Ancient Dreams

Ancient Dreams #1

by J.P. Roth

"A heady potion of pure magic awaits readers of this modern-day witch tale." – BestThrillers.com “My tale starts with a ‘once upon a time’ — A long time ago, beings lived who could control the elements, immortality, and time. We called them gods and gave them our worship. They played with us like toys, took our lives and sabotaged our love. Now, the gods are myths. Stories in books—not to be confused with our modern world. I believed this until I found myself tumbling into a dream. This dream takes me to another life. To a forgotten time in a bloody age. I dream of Hades’s son and a lustful goddess. I dream of limitless power and revolving time. I dream a death and love that was mine... My name is Cara Wynter— and this is my story.” Cara Wynter is a literature student living with her twin sister, Lily, in Fairhaven Washington. A daughter of witches, touch brings Cara only pain, and dark visions of pasts and futures she can rarely change. Already fighting to exist in her strange reality, she begins to crumble when the reoccurring dreams of her own death begin. In a desperate attempt to unlock the secrets in the violent images, she finds herself lost in a contest between love—and the will of the ancient gods. With only forgotten memories and the pages of a book to guide her, she struggles to understand her past and break a deadly curse. Cara must face her worst fears—to save the soul of a god she has treasured for centuries, and a love she cannot live without.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Ebooks, Romance, Mythology

275 pages, Paperback

First published May 21, 2020

About the author

Author, artist--wild child extraordinaire.

We write what we know, imagine what we dream. Only the rare ones truly live in a world where nothing's as it seems. --JP Roth

JP Roth is an American Novelist, and owner of Rothic comics, founded in 2012, through which she has produced and published five of her original series. JP Roth lives California with her beautiful family, and their adorable Bichon Frise. She spends her days writing fanciful stories, walking on the beach, and attending comic conventions across the globe.

JP Roth was born overseas and spent her life roaming the world. She still enjoys traveling to exotic locations, but admittedly prefers to stay home, wrapped in a soft fluffy blanket, drinking, tea and penning her next novel.
JP Roth’s current series include:
Ancient Dreams
Southern Nightgown - Now available through Diamond
REM 8 - Now available through Diamond
Theory of Magic and
Kiss

Reviews

[Eve Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tl;dr the worst thing about this book is how amazing it could have been, but still an easy 4.5 ⭐

Um, why would you give the entire plot away in the prologue?? Why?? Don't you want your readers to be kept guessing?? There's so much of this book that could have been handled better and I'd honestly put it down to poor decisions on behalf of the publisher. For example, the mystery component would have been much better if the story consisted of the dual perspectives of Cara and Arias instead of being presented as two separate books merged together.

At first the writing is a bit too 'decorative' and the changing between times disjointed, but stick with it - the author definitely finds her rhythm as the story proceeds. The book gives the impression of Cara telling the story directly to the readers which I love. By chapter 3, I was intrigued. There's something so fascinating about the story, it pained me to be separated from it.

I found the perspective of Arias and Draken a bit boring at first but oh boy, it gets better. So, so much better. Their story is a serious case of love-at-first-sight but it is EPIC. How could a forbidden love between a prince and priestess not be!! On top of that, our two main settings are a haunted manor with witches and spirits and the ancient times with all the toxic Gods and Goddesses we're obsessed with. Which is pretty damn awesome.

Trigger warning; sacrifical ceremony involving sexual assault.

"It appears horror is a part of life in our world."

[J.P. Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in a trilogy, it was not where I first wished to end this first portion of the tale, however, since completing book two I am greatful for my publishers direction. Cara Wynter reads a book and falls into a story depicting a past life & love. A modern Greek tragedy.

[Kim Degener · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. I honestly enjoyed this story, which combined mythology, witchcraft, reincarnation, and romance, and produced a truly engaging tale.

Cara, a descendant of an ancient line of witches, along with her twin sister Lily, live an isolated life in Washington State. Plagued by troubling visions and blackouts, Cara eventually meets a dashing stranger and his sister, and her life takes a startling turn.

