It's been years since the fall, since Sera was found and we realized that our stories of creation weren't stories at all. To find a god, alive, was something no one had dreamt of-but was something too many feared.
Sera was weak, and with her capture a pulse washed over the earth-gifting the millions who were chosen fractions of her power as a desperate call for help.
But with the pulse came something greater, Klaus, who leveled entire cities in search of his beloved in what became known as the Reckoning before disappearing entirely.
Fear spread in the wake of his destruction, with fear panic, and with panic, war. Soon anyone who had been touched by Sera's grace became hunted-forced to live on the fringes of a broken world.
The time has come to not just survive, but to thrive, and embrace the stigma that has become our lives.
We will fight, we will survive. Amidst the mist, we will rise.
I loved the premise of the story, the characters were unique and the magic beautiful. The cover is eye catching and well done. Unfortunately, I'm not a reader who invests a lot in description, and there was a lot of description. Way too much. I think this book is good, but it would be so much greater with a bit of editing. It was a struggle to follow the writing, and there were a number of inconsistencies and contradictions. There is clearly talent and potential here, but it needs a bit of polishing still.
I would encourage you to read this book for the unique ending, characters, and magic, but be prepared to muscle your way through it.
Engaging, powerful and intense. You won't want to put it down. This is a futuristic story about the Pure, regular humans and the Stigma holders, a race of humans with unique gifts and powers. The pure want to erase these Stigma holders from the earth and there is constant war between the two factions. Our hero and heroines in the story are Stigma holders, Demi, the son of the God Klaus who is basically a god of war, Sage a young woman with no notable powers and Ava, a very young girl with healing powers. The three of them are sent on a journey to find a goddess named Sera who is said to be able to save the Stigma holders. But these three have no idea where she is. Along their journey they encounter numerous obsticals, namely Agents of the Pure as well as other dangers. This is a very long story, but it doesn't lag anywhere. The author does a great job fleshing out the main characters as well as secondary characters. There is a lot of action in the story and some violence, which is appropriate for these two factions fighting against one another. The author gives a lot of insight into the hearts of the main characters, Demi, Sage and Ava. You fall in love with them, you root for them and you want a happily ever after for them. I won't spoil the ending, but the characters achieve many of their goals. I'd highly recommend this book for people who love fantasy books. It was five stars in my opinion.
I fell into the story from the beginning. The author’s descriptions made me feel as if I were lurking in the shadows watching the scenes being played out before me. This action packed story is well-paced and the dialogue between the characters is believable. There is some violence and the author wrote it well enough that it became real in my mind. Sage, Demi, and Ava are very likable, and I am team Sage/Demi. I am really hoping for a happy ending for them.
There are two types of people in this book, the Pure (normal people) and the Stigma or Gifted (the ones with unique powers), and they are at war. The Pure leader, Zanin, kidnaps the Stigma’s “mother” Sera, and has his Agents hunting and killing all the Stigmas. Sage, Demi, and Ava are sent out, along with other gifted groups, to rescue Sera. On their journey, Sage, Demi, and Ava encounter many difficult obstacles (not trying to spoil too much of the story.)
I can’t wait to find out the rest of the story because I know there is much more to learn from this Stigma saga. Hurry! Sage and Demi need their happy ending and so does the rest of the Stigmas.
One thing you notice about Stigma: Wicked Rebirth right away is the attention to detail The author knows these characters inside and out and it comes through with extensive world building evident in the first few pages. Two factions battle one another: the Pure and the Gifted. Sage, Demi, and Ava undertake a quest to recuse Sera from the clutches of the Pure and their leader Zanin.
The characters feel real and you are drawn into rooting for them throughout their journey. Thomas Goyette seamlessly blends magic and fantasy with a futuristic post-apocalyptic landscape. There is so much more of this world that feels like it can be explored and that's a good thing. It has some quality action set pieces and elements of mystery that will keep readers captivated and entertained for hours.
