Book Review: Empath by S. Usher Evans

EmpathCoverTitle: Empath
Author: S. Usher Evans
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren Dailey is in break-up hell.
Stuck between moving on and letting go, she puts on a brave face while crying herself to sleep at night. But when a mysterious voice promises escape from her sadness, she is suddenly transported to a new world. And in this place, the slightest touch pulls her out of her tortured emotions into the mind of another – an empath.
The villagers – sweet Aerona and her mischievous twins, wise Siors, and hunky Cefin – welcome her and the blessings her empath powers bring. But this world is not without its dangers. The Anghenfil, a fire-breathing monster, has haunted the village for decades, and has a taste for empaths. And that mysterious voice promising escape from sadness? It’s sounding more like a whisper tinged with smoke and embers.
Can Lauren keep the monsters in the mountain and in her head at bay? Or will she succumb to the darkness like the empath before her…

Everyone who ever went through a tough break-up will feel for Lauren and understand her perils in Empath. If a girl ever needed a hug, it would be Lauren. More than the story about how she ended up in a fantasy world, I enjoyed the story of how she found herself again, went through heartbreak but came out stronger, and how she struggled to move forward. Lauren’s inner turmoil was at least as fascinating as the plot.

And the plot is pretty fascination too. The author has created a vivid fantays world where Lauren is welcomed as an empath, who can connect with other people’s minds. I especially liked The Anghenfil too, a fire-breathing monster with an uncanny taste for empaths. The book is suspenseful right from the start, and it has an interesting cast of characters, the most likeable one being the heroine.

This is a thrilling book that mixes a solid fantasy setting with the heroine’s emotional turmoil and does so in a surprising, but well-executed way. Recommended to fantasy fans who don’t mind a more contemporary touch in their books (Lauren is, after all, still a twenty-first century girl traveling to a fantasy world).

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