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VENUS SHINING by Jennifer  Alsever

VENUS SHINING

From the Trinity Forest series, volume 3

by Jennifer Alsever

Pub Date: Dec. 5th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-973472-86-5
Publisher: Time Tunnel Media

In this conclusion to a YA trilogy, a teenager may be the only one who can stop a powerful woman and her apocalyptic plan.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Trouvé has managed to escape the evil Xintra. The latter is a dangerous woman capable of controlling individuals, called “rebirthers,” whom she imprisons in the time-warping Trinity Forest in Colorado. Sending rebirthers outside the forest, Xintra implements an end-of-the-world scheme that involves a lethal global virus and cataclysmic storms. Initially, Ember just wants to help her boyfriend, Tre, “wake up” from his rebirth, which she herself has already done. But she quickly recognizes the full extent of Xintra’s planned genocide and sets out to thwart the fiendish objective. Fortunately, she has assistance from her best friend, Maddie, and brother, Jared, as well as the journal of her dead mother, Dezi, who had known Xintra. But Ember’s stories of a “haunted forest” and possible witchcraft could earn her an extended stay at a psychiatric unit while “the Dark Day” slowly approaches as the storms close in. At the same time, other rebirthers around the world are waking up, providing Ember with potential allies against a relentless woman hell-bent on global domination. Picking up right where the preceding novel left off, Alsever’s (Oshun Rising, 2017, etc.) third fantasy series entry runs at full-tilt. From the start, Ember is determined to save Tre and get details about her mom from Dezi’s pal Lodima. Before long, Ember is dodging assassination attempts, likely courtesy of Xintra’s rebirthers. Even flashbacks to the 1980s with Dezi don’t decelerate the pace, presenting a curious origin story (of sorts) for Xintra, a formidable but undeniably alluring antagonist. The author’s crisp prose, as in previous books, aids in developing sharp characters and diverse narrative perspectives. With Ember’s and others’ clearly defined goal of stopping Xintra, the tale builds to a climax that doesn’t disappoint, both in terms of exhilaration and resolution.

An electrifying and immeasurably satisfying final installment of a fantasy saga.