the same thing that could be cut. For example, “I am physically incapable of answering him, literally. I can’t get myself to push the words out of my mouth.” Both sentences are right next to each other and say the same thing. One of them could be cut.

I see a love triangle forming between Jesca, Xander, and Nate near the end. I hope the author concentrates the next books on Jesca and Xander’s relationship and drops the Nate story line somehow. The conflict of the two being from alien worlds that are at war with each other is a more interesting avenue to explore. The two hot guys want the same girl triangle approach is being overdone. I can always tell when a writer has read Twilight because they try to relive the Twilight love triangle in their books.

In closing, although I do think Piercing the Fold could use more editing, I did enjoy reading it and was surprised at the science angle of the book. Hard Core Science readers may not like this book, but readers who like paranormal romance will enjoy this science fiction romance. Despite some structure problems, I think this book is a good read.

[Kitty Muse Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesca Gershon-Sera’s dreams have been hauntingly vivid for most of her life; so vivid that she is temporarily paralyzed upon awakening. Now, in early adulthood, strange things are happening during her waking hours too. A chance encounter, a whispered conversation she shouldn’t have been able to hear, and, most worrying, a dark presence that seems to follow her. The same one, she believes, that chases her in her dreams.
A teacher at the university, who seems to know more about her than a stranger should, soon befriends and then guides Jesca into a reality that she knows shouldn’t exist, but is there nonetheless. She has to learn to reach beyond her own hopes and dreams to become the person she has to be to help save the human race from interstellar disaster.
Ms. Kimball has done something few writers try: she has combined several genres into one smoothly-moving tale. In “Piercing the Fold”, we have science fiction, paranormal espionage, a coming-of-age story, and a touch of romance. Not to mention the theology that imbues the entire book. But it isn’t an in-your-face kind of spirituality. There are just enough hints throughout to remind the reader of the basis for the characters’ missions.
The character names themselves are heavy with symbolism. Many of them have Biblical names, which can be connected, some more than others, to a parallel in the Bible. The first part of Jesca’s last name, Gershon, was the son of another Biblical character, Ezra. I’ll leave it to the reader to decipher its significance. Even Jesca’s name is important in its symbolism—it is a shortened version of Jessica, and the reader will learn after a short venture into the book why that is important.
I don’t belong to a readers’ group, but I can definitely see this book as a good choice for group reading and discussion.
What really stands out is the way Ms. Kimball has taken prose and stood it on its ear. Instead of the usual first-person or third-person point of view throughout the book, the story is written in a very well-crafted combination of both. There is a scene where Jesca and another important character are fighting out of a nest of baddies. Throughout these passages, the point of view changes from first to third and back with great speed, but without causing what I call “mental whiplash”. It’s almost like watching them on a movie or TV screen. Ms. Kimball has also written almost the entire book in the present tense, which is not a feat which is easily pulled off. And she did it magnificently.
Kudos, Venessa Kimball! I can hardly wait to start reading the next book in the series!

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of Piercing the Fold
Reviewed for Making Connections Goodreads Group

“Piercing the Fold” is a rather complex YA novel, which tosses a young Georgia university student into literally, worlds beyond her very imagination. Jesca Gershon Sera has long known of her adoption, but she has enjoyed a happy and fulfilling life with her adoptive parents and one younger sister, the family’s own child. Now a student, she is engaged in study of astrophysics, quantum physics, and cosmology, to which she is drawn-and with good reason.

Jesca is the natural daughter-and the adoptive daughter-of guardians of another planet, one found in the Andromeda system. One might wonder why such guardians are necessary; and the answer is that the son of the quantum physicist, Sebastian, who originally discovered the method to construct a wormhole (or, to fold space via negative mass) has himself stolen the father’s data and followed those instructions, finding a “new” planet of his own, in the same system. Yet Balthazar’s natives are more evil than those of his father’s discovered planet, and much more interested in colonizing Earth, for whatever nefarious reason. So Guardians have been assigned to protect Earth, and of course, the adversaries have their entities on Earth as well.

As Jesca reaches a certain age, her abilities begin to manifest, and so do those around her who are Guardians acknowledge themselves to her, while the opposing entities step up their campaign to render her useless, or worse. Almost immediately, she finds her life upended, as she is shipped out for training in a subterranean Nevada desert compound.

