Lightbringer [Hardcover]

K. D. Mcentire (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 22, 2011 | Series: Lightbringer

Wendy has the ability to see souls that have not moved on—but she does not seek them out. They seek her. They yearn for her . . . or what she can do for them. Without Wendy's powers, the Lost, the souls that have died unnaturally young, are doomed to wander in the never forever, and Wendy knows she is the only one who can set them free by sending them into the light.

Each soul costs Wendy, delivering too many souls would be deadly, and yet she is driven to patrol, dropping everyone in her life but her best friend, Eddie—who wants to be more than friends—until she meets Piotr.

Piotr, the first Rider and guardian of the Lost, whose memory of his decades in the never, a world that the living never see, has faded away. With his old-fashioned charms, and haunted kindness, he understands Wendy in ways no one living ever could, yet Wendy is hiding that she can do more than exist in the never. Wendy is falling for a boy who she may have to send into the light.

But there are darker forces looking for the Lost. Trying to regain the youth and power that the Lost possess, the dark ones feed on the Lost and only Wendy and Piotr can save them—but at what cost?

Lightbringer is a YA urban fantasy/romance set in a world a breath away from our own. Similar in tone to Tithe and Unleashed, Lightbringer tiptoes down the line between love and horror as Wendy discovers herself and the darkest parts of the afterlife.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Lightbringer's beautiful, haunted world will swallow you up. You'll never escape it; you'll never want to." --Kristopher Reisz, Author of Unleashed

"Thrilling, beautiful, funny, and heartbreaking, all at the same time—Lightbringer will haunt you long after you've turned the final page." --Robin Wasserman, Author of The Cold Awakening trilogy

About the Author

K. D. McEntire is a mom and animal lover currently living just outside of Kansas City with her husband, son, and two cats. KD spends her miniscule free time reading, writing, and battling her Sims 3 addiction. She loves Wil Wheaton, Stephen King, Joss Whedon, gaming, comic books, and all things geeky.

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 319 pages
• Publisher: Pyr; 1 edition (November 22, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1616145390
• ISBN-13: 978-1616145392
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #621,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars couldn't put it down! November 20, 2011

By Elly C. Combow

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Lightbringer was wonderful. Once I picked it up I could not put it down. This is a great book for teen girls and women who love a story. Action, romance, mystery, and curiosity drive the book forward making you want to know about these characters and who they are and what makes them tick. After finishing it all I could think was how sad I was that the sequel wasn't out yet. It sounds cliche but if you like the Twilight series this book is even better and you will love it. The heroine is strong and intelligent and thinks like a real person with real emotions. The story mixes the reality of being a teen with a fantastical other world behind the scenes keeping the delicate balance between the two. I loved this book and cannot wait to read more of this saga!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic characters and mythology, I'll keep my eyes peeled for more. November 13, 2011

By J. Markovic

Format:Hardcover

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:

LIGHTBRINGER was a book of visceral reactions for me; characters and mythology that I adored juxtaposed against a villain that I absolutely hated. The teenagers of this story, both dead and alive, piece together their own interpretation of the magic around them in a fashion that I found riveting. Even better, by book's end I had more confidence in the children's new interpretation of the relationship between spirits and Lightbringers than anything that was revealed by authoritative adults.

While McEntire does give us a villain (who was so loathsome I could barely stand to read her dialogue in the end), the main thrust of this story revolves around these teenage characters trying to make sense of their world. Wendy learns about her family, her friendships and the world around her in an organic and realistic way. The smooth integration of home, school, and magic was impressive. The supporting characters, as well, break out of all the stereotypical boxes that siblings, friends, and love interests fall into to become nuanced and interesting in their own right. Only Wendy's father remains fuzzy and vague in the background, but that provides a vacuum of responsibility to keep the pressure on Wendy to hold her family together as well as fulfill her Buffy-esque Lightbringer duties. Even Elle, whose flapper cant was so obnoxious I skipped it whenever possible, still managed to have a nuanced relationship with Piotr that piqued my interest.

Elle's speech patterns was the only aspect of LIGHTBRINGER that felt like it wasn't achieving McEntire's intended effect (my hatred of the villain, though over the top virulent, was masterfully fanned by the author). Those two reactions were enough knock this book down a bat, if only because they took me out of the story, but the positives are striking enough that I'll be back for more. Though LIGHTBRINGER is satisfying as a stand alone novel, there is definitely room to continue into a series. Regardless, well paced action, interesting relationships and an emphasis on character growth all combine to guarantee that I'll keep my eyes peeled for McEntire's next offering, whatever it may be.

Sexual Content: Kissing, references to sex.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising twists and realistic relationships November 24, 2011

By Lisaroxy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was an excellent read that stayed in my mind well after I finished, keeping me thinking about the characters and anxious to read more!! The beginning of the book was a bit slow; I was frustrated at first that I didn't immediately understand the setting and terms. But a few pages in, I gave up on worrying about understanding all the details, because I realized the author was feeding me the necessary information at just the right moments to make sense of it. As soon as I relaxed and let the book lead the way, I entered an exciting world of fantasy only barely-removed from life as we know it. The mythology of this universe is solid and enticing; it makes sense and gives just enough of a nod to other stories to make the reader feel as though they're in on the joke. On the other hand, part of the appeal is that the reader is learning some of the secrets of the Never along with Wendy, the main character. The mythos is complex enough to be intriguing, but not so convoluted that it lost me at any point after the five or ten pages.

Protagonist Wendy struck me as one of the most believable, relatable characters I've read in YA for a very long time. She's a strong heroine, but she is also definitely a teenager. Unlike some popular books, I didn't feel that I was just reading a character template that each person was intended to color in themselves; Wendy is detailed and consistent and very much felt real. Though I'm in my 30s, she made me remember some of the struggles of being a teenager as well as reflected the way we are ALL still searching for identity and meaning. Yet my fifteen-year-old daughter also related to Wendy equally well and is the kind of strong female character my daughter complains is missing in too many books! Wendy doesn't seem to need the constant rescuing from her male counterparts that is sometimes prevalent in romance novels.

The main villain is deliciously nasty. In fact, she made me squirm a bit, her dialogue was so unnerving. Yet her story wasn't immediately obvious, and the final conflict never felt like a foregone conclusion. Though I'd figured out bits and pieces of her identity (which made me feel oh-so-clever) I definitely didn't expect certain twists. Yet when they were revealed I thought, "Oh, DUH! Of course!" I never felt as I read that the ending was painfully apparent or that Wendy's victory over any particular bad guy was an absolute given; this isn't a fairy tale where a happy ending was guaranteed.

I think one of the strongest points of the book is that Wendy's relationships are very true-to-life. The tensions and joys she experiences with her friends and family sound like conversations that could really happen. I think part of being a teenager is realizing that parents, teachers, friends, politicians, etc all have lives of their own. Kids see those people in one context and can't easily imagine them having lives of their own. It seemed that Wendy's coming to grips with her family's lives outside her own was an excellent touch in making the book feel real. Too much description here would spoil some of the best parts of the book, but as the reader learns along with Wendy, we come to love and hate the characters intensely - sometimes simultaneously, just as our real parents, grandparents, etc can cause conflicted emotions.

Some of the ghostly characters of the story seem to have enough backstory to justify novels of their own. At the very least, I hope their individual lives get more attention down the road somewhere. I realize too much about them could have bogged this story down in sub-plot, but considering how readable KD McEntire's style is, I'd be happy to buy a book or two set in this 'verse with other main characters.