When Allie finally notices the clues, it’s already too late. Stuck in the wrong world, her only ticket back to Earth is the group of mysterious strangers who kidnap her from a psychiatric ward, then leave her with Ronan, a beautiful but intimidating man who can disappear at will.
After learning the truth—that she is a Walker, one of the rare few with the ability to move between dimensional realities—Allie discovers the wonders of the Eververse, and confronts terrifying danger that will put the lives of everyone she loves in peril.
Allie is willing to risk her life, her sanity, and her heart to save the ones she loves, but her newly discovered powers won’t be enough save her from the consequences of walking the Eververse.
Nicole has been a soldier, photographer, freelance writer, and artist, but she truly found her home as the author of stories about magical worlds in which ordinary people become heroes through extraordinary circumstances…always with a little romance thrown in.
When she’s not writing fantasy novels or creating fantasy art, Nicole spends time with her husband and three boys, climbing, camping, hiking in the New Mexico wilderness, and daydreaming about chocolate chip cookies.
I just can’t express how great and well written this book is. Love the characters, love the amazing and so well described world building and the name choices are mind blowing. This book resonated with my deepest thoughts about reality. The only small details that I didn’t like was that there were quite a few misspellings and that the love interest’s eyes were described several times, but besides a few seconds of annoyance this book gave me a few hours of deep emotions and wanting to know more about the story, cannot wait to read the next book in the series. I recommend it to everyone who loves reading metaphysic worlds and great characters. If there were more stars then I would definitely give like a ton of them.
When Allie finally notices the clues, it’s already too late. Stuck in the wrong world, her only ticket back to Earth is the group of mysterious strangers who kidnap her from a psychiatric ward, then leave her with Ronan, a beautiful but intimidating man who can disappear at will.
After learning the truth—that she is a Walker, one of the rare few with the ability to move between dimensional realities—Allie discovers the wonders of the Eververse, and confronts terrifying danger that will put the lives of everyone she loves in peril.
Allie is willing to risk her life, her sanity, and her heart to save the ones she loves, but her newly discovered powers won’t be enough save her from the consequences of walking the Eververse.
•••••••••••
REVIEW: THE LAWS OF FOUNDING is the first instalment in Nicole McKeon’s new adult EVERVERSE CHRONICLES fantasy series focusing ‘Walker’ Allison Chapters, a college student who suddenly finds herself ‘walking’ between dimensional realities in an effort to understand the truth of how and why.
When we are first introduced to Allison Chapters she has awoken in an alternate reality where the people are familiar but not. No sooner has she found herself in the local psychiatric ward then our heroine is freed by her would-be ‘rescuers’ a group that call themselves the Venatore, or hunters. As Allison’s world slowly begins to unravel she discovers that she has mystical powers of her own, powers that attract otherworldly assassins determined to kill our story line heroine. ‘Walking’ into mythical worlds thought only to have existed in fairy tales and lore, Allison, along with her mentor and Venatore Ronan find refuge in Avalon, alongside a fabled King, brought to life in True Earth’s stories and movies. From present day, to the medieval times of kingdoms and knights, Allison ventures on a journey of philosophical discovery where she must battle between head and heart, breaking the ‘laws of Founding’ as she travels the Eververse, in an effort to save the man with whom she is falling in love, only to discover that the not is all as it appears to have been.
THE LAWS OF FOUNDING is an entertaining, mesmorizing, exhilarating and animated story of fabled lore, fantasy and mythology; an imaginative tale of times past that traverse the present; of one woman’s discovery of self and the other. A simple yet complex story of energy, magic, power and love.
Nicole McKeon’s novel, The laws of Founding, was a joy to read. Her characters, from Allison Chapter, a strong female protagonist with her co-tagonist Ronan all the way through to the villains who are trying to kill her are fully realized flawed human beings. The storyline is a sweeping epic with characters facing personal struggles on both emotional and physical levels. The settings are a varied mixture of the mundane and the mystical.
Allie is as well-drawn a character as I’ve seen. She is a young college student living with her roommate and working a part-time job when she finds herself swirled into some alternative universe and thrown into a mental hospital. Her escape from that hospital and that universe plunges her into an epic battle that spans time and space, sometimes with her mentor, Ronan, by her side, sometimes on her own. She leaps into both peril and romance with equal abandon. Her abilities and her experiences change her from an aimless college student who is not sure of her goals in life into a hardened warrior, able to kill at need, with a life goal that gives her meaning. She is also able to love with a fierceness that endures all.
