Shadahyah Elizabeth introduces three witches, Elizabeth, Renee, and Jasmine, in the first part (of hopefully, many to come) of the sequel, The Journey – The Ultimate Power Book 1. Unaware of the power that lies within them, Elizabeth, Renee, and Jasmine, are eagerly waiting to celebrate their eighteenth birthday by visiting the capital, which their parents have explicitly forbidden them to. However, to the girls, turning eighteen seems like a good reason to break this one rule. They do not know that king Ramos is doing everything he can to capture them, who, according to a prophecy, could lead him to the ultimate power. The girls do not know about the prophecy and any power they might possess. To their knowledge, they are normal teenage girls who have only one weird ability; they can talk to one another telepathically. Anyway, the day when they are supposed to secretly visit the capital, Elizabeth receives a handsome stranger near her farm. He introduces himself as Rico and asks her to take him to her father, James. The moment Rico and James meet, Elizabeth’s world changes right before her eyes. They pack their things and leave the village. She is looking for answers, but neither her father nor Rico is willing to satiate her curiosity.

I am glad that I chose to read this book. The fantasy genre is one of my favorite genres; however, the execution of this genre, in my opinion, is very difficult. Sometimes the authors get carried away and take their imagination to a wild extreme. That is where I begin losing interest because a little bit realistic approach helps a reader remain connected to the plot. I must say that Shadahyah Elizabeth has done a magnificent job of keeping a hold on her imagination. There are elements of magic, but they are not spread everywhere to become the focal point of the book. Magic is there when it is required but takes a back seat when other elements are more suitable.

The emotional conflict of Prince Caleb, James’ abandoned son, has been executed to the perfection. On the one hand, Caleb believes that James did the worst thing a father could do to a child, but on the other hand, he does not wish for the cruel Grand Duke Hugo to find James. This contradictory feeling is extremely realistic and believable. There are several similar emotional things are happening to keep a reader from feeling monotonic. The pace of the story and the development of the plot are just right. As a reader, I remained connected to the characters and kept turning the pages to know where the plot would go. The writing of the author is really smart and full of intrigue. Not all the cards are opened in just one place. On the contrary, only a limited amount of mystery is revealed at one point to keep the reader wondering about rest of the suspense. The twists are well placed and that kept me sitting on the edge of the seat the entire time I had this book in my hands.

All the characters are defined very well; however, the character that showed a lot of sparks and potential has been Elizabeth. Although the story is about three witches, the author’s inclination towards Elizabeth is not hard to see. Elizabeth is caring, emotional, loving, kind, and, most importantly, is not afraid to speak her mind.

If it weren’t for the lack of proper editing and proofreading, I would have given 4 stars to the book. Nevertheless, there are many instances where I could see the words being misused (like expect in the place of except, are instead of or, were in the place of where, etc.). A few sentences lost all their power because of such minor problems. It’s a shame because this book has a great potential. There wasn’t any dull moment throughout the read, whether it was romantic exchanges between the characters or action scenes. For the reasons mentioned above, I would rate the book 3 out of 4 stars.

P.S. This book was an “OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day”. 

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