To the Falls (Guardians of Arvata, Book 1) by Heather Renee book review

Synopsis

Kaliah “Kali” Atwater is awaiting two things, finishing sophomore year in college and her upcoming twentieth birthday. The day before Kali’s birthday, she finds out that the dream she’s had every night for almost a year of a beautiful land, isn’t a fantasy at all. It’s her birth place. Every twenty years a new generation of Guardians return to Arvata to bring life back to their world and renew the magic of the Falls. Now it’s Kali’s turn, but dark magic has made its way into her new home preventing the Falls from replenishing.  Kali must accept the role assigned to her by the Fates or let Arvata crumble. Can she and her friends save Arvata in time? Will new love make her stronger? Or will the darkness finally win? Only the Fates know for sure…

Review

This is a wonderful debut novel by Heather Renee! This book has everything. Romance, friendship, magic, journeys, otherworldly lands, magical animals, dark powers, great being, and so much more! This book packed with wonderful writing as well as beautifully built worlds. heather, as a debut author packs a punch with her skills. This book is amazing and I need her to write faster so I can have book 2.

I fell in love with Kali and Jordan’s close friendship and how much they were like me and my best friend. They are fiercely loyal to one another and yet harass each other at every whim in a fun, playful way. Lucas and Kali were perfect, while there is some insta-love going on the author describes in a way that makes sense without anything feel forced or some type of over the top trope. Lucas was dreamy and so loving and protective of Kali and Kali opened that huge heart of hers to him right away, making them perfect! The supporting cast in this book was well thought as well. Each person brought something to the table and everyone grew on you as they were well written and develop amazingly throughout the rest of the story.

Strix was probably my favorite! I want an owl just like him. Heather describes him beautifully and you can almost reach out and touch his feathers. I’d love to just have an animal companion that you can mentally connect with and hear their thoughts.

I am really interested to see where this author takes this series, as well see how the characters continue to develop. I’m hoping she writes some spin offs from other people’s perspectives because it’d be nice to see how they turn out and their inner thoughts and self. This is a debut author to watch as I think she will rise up the book chain quickly! A wonderful read and 5 stars from me!