“Piercing the Fold” is quite an engrossing story. Readers should be aware, though, that due to the nature of the plotlines (quantum physics, wormholes, event horizons, different planets), there are some complex propositions and explanations put forth in the context of the novel, as explication of the backstory and of the characters such as Sebastian and Balthazar (and Jesca’s biological parent, Anna Gershon) who have inspired the chain of events that lead to his point in time, and to Jesca’s changed life and her discovery of her purpose.

[Randi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, Venessa Kimball, the author of this book for allowing me to read this book.

The plot of the story – I LOVE! I usually don’t like the outer space, especially about another galaxy but it makes the story unique as the characters on Earth in the story have different abilities that makes me decide to ignore the fact for the moment. I liked how the book combined both religion and science fiction – a rarity for me. I usually don’t read this type of book but I don’t mind reading the next book in the series.

The question - which will I choose if I was Jesca: Xander or Nate? To be honest, I don't know... I have always been a sucker for a confused person so perhaps Xander :-D Though Nate might be officially chosen later in the series. I don't know yet.

However, I wish that the author would have revised all the grammatical errors. I winced at every single one – approximately 3 to 10 per page. That is a little too much for me. I also have to get used to the fact that the dialogue is done differently such as: “Ezra, ‘blah blah blah’” (Ok the blah blah blah was me, not the author. You get the idea though). I would have preferred this type of dialogue over the grammatical errors.

One word that I definitely remember at 15% in the Kindle format that Elisha said “bazaar” and I know the word was intended “bizarre.” If it wasn’t for the grammatical errors, I would have given it a 5. However, for the number of errors, I have to give it to a 3 – a big drop but only because I couldn’t really enjoy the story much as I was constantly distracted.
Once the revision, if there will be one, has been completed, I can recommend it to anyone who like this type of story.

Again, Venessa Kimball, thank you for the opportunity to share it.

[Kendall {Book Crazy} · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did at all! I honestly didn't think that I was going to be able to follow it after reading the synopsis and also a few chapters but I soon found myself unable to put it down! I found the plot slightly confusing but once I started being able to follow it I loved it! It was completely original and it had so much potential! The characters were amazing! Jesca was the main character and I adored her! I loved how she acted and her attitude to what she had to do! I also connected with her the whole way through this book! I originally thought that Ezra was going to be the love interest of Jesca but I was completely wrong and I was very surprised with who he actually was! Nate was actually the love interest of Jesca and I loved him! He was perfect with Jesca even though he wasn't in this book as much as I would have liked! Xander was also sort of a love interest of Jesca and I did like him and also how he helped Jesca, Ezra and Nate but I am Team Nate! I hope that Jesca and Xander's relationship does develop a little more as well so that the love triangle between them and Nate heats up in the next book in this series! I loved the book being told from all different point of views as well but it was mostly told from Jesca's point of view! The ending of the book leaves so much open as to what coud happen in the next book which I am looking forward to reading! I also love the cover! Big thank you to Venessa for providing me with a copy of Piercing the Fold and also for having me on her Blog Tour!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a big sci-fi person and I don't like to start reading and not finish. This author gave me an e-book copy for a honest review,So here it is: This book started great. The girl in the story thinks she is losing her mind. As I read I feel like I am losing my mind with her. The story took me in. I felt like it was just the girl and me,the world around me was non-existing. As she discovers her past,present and future,she is twisted in a world she knew nothing about. Didn't know who to trust. On her quest to find some answers,she did find someone to help her with some of the many questions she had. He was able to explain what had happened,what will happen and how she is involved in the future of human-kind. (This is were the science stuff came in to play,me not understanding sci-fi I got a little lost. This is where I took a break from reading,sorry Vanessa Kimball,but like I said,I finished the book.) I am so glad I did not give up on the girl in the story. What happens next,in her journey to find out who she is,you would never guess in your wildest nightmare. She does find love. She finds friends in the strangest places. But most important she finds the connections she needs for self-discovery. There is so much more I can tell you,but I ran out of space. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves science,romance and everything in between. I'm ready for book 2. Bring it on.....!

