Where the Lightning Goes
In Jackary Salem’s novel Where the Lightning Goes, a girl breaks free from her prison and seeks a castle in the sky, hoping to find what she’s lost.
After being trapped in a house in the sky with other “survivors” for years with no memories of her life before, Elle escapes with two goals: to find someone to teach her magic, and to get her memories back. With a bit of manipulation from Cypress, a demon, Elle meets Adair, Leslie, and Honeycutt—a heartless sorcerer, his emotional counterpart, and a lonesome dwarf. With them, she finds a family of her own, even if Adair acts like a grump. As they travel together, Elle learns how to use magic, fights a dragon, and learns why she has no memories: she is cursed.
The cast’s internal struggles are reflected in beautiful, moving terms. Elle, Adair, Leslie, and Honeycutt form a complex tapestry, and their connections are subtle and realistic. The result is an emotional novel that moves with speed: Elle never has a moment to rest, and the action is continuous. Rich worldbuilding fleshes out her world, including copious information about its different types of magic and their incredible uses. It’s a place marked by extreme divisions—between lands with restrictions on magic, or with no magic, and lands with “impossible markets” that are filled with magic in particular. And thanks to a spectacular plot twist near the novel’s end, every preceding detail comes together to reveal the truth about Elle’s past.
With subtle nods to the stages of grief, the magical fantasy novel Where the Lightning Goes follows as a girl searches for answers about her past and finds a new family.
Reviewed by
Courtney Justice
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
