Name: Branded
ISBN: 9781955729000

Joseph Humphrey

YA contemporary fantasy/supernatural thriller about a refugee high school boy who struggles to reclaim his family's forgotten memories before evil creatures find the lost power his family hides.

Branded

Joseph T. Humphrey

Henry Murphy’s parents never told him he was from another realm. They couldn’t, because they have become as unaware as Henry. Everything was forgotten—memories siphoned away by the dark force that stalked them. For the last seventeen years, Henry has been living a lie. All those years of hiding have been compromised. Henry’s parents fled as refugees after stealing the location of the furnace—a source of power that would have allowed the Nekura uncontested rule over all life. But with their memories silenced, the Nekura have closed in on them unnoticed. The first warning was the screaming girl. After she broke into Henry’s high school classroom and screamed for him to run, she was hauled away and disappeared. The only friend Henry finds to help him is Charley, a strong-willed orphan girl with a fractured past. Henry is thrust into a reality he never knew existed and must fight against sinister creatures he cannot touch for reasons he doesn’t understand. What he doesn’t know can still hurt him, and it is hunting him down. Their only hope is the Light—a legendary force that bestows intangible power for those connected to it. Henry must uncover the shrouded memory of his family’s past and race to find the furnace before the Nekura tear his family apart and destroy both worlds in the process. Henry will learn the heartache of the forgotten, the joy of the reclaimed, strength beyond himself, and the unbreakable ties that bind family together.

Elizabeth Hagenlocher

Branded follows a young boy named Henry, whose world changes abruptly one day. The catalyst for this change? When his friend, Rachel, bursts into his class screaming, looking as though she has had a run-in with a pack of wild dogs. The problem is that no one, save his best friend Charley, seems to remember or care about this. Cue a bunch of crazy monsters hunting them down, in search of the very thing his parents fought to protect (and subsequently gave up their memories for).

Unfortunately, overall, this just wasn't my cup of tea. I feel as though this would be better categorized as middle grade fiction, based off of the prose and general story. I personally felt as though the characters fell flat, and the writing was a bit clunky. This was ultimately the result of a heck of a lot of telling, and very little showing. We were given a play by play of actions and emotions, rather than a vivid landscape of what was happening. Often descriptions of the action would read like, "Henry walked to the door, and opened the door." (And let's not forget excessive adverbs and unusual verb usage.)

To me, it lacked interest. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Intrepid Pen for providing me with an ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Branded

Author: Joseph T. Humphrey

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 2/5

Diversity: MC in Foster Care and Orphaned

Recommended For...: young adult readers, urban fantasy, fantasy, monsters

Publication Date: November 16, 2021

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Recommended Age: 14+ (bullying, abelism on mental health, drugs mentioned, violence, gore slight, parent death)

Explanation of CWs: There is bullying shown in this book. There are some comments made about mental health that are abelist. Drugs are mentioned. There is violence, including gun violence, and slight gore. There is also parent death mentioned and shown.

Publisher: Intrepid Pen Publishing LLC

Pages: 494

Synopsis: Henry Murphy’s parents never told him he was from another realm. They couldn’t, because they have become as unaware as Henry. Everything was forgotten—memories siphoned away by the dark force that stalked them. For the last seventeen years, Henry has been living a lie.

All those years of hiding have been compromised. Henry’s parents fled as refugees after stealing the location of the furnace—a source of power that would have allowed the Nekura uncontested rule over all life. But with their memories silenced, the Nekura have closed in on them unnoticed.

The first warning was the screaming girl. After she broke into Henry’s high school classroom and screamed for him to run, she was hauled away and disappeared. The only friend Henry finds to help him is Charley, a strong-willed orphan girl with a fractured past.

Henry is thrust into a reality he never knew existed and must fight against sinister creatures he cannot touch for reasons he doesn’t understand. What he doesn’t know can still hurt him, and it is hunting him down. Their only hope is the Light—a legendary force that bestows intangible power for those connected to it. Henry must uncover the shrouded memory of his family’s past and race to find the furnace before the Nekura tear his family apart and destroy both worlds in the process. Henry will learn the heartache of the forgotten, the joy of the reclaimed, strength beyond himself, and the unbreakable ties that bind family together.

Review: I thought this was an ok book. The book did good with multiple POVs and the character development was well done. The book had an intriguing plot that kept me going throughout the book and I felt that the book had a decent story.

However, the book feels a bit underdeveloped. I think there’s some good stuff in the book, but the book is fast paced and confusing. The pacing doesn’t help the reader get used to the elements in the book and the writing doesn’t develop the world building or the magic system beyond a couple of plot points. I got severely lost in the book and it felt like nothing was well explained.

Verdict: It was ok.


Branded

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