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book from the author as an incentive to read and review her book by October 7, 2012, and enter the huge giveaway that she is hosting.

I would definitely define this book as new age, between YA and adult. I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be interesting and held my attention throughout. It was action packed and I just wanted to keep reading it right until the end. The only thing that I didn't like was all the physics and talk of wormholes, etc in the very beginning chapters. But other then that this was an awesome book.

I love the characters!!! Jesca, which I think is pronounced Jessica, is the main character and is a very strong willed female lead. She was orphaned and adopted at a young age, and later learns that her biological parents were guardians and so is she. She is whisked away by her mentor Ezra, and trained and gets educated on everything that she has missed in the last 15ish years of her life.

She finds not one but two possible loves in this story, and I can't wait until the next book to see who she chooses. I also like how the novel unfolds and as you read more, secrets are being revealed, secrets that I would have never even guessed. All I can say is SHOCKER!!!

Thank you Venessa Kimball for the great read!!!

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding book! Totally sucked me in from the beginning. Loved the story. Jesca's nightmare had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was happening, and hoping she was able to save them. I enjoyed seeing her finding out about her purpose, and coming to find herself. I think Jesca's journey to self-discovery was well written, and kept me interested in the story. I enjoyed reading about the training program, and appreciated the vivid description of the underground training facility. I liked seeing the interaction between Jesca and her mentor, Ezra Kahn, as well as the bond she formed with her peers.

I found myself trying to guess how the various twists would unfold, and ultimately, the book left me wanting more. I have a lot of unanswered questions, and can not wait until book two is released, and I am hoping that many of the questions I have will be answered.

I'm not going to tell you what happens. But, I will say, watching the twists unfold was riveting. I couldn't put the book down, and kept telling myself, "one more chapter" until I finished the book at 4 in the morning.

[Linda Parkinson-Hardman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine if you were a normal person, going about your daily life, who has moments out of time that can’t be explained. One day a different reality bursts in to prick the bubble of that ‘normality’ and thrust you into a world you had never even imagined could exist. Just imagine! That’s the basis of the story of Jesca that begins its process of reveal in Piercing the Fold. The characters Venessa draws are so lifelike, that the book almost makes you think that this reality is living right next door to you too – perhaps it is, we’ll probably never know. The settings and initial situations seem so ‘real’, that you could be forgiven for imagining they might happen to you the next time you step out the door. However, as the story unfolds, the world Venessa has created shifts from the comfortably familiar, to a darker one no-one would like to see. I enjoyed the book very much, it kept me gripped right to its conclusion and I’m looking forward to part II with anticipation.

[kelly {BookCrushin} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like thinking about the unexplainable? Do you sometimes watch the Science Channel and think what else is out there in this vast universe of ours? Or maybe you just love watching Fringe on Fox? If you said yes to any of these questions then I wholeheartedly recommend picking up this indie release! If you said no to all of these then I would still recommend this story as it was gripping and had me thinking, guessing and curious up until the very end.
Continue reading: http://bookcrush.in/reviews/book-revi...

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piercing the Fold by Venessa Kimball was a great story, one that I enjoyed and so will the young teens in my family. The story was interesting and easy to follow with a lot of action and thought provoking ideas. There was a strong sense of family, independence, touching on romance and duty. I thought Ms. Kimball did a great job with the book and I can hardly wait for book 2! I received this book free as a Goodreads First Read.

[Trudy Powders · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows a young woman named Jesca.Jescas world begings to change in many ways.Jesca fears she is going crazy.she meets her mentor and learns truths about her life and who she really is meant to be.I was a little confused with some of the story until it all started to come together.Fresh ideas a must read for those that follow science.This book was interesting,I have never read anything like it.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

"ORIGIN" is the first book in the four book series of the Copula Chronicles by Venessa Kimball. Jesca has had vivid paralyzing nightmares since childhood. Everything that she believes and people she thinks she knows turns out to be something that she can't fandom. Her life is turned upside down when she starts to experience physical and metaphysical alterations. Jesca is sent to the Facility to learn and train where she meets Nate and has an immediate connection with only to learn they spirits know each other, even though they are vertiral strangers. Linked spirits and souls are linked forever, something both Becca and Nate are struggling with. There are more revelations, secrets and twists and turns in this book and this is just the beginning of the adventure. I was surprised I enjoyed this book as much as I did and I'm excited to continue the story with the second book, "Descend".

