Review: Some Of It Was Real by Nan Fischer

Some Of It Was Real by Nan Fischer

Published by Berkley Books on July 2022
Genres: Adult Fiction
Pages: 352
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon Goodreads

A psychic on the verge of stardom who isn’t sure she believes in herself and a cynical journalist with one last chance at redemption are brought together by secrets from the past that also threaten to tear them apart.

Psychic-medium Sylvie Young starts every show with her origin story, telling the audience how she discovered her abilities. But she leaves out a lot—the plane crash that killed her parents, an estranged adoptive family who tend orchards in rainy Oregon, panic attacks, and the fact that her agent insists she research some clients to ensure success.

After a catastrophic reporting error, Thomas Holmes’s next story at the L.A. Times may be his last, but he’s got a great personal pitch. “Grief vampires” like Sylvie who prey upon the loved ones of the deceased have bankrupted his mother. He’s dead set on using his last-chance article to expose Sylvie as a conniving fraud and resurrect his career.

When Sylvie and Thomas collide, a game of cat and mouse ensues, but the secrets they’re keeping from each other are nothing compared to the mysteries and lies they unearth about Sylvie’s past. Searching for the truth might destroy them both—but it’s the only way to find out what’s real.

I think I’m in the minority here as I didn’t flat out love the book. I do see the good things though.

I’ve read another one of this author’s books and it was very good. She is a talented writer and I really have liked her other work. 

But this book didn’t sit well with me.
I like Sylvie as a character. She is a loner and hard worker, she does what she has to do. Thomas is skeptical, angry at Sylvie’s line of work with a one track mind. I didn’t really feel the chemistry between them. I like how different they are and how they constantly battled their sides. I thought their relationship was well written and I liked their dynamic, but I just couldn’t get behind their attraction.

I really liked Thomas’s journey, his backstory and hopefully his direction back to his mother. 

I had more problems with Sylvie’s story, for personal reasons. What started out in one direction, wildly changed by the end of the book and I think it went a little too far. I don’t want to get too much into it but it took me out of the story and felt like a wild tangent. Also, I didn’t get any trigger warnings. I know it’s an ARC but maybe there should have been a warning on that. 

People obviously like the book and maybe I just wasn’t in the right headspace for it.