A Review of The Channeler
Caleb Swift knows he’s a complicated guy. He sees the unseeable: winged beings that haunt both his dreams and his waking visions. He knows the unknowable: horrifying visions of countless unspeakable futures he feels powerless to prevent. And if that weren’t bad enough, these potent revelations might be driving him insane. Who needs that kind of trouble? Not Caleb. He’s doing his best to live a totally uncomplicated life, to ignore the visions of doom that hound him relentlessly. But no matter what he does, one particular vision still plagues him. The one with the girl. The girl who’s in mortal danger (or will be soon). The girl only he can save.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review via TCK Publishing. I appreciate the company reaching out to me, as this was our first time working together. The cover and summary of the book interested me the most. It seems like angel-themed novels are a theme this year, so I was interested to see what new twists this book had to offer.
The plot of the book had such an interesting concept to me, a boy who sees angels and has visions. The author quickly adds high stakes to the story, by making it clear that lives are at risk if Caleb isn’t able to change the visions his future show. There were a number of twists in the book that were predictable, but I appreciated the fresh breath they brought to the plot when they came about. Since much of the book is told through Caleb’s narration, I did find some of the flashbacks and summary scenes slow paced and wished they were shown in a more direct fashion that would feel more engaging.
The book takes place in the mountains of North Carolina. As a resident of Appalachia, I was pleasantly surprised to find a book taking place in my area. The author did a good job capturing the small town nature of some mountain-towns in my area. I did have a hard time understanding the town that Caleb has lived in his whole life. It seems small, since he knows pretty much everyone he interacts with, but the town did have a elementary school, middle school, high school and even a university. I had hoped the author would have been more specific with the landscape and population of such a specific location.
Caleb, as the narrator and main character of the book, was difficult for me to connect with. He begins the book talking about how he’s very special and different from everyone else, which immediately made me feel excluded. I eventually got to know him as the story progressed, but would have liked to feel more accepted into the book early on. I also found the secondary characters were easily described in a sentence or so and thought they could have had a bit more depth and intrigue to them.
The Channeler is the first book Continuum Series by Jenna Ryan. The book has an engaging plot that add some fun twists to the angel genre. It was fun to read a book set in an Appalachian mountain town, but wasn’t incredible specific in its setting. I struggled connecting to the characters.