[S. Policar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll begin by saying this.. If you do not have a love for aspects of science and science fiction, you may not enjoy the some parts of this book. I however love it. Venessa has masterfully brought the theory of wormholes and traversing the space time continum to life. Imagine a device that could instantly open a wormhole and take you within a mere seconds to another galaxy light years from our own. Now imagine the ramifications of leaving said wormhole open indefinitely and you have the basis for this book.
It's been a very long time since I've come across a book on this topic where the author did so much research that all the fiction mixed with it seem real. This book is perfect for those who gaze up to the stars every night wondering if there is life out there.
I absolutely love the amount of training the "green peas" get put through.. It's impossibly hard, tedious, and challenges death at every turn. The detailing for the training sessions is phenominal really. I love that each new guardian has their own special abilites and a training guardian with simliar ones to teach them.

The reader can sympathize with just about every character they come across. Their feelings will become the reader's and the reader will be tugged along on one hell of a journey. There are a couple of twists the story takes that will blog the reader away. The reader will not see them coming but once they are presented the reader will wonder how they didn't figure it themselves. The twists also snap some very vital pieces of the puzzle into place.
This story will appeal to a multitude of readers, from sci fans fans, to romance fans, even to fantasy and odd fiction fans. The tale Venessa has stared to weave within this first installment is definitely worth the time to read it. I look forward to Surfacing the Rim and what happens to the characters I have grown to know and love.
I give this book 5 of 5 paws

Reviewed by

S.Cu'Anam Policar

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[Novel Grounds · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars|Goodreads|Amazon

My Review:

This is one of those worlds that my mind won't soon forget. It is a work that takes modern beliefs in physics and the such and throws it in circles. In a good way that is.

 In this world you adventure with other worlds, "Aliens",  abilities, love, suspense, prophecy, and the likes of which you haven't ever read. It was a unique perspective on things I wouldn't have even considered to be interesting. I am not a fan of Physics. At all. Totally bombed it in school, but this book, this book makes you interested. The story it weaves around you about throes and the vast possibilities really draws you in and hooks you with its very intriguing plot line. Who doesn't love an impending world catastrophe. I sure loved it and can't wait to read more.

The characters, especially Jes were just fantastic. I felt that they were developed just enough that you got hooked, but not so much that you got sick of hearing about them. I also really annoyed that even with having our Main cast in the book, we had a lot of recurring up porting characters that were developed just as well. Nick being a favorite of mine.

The Love in this book. I capitalize because it needs to be so. This book weaves such a web that I fell hard for some of the possibilities with the characters, but all in all I didn't feel let down with this book's ending at all. If anything ti left me with just enough information and hints to be extremely excited about the second book, which luckily it out so not waiting for it for this girl :) Thats all for now friends, head over and grab this book, you won't be disappointed.

Synopsis:
“I'm Jesca. I have intense nightmares nightly and hallucinations of dark auras closing in on me daily. Strangers’ faces distort before my eyes and I hear voices in my head. All symptoms of insanity, ‘illusions in reality’, right? Wrong. This is my reality and it has been set askew.”

Jesca Gershon Sera discovers that she is part of a legacy and a fellowship of guardians destined to protect the human race from a galactic event that will invade and evolve our world.

*The Piercing the Fold series is intended for Mature Young Adult and Adult readers due to the the paranormal and unorthodox scientific concepts addressed throughout. This series contains a rich mixture of the paranormal, science fiction, romance, adventure, and suspense. *