The story is about good pitted against evil, of course, but so much more. We are taken from a time almost before history through modern ground combat in the blink of an eye. Here is unarmed combat, knife, and swordplay, modern handguns and rifles. Here are mythical heroes with the same faults they had in days of old. Here are complicated moral dilemmas requiring more-than-human wisdom to resolve. It has been said there are no new stories, just humans trapped and struggling in the same plots. This is amply demonstrated in this novel, with twisting and intertwining plotlines. Does the hero get her man? Well...yes and no. It was great fun to read all the way through.
The settings were also a mix of the mundane and the magical. I get the feeling that McKeon, as a little girl, imagined a mythical world of magic she wanted to live in. Since she couldn’t actually go there, she had to create it. We are all fortunate she has invited us along for the ride. We are pulled from Seattle Washington through medieval Ireland and on to Avalon. Her imagery and deft prose make the experience both tactile and visual. These are places we have all visited, and it was good to see them again with fresh eyes.
All in all, The Laws of Founding is a powerful debut novel just begging for a sequel. If you like well-crafted characters, breathtaking adventures and mystical realms, this is a great read.
I really enjoyed McKeon's descriptive language. There is certainly something when an author can engulf a reader in a scene. It doesn't happen often, but I really enjoyed the visual descriptions. My only complaint was it felt really long, but I enjoyed the characters and have a feeling the slow burn romance will be totally worth it!
This reminds me a lot of Mortal Instruments and so would likely appeal to fans of those sort of books, only if they featured slightly mythological-inspired portal fantasy and a less OTT paranormal romance - The Portal Instruments? If you like contemporary YA romance/portal fantasy, you will likely love this.
The cover and blurb made me expect this was going to be more high fantasy-like as it mentions fairytales and magic, but rather it's a snarky YA contemporary urban fantasy with action and romance. Elements of it need proof reading still (flower in someone's hair after baking, capitalization missing, dialogue formatting issues; that sort of very odd minor thing that a nitpicker notices in indie books), but otherwise the writing seems pretty solid and gets better as the book goes on. I think I just wasn't my jam, a little bit more stereotypical contemporary YAish and slow than my preference.
It's the story of Allison Chapter, college student and... Sudden resident of a mental institution? When she wakes one morning to find her world ever so slightly off, with a boyfriend she in no way recognises and a BFF who swears everything is as it should be, Allie can't help but freak out. It's only when a mysterious crew rescue her and tell her she's a Walker - one who can hop between different realities at will - that things start to make sense. OK, so sense is relative, but Mr Tall, Dark and Irish a.k.a Ronan is at least good to look at while he trains her in the ways of Walking. When he's around to do so that is... and when no one's trying to kill her. Turns out there's more to everyone than meets the eye, and with both Allie and Ronan's pasts snapping at their heels it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.
There were a few things that I wished could have been a bit more developed, such as the way mythology and sci-fi were sort of touched on but not really explained , how characters didn't always seem consistent , and the odd pacing that focused more on the mundane YA fantasy things (romance, combat training, hanging out with BFFs) than the strange and creative "magic" world I wished we could have seen more of.
While the romance wasn't my thing, I could appreciate that it wasn't instalove or OTT woe-is-me stuff (though is calling a love interest "big" and "massive" not a bit... unusual?) There perhaps should be a trigger warning about sexual assault, as I found that incredibly upsetting especially how it occurs late on in the book.
Overall it just wasn't my thing, but I think with a little polish to smooth those typos, the right audience would love this.
-I received a free copy of this e-book in a giveaway. This does not influence my review-
I loved every second of this book. The lore Nicole weaves into the story is drool worthy, throw-the-book-across-the-room good! I'm a sucker for and this book did NOT disappoint. I found myself squealing at so many places.
Allie is strong, a fighter, and so well written. I love how Ronan has just the right amount of mystery surrounding him to stay a major player throughout the book. And that ending! Ah! Goosebumps.
I loved this book! It was fast-paced, the Sci-fi elements were believable and the world-building was SOLID! If you like fandom references, similar to 'Ready Player One' style... the ever-verse is SO for you. And let's just talk for a second about Ronan... my new book boyfriend. HAWT! There are some references to sexual assault which I felt was timely and well-written considering the #metoo movement. I don't think it would be triggering for any victims of sexual assault, but the subject was broached in a way that felt authentic and non-gratuitous (Not just for shock value). This book is LONG, normally I worry when a book is too long but I finished it in two days flat! I honestly couldn't put it down. There were twists, turns, action sequences... very movie-like. I would definitely recommend this, and have, to my viewers and friends.
As soon as Ronan physical description came up, i knew where this is going. Hot guy, MC girl with womanly curve since thirteen (aka hot girl alert) with some paranormal ability then insta love etc etc. The same trope of urban fantasy romance.