I was sooooo into this book. Like, to an embarrassing-to-admit sort of way. Stigma: Wicked Rebirth has the "it" factor, that special something that you can't quite put your finger on, or pin point exactly, but it's there and it's amazing and all you can really do is tell others to read it for themselves.
Having said that, there were many amazing parts of this novel that I can pin point in a more helpful/constructive way, and at the top of the list is the author's descriptions. There were times in this novel when I was completely hypnotized and lost in the imaginative settings and scenes--most pointedly being Demi's private little get away within his gift that Sage bravely finds, as well as the scenes describing the space-like setting when she's learning more about herself. I was floored and even reread certain parts just to get lost in them again. The author has a great ability to set up full-bodied, clear scenes that range, like I said, from the hypnotic escapes to action packed fights.
This novel has a bit of everything too, from action to self-discovery, to friendship and romance, to the bigger questions containing power and morality. Also, Sage is a young female character that is very real because she has many sides to her personality. She's strong but also weak in many aspects, she's good and bad, and flawed but knows what's right. And Demi is one of those characters that you can't help but fall for.
Highly recommended for lovers of A Wise Man's Fear meets The Matix meets Inception meets something new lol (kind of a random mix of things, but it makes sense in my head).
Perhaps this book wasn't for me, I couldn't finish it - I put it down at page 76.
I didn't enjoy the writing style as I found the sentence structure was off putting. There were sentences that were far too long, that should have been edited or cut short, which was exhausting to read. There was no relief for me as a reader and it caused my mind to wander and not focus on the story. There were grammatical errors, for example the use of thrown instead of throne, and the occasional addition/omission of words that also made sentences difficult to read.
I appreciate that in the genre of fantasy, an author can indulge in large descriptive passages to paint their world, but in this case it was different. There was more focus on the basic interaction between characters which was stretched out in long passages, and for which I thought detracted from the main story.
I don't like giving a low rating and I do believe there is a good book in there, waiting to be edited out - which is possibly the reason for others giving it a 5 star rating. I could see the potential in the story, but this time Stigma wasn't for me.
Very interesting novel. It is action packed and a great characters Sage and Sera. The book moves very quickly and has a lot of mystery, action, and even some romance. It is a post apocalypse environment that I think has relevance in today's world, as in the book the country is split in two. The character Sage is very well done. Under the horrific conditions, she is a true survivor and a risk taker. The story is very complex with multiple characters. Its the continually changing direction the author takes the reader in that was the most intriguing. Well worth your time and an excellent first novel.
This book is the perfect blend between future and fantasy. This book was recommended to me, and I was not disappointed!
I was amazed at how well this post war world blended with magic and legend. The chaos of conflict and added racial division, built the hopes and desires for something better. The need for answers and desire to see the characters find hope, drive this story and you won't want to put it down.
Stigma was a book full of action and suspense, along with well-defined and relatable characters. It sounds weird to say relatable, because the destruction and search of a living god, etc, but the characters are really believable. I think my favorite parts of this book were the action scenes. So full of imagination and description. Great book, Thomas!
Stigma: Wicked Rebirth have a great ending can't wait to read more books from this author.
I highly recommend this book. I read it and thought it was a great story. I can't wait to read more story from this author. I give this book 10/10 and a 5 star review. I hope everyone who buys this book enjoy it as much as I did. Thank you for the great read
I really like the story. I have no intention of including spoilers in this review. If you want to know what happens, read the book! I'll start with the positive, as that's what really matters. The story was intriguing. The characters were believable and easy to connect with. The world building and descriptions of battle were extremely detailed. I had no difficulty seeing what the author was trying to portray. Now the not so positive, there are numerous grammar errors which are distracting. And there are large portions of descriptive text that, while they are very well written, are also a little boring. Some people like a lot of detail, but for me personally, once I can visualize a scene, I don't really need another paragraph of description. In the end, I was thoroughly entertained and expect to buy the next book in the series.