[Danielle Eisner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book to review. I think it’s an interesting subject, and unusual take on paranormal. Its different that is for sure. It’s more of a scientific take on things. It was a little slow getting started, and had a few slow parts throughout, but I think they were an important part of a first book. There was a world and idea that she had to explain, and it took some serious explaining. She needed to paint a picture for us, with words, and I think she accomplished that. I don’t know much about science, but I was able to understand it pretty well.
Jesca Gershon-Sera, feels weird, and is having strange experiences that she doesn’t understand. She’s hearing people’s thoughts and having vivid nightmares and wakes up from them paralyzed for a few minutes. She is chased by weird shadowy creatures, and she suddenly finds herself able to run really fast when she needs to. She begins to think she might be losing her mind. Ezra Kahn is one of her college professors. Lately, Ezra happens to keep showing up at random times. He seems to always be around. She starts to wonder if there might be more to him then it seems. After one of her bad days, she freaks out and confesses all that she’s been going through to him. Eventually he reveals the truth about what is happening to her and that he is there to help her. Instantly, Jesca's reality is set askew. Ezra reveals that he has been sent to help her. He tells her she is experiencing these events in her life because of her inherited purpose to protect humanity from inconceivable catastrophe. She is then set on a journey into a whole new reality and learns the truth of her past.
The blurb promised romance, and I kept waiting but it didn’t seem like there was going to be any. It finally happened, and then we got two beaus for the price of one lol. There’s Nate, he’s like her, and they have a connection, they did from the moment they met, but they aren’t sure they’re ready for that. Then there’s Xander. He’s sort of the bad boy, the wrong boy really, but they have a connection as well. It wasn’t clear who was in the front running yet by the end of this book, but I see a definite love triangle coming on lol.
There were some slow parts, but the rest of the book made up for it, and I have the next book to read and I can’t wait to read it. Now that most of the explaining is out of the way, we can get down to business. Lol
It was a good read, and I’m glad I got the chance to read it

[Tracy Riva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piercing the Fold Book 1
By Venessa Kimball
Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN-13: 978-1479150847, $10.99; Kindle ASIN B008H772VI $1.99

I greatly enjoyed Piercing the Fold Book 1 by Venessa Kimball. It takes science theories that are currently among the “fringe” and puts them together with two factions, one of whom wants to control Earth and the other of whom wants to protect humanity. What I liked best about this book was that it wasn’t the aliens who had paranormal abilities, although some of them do, but rather a group of new adults. As if college and jobs aren’t enough to deal with, these people start to manifest paranormal abilities. They are then taken under the wing of an experienced guardian and are taken to a safe site where they undergo intensive physical and mental conditioning. After they finish they are assigned territories to protect.

Piercing the Fold Book 1 centers around a female protagonist, Jesca Gershon-Sera. Jesca is a student in college when her abilities first start manifesting and she is taken under the wing of an experienced guardian. Together he and a team of other experienced guardian help train Jesca and three other guardians for their future roles as protectors of humanity.

Can you imagine what it must feel like to be nineteen-years-old and to be told the fate of humanity rests partially in your hands? Jesca is overwhelmed, but so are the other new guardians. They will have to hone their abilities to the utmost degree in order to protect themselves, their territory and humanity in general.

Kimball does a great job of drawing realistic characters that you feel like you really get to know through the pages of the book. She does a good job of explaining the scientific reasoning behind what is happening in the book, without getting too technical. Her writing is clean and interesting and I found the book very hard to put down once I started it. By my second night of reading it, I had stayed up until dawn finishing it. It was new and exciting, full of plenty of action and had some interesting twists and surprises.

Piercing the Fold Book 1 will appeal to young adult, new adult and even older adult audiences. It is good science fiction and the paranormal aspect helps it draw in readers of that genre too. I highly recommend this book.

[Katherine Paschal · Rating 3 out of 5]

First I want to thank the author for sending me this book along with all the awesome swag such as a book mark and a letter, as well as images to help get a mental picture of the settings from in the story. The book is about Jesca, a college student who has had a recurring nightmare for a very long time. She starts to have strange feelings or intuition about people, as well as advanced abilities. She befriends a college professor and tells him her worries, just to discover that she is not really what she thought she was. Pretty much nothing is what she thought it was was, from her adoptive parents to her best friend. Jesca learns that she is a descendant of a group of people who have developed advanced abilities to help combat the destruction of earth by invaders from another planet in the Andromeda galaxy. She goes through emotional highs and lows as she has secrets revealed about her self and the organization she belongs to, yet ultimately embraces who and what she is. I thought Jesca was an interesting character, and I liked the fact that she did not immediately accept everything at face value with a sunny disposition. She had true emotions and had a hard time coming to terms with everything just like anyone would before choosing her path. The author did a good job adding religion in tot he book with out preaching. I will admit that I had a very hard time getting into the story and relating to the character in the beginning. I gave the book three stars because of that reason as well as some of the overwhelming astrophysics/ philosophy talks that are pretty much in lecture form between Jesca and her professor Ezra. After all the world building was done, the story picked up the pace as well as introducing some new and interesting characters and romance. I look forward to seeing where the series as well as Jesca ends up after all the twists and surprises the author threw out for the next book in the series. This is perfect for science fans as well as science fiction fans.