In a parallel story that runs throughout, a prince of ancient Sparta and a priestess of Aphrodite discover that they have a deep and eternal connection to one another, one that stretches through the millennia to shape Cara’s future.

This book leaves you with a hefty cliffhanger, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading the sequel. My thanks to LibraryThing for the advance copy.

[Megan Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cara Wynte Battling a a curse facing against gods and witches . A great book that with a lot of magic.

[Clare Bendandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT!!!
To most people that read this book, it will be fairly obvious that there is a second and maybe even, third book. The writing is stunning. The author's ability to weave between the two worlds that she created is magical!

I assume that the parts that lack in explanation in this book, are parts that were not, in fact, as relevant to this books plot and will be explained in more detail in future books.

Overall I would say that this book is an absolute must-read if you enjoy YA fiction and are in the mood for a poetic symphony that tells a story while building to a climax.

JP Roth is the 2020 Steven King/Anne Rice voice that we have all been waiting for!

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very unique book. It bounces back and forth between the past and the present seamlessly. This book definitely drags you into it and leaves you wanting more. The strong female leads in this book truly make this story in my opinion. JP Roth writes scenes so creepy that it reminds you of Stephen King if he were to write YA novels,


Cara Wynte can feel other peoples emotions with just a touch. This magical ability runs in her family and has for generations. When she starts to get dark visions, she starts looking for answers and is thrust into a contest between love and ancient gods.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was filled with magic, intrigue and a major cliffhanger at the end. Quite frankly I feel the publishers should have made it clear that this is the first one in a series. So for those of you who, like me, have read it and wondered why the ending seemed unsatisfying--I did find out there is another one on the way. Looking forward to reading the second book. JP Roth does a beautiful job of pulling you into the intriguing world of mythology, gods and goddesses, while threading it through our modern day world. Definitely worth the read.

[Eszter Szika · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ancient Dreams got my curiosity with the exciting plot and in an instant I requested a copy from Librarything to read.
The prologue starts really intensely and made me hooked from the beginning. A fast paced young adult fantasy that sure will be a favorite for lots of readers. The author made a two in one book with the timeline: ancient greek and present times intertwined together. A book full with magic, action and evil.

Thank you Librarything for the copy.

[Dawn McTeigue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book approximately 30 times! I LOVE IT! The author has put a lot of thought, detail & depth into the characters.

I do have a sneaky back-channel to the other books in the series. :) I've read book-two & as much of book-3 as is currently written & the progression of the story, and the character's roles & personalities is breathtaking. I literally got chills in so many parts of these books!

Part 1 is a MUST READ. Just you wait for the rest!

[Karen Swinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this story to read on exchange for an honest review. I really like this story. At times it was a little confusing, but the story straightened out for me. The subject matter was right up my alley, witches and ancient Gods. I figured out what was going on about half way through, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire journey. I can't wait for part 2.

[Jeanne Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 1st book I've read written by JP Roth; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I can’t wait to read more of her books.

The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.

I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lily Emerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was amazing it’s totally the type of novel I read I didn’t like her at first but I know she’s really gonna grow in JP Roth’s next books. I’m sharing it with my friends!

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful read! The plot is deep but I followed along with ease! Thought provoking and powerful! Strong female leads, ancient powers and love. Perfect!

[Juliet Keenan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved her style of writing and the story drew me into the world she wrote. This author is amazing! ❤

[Fran Zoch, LSoR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what Cara boes though on this book made me want to stay in their world just to keep.living it. I know there are other books and an not wait to read them also

[Lilith *EUPHORIA_READS_* · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE REVIEW FOR THE BOOK ANCIENT DREAMS BY JP ROTH.



GENRE: YOUNG ADULT, PARANORMAL, GREEK MYTHOLOGY.
AUTHOR:JP ROTH.
POV: MULTIPLE POV...
MY RATING: 5 STARS.

