Book Blurb:
Some of It was Real by Nan Fischer: A psychic on the verge of stardom who isnβt sure she believes in herself and a cynical journalist with one last chance at redemption are brought together by secrets from the past that also threaten to tear them apart. Psychic-medium Sylvie Young starts every show with her origin story, telling the audience how she discovered her abilities. But she leaves out a lotβthe plane crash that killed her parents, an estranged adoptive family who tend orchards in rainy Oregon, panic attacks, and the fact that her agent insists she research some clients to ensure success. After a catastrophic reporting error, Thomas Holmesβs next story at the L.A. Times may be his last, but heβs got a great personal pitch. βGrief vampiresβ like Sylvie who prey upon the loved ones of the deceased have bankrupted his mother. Heβs dead set on using his last-chance article to expose Sylvie as a conniving fraud and resurrect his career. When Sylvie and Thomas collide, a game of cat and mouse ensues, but the secrets theyβre keeping from each other are nothing compared to the mysteries and lies they unearth about Sylvieβs past. Searching for the truth might destroy them bothβbut itβs the only way to find out whatβs real.
My Review: 4.5 stars
Some of It was Real by Nan Fischer was a complete surprise for me. I knew nothing about this book or author, which is crazy because sheβs written many books. The story focuses on Sylvie, a psychic medium that can convene with those who have passed. Personally, Iβm a fan of John Edwards, an actual TV personality/psychic medium who does the same thing as Sylvie. Could he be a hoax, who knows?Β
What I do know is that this story line was right up my alley as Thomas, a journalist, tries to bring Sylvie down and prove that sheβs up to nothing but pure trickery. Both main characters have secrets and painful memories theyβd like kept so they continue to go back and forth on who has the upper hand.Β
There are plenty of twists in this story and I ate all of them up. I really rooted for Sylvie and her dog and felt such loss with the storyline regarding her parents. At one point I slapped the book shut in pure anger at her mother. I really enjoyed the voices of both characters as they healed and grew into the people they were meant to become.Β
Quotes I liked:
Guilt has a thousand different faces.β
βC.S. Lewis said, βYou canβt go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.ββ