[Penelope Bartotto · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a bit of a mind twist that the author takes you on with this story, so be prepared to stop and think a few times along the road and determine if you are still following the prescribed path. The hardest part for me was grasping the scientific concepts, as science, particularly physics was never a favorite subject of mine. What I needed to do was not over analyze the theme and let my mind be free to read the story and see where it went, this helped me enjoy the adventure that Kimball embarks upon with the first book in a series.
Overall there is an excellent story within the pages of this book, there are also some great characters, yet there are a few things that made the reading of it, a tiny bit disconcerting. Building a story, is really no different than building a structure. You need a solid foundation to work on, and then you follow a series of steps to reach beginning to end, in a cohesive fashion. This is the issue that is the hardest to deal with in this story. The structure of the story is hard to follow.
Initially there is some story building, but then it is like you are dropped into a "mind" field... pun intended. The best thing I could say is that it was rushed into the heart of the story, and not enough structure was built before you added the load bearing content. I would have liked to see more back story built in, and more importantly... the end was abrupt. You rushed through the climactic apex of the story and then you are driven to the end, rather quickly. While I do know there are more books in the series to come, the flow between stories may be rocky with the ending the way it was.
All in all Kimball has a great idea, great characters, and a plot that is solid, what needs adjustment is the way the three things are brought together so that the story flows all of the time, and not just some of the time. Regardless, I now need to know what is going to happen next, the characters drew me in, so I will be back for book two in the series.

[K.C. Sprayberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesca Gershon-Sera has nightmares that cause sleep paralysis. These horrific dreams soon become a humming she feels in certain situations, along with the sense some people aren't what they appear to be. The worst of these dreams involves her adoptive parents' murders, something she doesn't believe she can prevent, until another presence steps in to show her the way. Soon, she learns she's a guardian and her duty is to protect the world from those of Sonde, a parallel universe. The long battle for dominance engulfs Jesca, and she learns she has a deep connection, like that of soul mates, to another guardian. But she can't stay with this man, and he severs the link between them so they can get about their duties. Without family close, Jesca is learning a new city, honing her abilities, and making friends. Yet, she's always on edge, wondering which friend will turn on her, will be the enemy.
Venessa Kimball weaves a tale combining science about wormholes with religion with ease. Her well-rounded characters are very human, with flaws that keep them back from easily achieving their goals. The reader will sympathize with Jesca being ripped from her comfort zone to a training session most will groan thinking about. The posting to Miami seems like a dream, with beaches, an easy school schedule, and new friends popping up from everywhere, but for Jesca it's being alert every minute, ensuring she doesn't fall into a trap.
This introduction to the Piercing the Fold series will have the reader hanging on to the last work, waiting breathlessly for the release of Surfacing the Rim. I found this to be a great read, for anyone interested in travel between alternate universes. It will attract an audience in young adults who are looking for a new voice and a main character they can relate to

[K.C. Sprayberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesca Gershon-Sera has nightmares that cause sleep paralysis. These horrific dreams soon become a humming she feels in certain situations, along with the sense some people aren't what they appear to be. The worst of these dreams involves her adoptive parents' murders, something she doesn't believe she can prevent, until another presence steps in to show her the way. Soon, she learns she's a guardian and her duty is to protect the world from those of Sonde, a parallel universe. The long battle for dominance engulfs Jesca, and she learns she has a deep connection, like that of soul mates, to another guardian. But she can't stay with this man, and he severs the link between them so they can get about their duties. Without family close, Jesca is learning a new city, honing her abilities, and making friends. Yet, she's always on edge, wondering which friend will turn on her, will be the enemy.
Venessa Kimball weaves a tale combining science about wormholes with religion with ease. Her well-rounded characters are very human, with flaws that keep them back from easily achieving their goals. The reader will sympathize with Jesca being ripped from her comfort zone to a training session most will groan thinking about. The posting to Miami seems like a dream, with beaches, an easy school schedule, and new friends popping up from everywhere, but for Jesca it's being alert every minute, ensuring she doesn't fall into a trap.
This introduction to the Piercing the Fold series will have the reader hanging on to the last work, waiting breathlessly for the release of Surfacing the Rim. I found this to be a great read, for anyone interested in travel between alternate universes. It will attract an audience in young adults who are looking for a new voice and a main character they can relate to