Cara Wynte has always led an extraordinary life... She can feel other's emotions ..their estasy...their agony...their pain and suffering just by getting a touch , Which has made her terrified of contact with other people. This magical ability runs in her family for generations but nothing can make her life easy when her aunt suddenly leaves her. One day she finds an old history book personifying Greek myth characters.

"Ancient dreams" was a very original and unique book. The author manage to move seamlessly into past and future back and forth. The scenes in the book was so spooky ..it gave me chills.
It was a lengthy book but every chater was so enthralling...it just pulls you in.
I am not a big fan of Young adult book but this author has changed my mind.
Strong female leads...powers to change the past... pure love...
This book just made my day....totally recommend this to all YA LOVERS.

[Jennifer Pierson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancient Dreams was very original in the telling as there were several areas that this author slipped back & forth seamlessly. It's like a combination of mythology, and paranormal all rolled into one which kept me riveted to the pages until I devoured it. There's a lot going on in Ancient Dreams, with many questions that I need answers to but I would have to guess that this story is just the tip of the iceberg, and I'm here for it all! I've been branching out to different genres that I don't normally read, and I've been finding some amazing new authors for this, so I'll be keeping an eye on JP Roth for more stories. Now, since this story is quite magical with some mystery leading to twists that I can't share, I'm going to keep this review short & sweet. So, it's time for y'all to hit those one click buttons to be swept away to another world! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

[Lindsey Rojem · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from LibraryThing in exchange for a review here and on my blog Samwise Reviews. This was not the book for me. I felt that it had a lot of potential; I enjoyed the sisters and their witch heritage and would have loved it to just take off from there. What lost me was the “time travel” and the zombies and the disjointed plot and timeline. I usually love mythology and the involvement of the gods, but I did not feel the connection from them to the present and thought that part felt a bit unnecessary. I really tried to like this book but overall it just didn’t do it for me.

[A. Lorna Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book!

The title of this book is pretty accurate as I felt I was reading a dream through most of it. I can't say I loved it but I also didn't hate it? It worked, in a weird way. I loved the mythology aspect, my favorite parts were the ones set in ancient times. I would continue to read any following books just to see what happens!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure I have ever enjoyed a book more while being both confused and annoyed. I love what "Ancient Dreams" does. It mixes mythology with present day and adds in some reincarnation. It's wonderful. I try not to give away anything about a book in my reviews, but a few minor details may slip in. Also, there is a wonderful blurb about the book here: https://www.rothic.com/ancientdreams (not my website).

The writing in this book is great, really. The author builds not one, but two worlds and slips between them almost effortlessly. My problems were more with the plot and the main character. Before I get to that, to be fair, this is the first book in what I imagine will be several, so it's possible that Roth is setting up the next book and will address the questions and confusion I have.
When we meet Cara, we can see that her life is very different. She has a lot of family secrets and quirks, and one of my issues is that there really isn't any background into this. Cara doesn't seem to know a lot about her family or powers, and I find it odd that she doesn't really care, even when weird things start happening, She chooses to ignore it and doesn't really even act curious about who she is. Several times answers or issues were right in front of her, but she just doesn't see them? Ignores them? Refuses to acknowledge anything that was going on? It's really annoying, especially when everyone keeps saying she's the strong one, and she really isn't. At times, she's the character in a horror movie that you yell at for being so stupid.
Also, her family and heritage seem to be important, and you feel like the book is building up to something, but then, in the end, nothing. We still don't know anything about her aunt or what's going on with Lily, or the ghosts. It's infuriating. The big reveal that we do get is the one that was expected, but since the book has been showing at least the reader the obvious connection, it isn't disappointing.
I will also add that there are some scenes that I read a couple times and still didn't understand what happened or how it happened, and in a couple cases why it was important.

Like I said in the beginning, while I think there are some flaws and frustrations with the book, I still would recommend it, especially to anyone looking for love and/or mythology.