[Cherie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really my cuppa. This is sci-fi with a heavy leaning toward Christian fiction. The premise is interesting: wormholes lead to other worlds - one good and one bad. Jesca is a "Guardian" who is aligned with the good world and tasked with protecting earth from the baddies from the other world.

It sounded interesting and the premise is completely original but I just didn't get into this one. There were long scenes of info-dumping where Jesca is learning about everything going on. These are sit down scenes with another character where everything is spelled out. Necessary to the plot but not all that interesting to read. Much of it is scientific which, on the one hand adds to the authenticity of the story, but on the other hand makes it kinda boring.

I was very disappointed in the characters. There was almost no character development at all. At least, in terms of their personality and emotions. They all develop physically as a part of the storyline but all of the characters fall flat. I didn't really connect with any of them.

There were also some general things with this book that bothered me. Most of the book is written from Jesca's perspective but there are a couple of scenes where other characters are the focus. I found this really jarring and thought it took away from the flow. There were also a ton of annoying grammatical errors! Lots of misspellings, incorrect punctuation and misuse of words - their instead of they're, for example. In small doses I can overlook these things, but there were so many of them that I found it extremely distracting. This book could benefit from some major editing.

All in all, this just was not for me. Others may love this and find if fascinating but I'll be skipping the rest of this series.

[Marni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't wait to read the rest of this series, if the other books are as good as this one. From the beginning of the book, I was drawn in to the story and it was a roller coaster ride, that I didn't want to get off of. The story is unique in many ways and the science behind it all feels like a possibility, instead of being totally made up.

There is a mixture of genres in this book that would have many scratching their heads, wondering just how to make it work. The author does it seemlessly and everything just clicks right into place. Religion, especially when science fiction is involved, can be quite touchy, but the author gives weight to both sides early on so you know there's equal weight to each.

It was very easy to attach to the main character, Jesca. She seemed like your normal young adult college girl. As a reader, I wanted someone to help her with her nightmares and with everything that started changing for her. I did find some of the things with her a bit off though. She was too okay with changes that should have set the normal person over the edge. I think she was cheated from true emotions a few times.

The science fiction aspect and story in this book is one that would make any reader of that genre proud. I know I've wondered from time to time what else is out there. I've read the works of some of our major physicists and wonder if their theories are correct. The author takes these theories and devises a major story from them.

Apart from some of the story being a bit too clean of emotions and some of the grammar being a bit off, this is a great read that I recommend to every reader of the science fiction genre. They will love it and want to read more, just like me.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off I want to say thanks to Venessa Kimball for asking me to be on the blog tour, I am super excited!

Jesca has always had a normal life, with her adopt parents and her half sister her life has been great, and she has always loved her family time. The one thing that was a down fall was she always had bad nightmares, but Jesca and her parents always worked together to work through everything bother her and she loved them for that! They were the perfect family! Now that Jesca is out of the house and in college trying to do her own thing, and trying to work past her nightmares things start to change. Her parents are moving out of her childhood home, and things with her self seem to be changing as well. Her nightmares are getting worse and she seems to be getting some strange supernatural abilities. Now her college professor Ezra has just dropped a boom shell on her and things have only just begun with all the news Jesca will have to face will she be able to handle it or will she fall at what she needs to do?


I loved it, lots of Sci-fi and lots of page turning. I really loved Jesca she is such an awesome character to read and she was so well writing at that! I did love the plot of this one too, it made for a great read. The other galaxy and just the cool abilities they all have! I do like the choice of boys in this one as well, and you can never have too much hot boys in a story right?!! You will have to make up your own mind on this one! You will never want to put this one down and will want the second book right away. I did enjoy how Venessa keep me hooked and never had me lost, with the sci-fi some times that can happen but it sure did not in this one!

[Heather Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jesca is a college student living in her own apartment and having horrible nightmares, only they aren't really just nightmares, they are so much more. She begins to see things that aren't there, or are they? With the help of a new friend Ezra, her professor at school, and revelations from both him and her adoptive parents, she will find out that her nightmares are nothing compared to the reality she is to face. She is a hybrid with powers that she has to develop because a battle is coming and she is a guardian. Her and the other guardians are the last line of defense for our world against a man that used stolen technology to open a portal to another world. He now wants that world to spill over into hers, and she will need to learn to harness her powers in order to stop him. After discovering the truth about herself she will head, with Ezra, to a training facility where she meets the other guardians in training. Will she learn to develop her powers in time? There will be bone shattering revelations still left for her to discover and a battle to be won. I enjoyed this book, it's a mix of sci-fi, fantasy, adventure and paranormal all rolled into one. The only thing I wasn't as fond of was the technical explanations as to how the worlds were breached etc. I'm good with the simple version. Other than that, I enjoyed the characters, the story was cool and different, and there were some twists that I wasn't expecting but really enjoyed. On to the next book, Surfacing the Rim to see what happens next.

[Kristin Scearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I was given an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This storyline is far from the ordinary of what I normally read, but I found myself nodding along with the different theories given, saying, "You know, that makes a little sense." I even found myself sharing a few of them with my husband, who is really into astronomy and the exploration of the cosmos. I liked how everything played out over the course of the plot, and how there were different twists that jumped out for certain characters that I was definitely not expecting. Just the general idea behind what's going on with Earth and what might possibly happen was very intriguing, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

The reason I dropped my review from 5 stars was because of all the grammatical errors. I don't recall ever seeing "you're" used correctly; instead, no matter the context, it was always "your," and that got really aggravating. The same goes for "their/there/they're" and "here/hear," and possibly some others that I'm forgetting. I'm not the type of person to read through a book with a red pen, but there were just so many instances that it was really hard to ignore. However, the story was very good, it definitely pulled me in, and I'll be waiting for the next one (and hoping the editing is better).

[Jeannette Joyal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given an arc copy of this book for an honest review.
God, the Universe, Science, Heaven and Hell, Big Bang Theory. All connected but all separated by beliefs. However what if it isn’t. What if it is all connected more than we realize…….
Jesca, has been plagued with nightmares since childhood but now that she has come into adulthood and things have gotten more complicated. She is experiencing visions and hearing thoughts of others sending her to believe that she is going insane or is she…
A fantastic start to an amazing series!! First, the unique approach of combining theories was impressive and was brought together into a fresh new outlook was simply spectacular!!!
Second, the characters were beautiful described in such detail that they were brought alive with amazing clarity that they became alive for me as I envisioned them.
Last, the detailed description of what was taking place not only in the present but in the past pulled the story together to where you could understand the story without having to guess. I love that!!
Now I will have to tell you that this is a thrilling story that will capture your attention and hold it all the way through!! Not only that it has an ending you will never see coming!! You will want to jump right into book two of this series!!!

[Tarnya Rutheford · Rating 5 out of 5]

PIERCING THE FOLD BOOK 1 BY VENESSA KIMBALL MATURE YA/NEW ADULT PARANORMAL FRINGE SCIFI SERIESS I love this book !the science theories are unbilievable!I had read very slow and closely to make sure I took in everything the book was telling me.How Vanessa came up with all this science concepts is unknown to me; one word to describe her is AMAZING .All the characters are fabulous !Jesca is the maine character, she is one very special character. I love the way she looks in the book and her gifts are just awsome .I love Ezra Kahn her college professar and mentor .Nate is just a sweetheart and a very loveable character.This book had me on the end of my seat with all the twists and turns ,power,surprises .When you start this book expect to have a dirty house and hungry kids because it is unput downable .I give this book 5 star rateing ***** wish i could give it more.Truelly an amazing book. well done Venessa Kimball on this awsome book ! well deserves the 5 stars *****i gave it! carnt aite to read the next book in the series, surfacing the rim .