[Eric Basaldua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every minute of this!! Romance, mythology & magic. The writing was unique and interesting. I would recommend this to anyone!

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cara Wynter reads a book that transports her from her dreary world-to a Greek tale of fantasy, magic & a love that is stronger than death and time.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from LibraryThing in return for an honest review.

Cara Wynter and her twin sister Lily come from a long line witches and are currently living in their family home, Wynter Manor, in Washington. Cara wants to be a your average college student studying literature but she has a gift...more like a curse. She cannot touch anyone without feeling pain. When she touches people or objects she has visions of pasts and/or futures. If that wasn't difficult enough she has started having realistic reoccurring nightmares of her own death. After a scary event at the Space Needle Cara meets Drake and his sister Andi. Cara instantly finds herself drawn to Drake and him to her. She also discovers she can touch Drake without being in pain. At their first meeting Cara also discovers Andi's forgotten paperback novel, Blood and Shadows. What does that book have to do with Cara's dreams? And can she figure it out before she runs out of time...

Initially I had a hard time getting into this story. I felt like I was missing something like their was a book prior to this one that I hadn't read. This book includes a book within a book plot line and once it switched to the other book it was not clear, to me at least, that this was the book the protagonist was reading. However once I figured out what was going on I got sucked into this book and enjoyed. It ends on a huge cliffhanger and I am excited to read to the next book.

[SAssassin22 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not really sure why I didn’t love this book. All the elements are there and the writing itself is actually great. There is just something that doesn’t mesh well for me and I didn’t WANT to keep reading. There were a lot of things that needed to be explained or have some kind of background and it just wasn’t there. This might be because it is the first in a series, but it felt like so much was missing and it’s hard to want to push forward when you just feel confused.

I understand wanting to leave things out so the reader can discover them later, but in this case I just felt like I didn’t really know why it was okay for nobody to know anything. Why was the female MC okay with just flat out not knowing SO MUCH?!?!?!

When book two comes out, I will check it out to see if some of my confusion is resolved, but I would have to wait until then before I would consider recommending it to anyone.

-Stone.

[Toni Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witches, gods, and zombies, oh my! When I started reading this, I thought it was going to be a DNF for me. The prose was long and it felt like it was trying too hard to be powerful and flowery. There were some anachronisms, botched references, and spelling/grammatical errors that nearly pulled me out of the book entirely. The first transition from the 2019 timeline to the 1202 BCE timeline felt random and, in my opinion, didn't flow well. But once I started realizing what was happening and how the plots overlapped, I was more into it. But that didn't happen until about the 35% mark. I was intrigued about where the story would go. I still think there was some unnecessary plot and fluff -- I'm really not seeing where Cara helping with a murder investigation fits into all of this -- but I'm shockingly excited to continue the duology.

[Laura Zuelch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this as an ebook in exchange for an honest review. This is an easy, somewhat predictable, supernatural YA book that Twilight fans will probably love. The writing seemed oversimplified (but maybe to be more accessible to a youth audience). The pace of this book was odd - overly detailed in some places that didn't need it, and speeding past other places that could have used some more time and detail to keep the reader in the loop. Somewhere in the middle, the pace finally matched the plot and I was hooked. Toward the end again, it lost me with an abrupt ending that makes me assume the author wants to write a sequel.

[Katlyn Ellis]

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book felt very disjointed and way too wordy for me. I thought the plot was very interesting, but I found myself distracted by a lot of extra words and also confused at some points in the plot. I think this was just me and I'm sure some people would love this book, but for me I'm going to move on to something else.

[Sharrice · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 13%. I have tried for the last four or five days to get into this book. I constantly put it down and found reasons to do a million and one other things besides reading this book. When I finally go back to it, I only make it about three pages before I'm putting it down again. I think it's time to call it quits.

[Ahri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree some of the other reviewers. While the summary really drew me in, I felt like that was the most exciting part of the book. I couldn’t relate and couldn’t get into the storyline, and it felt really disconnected.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this wild story.