Deborah J. Lightfoot   Author and Editor 

Reviewed by David Royce for Reedsy Discovery

A novel of torture, revenge, and redemption through the lens of people with special psychic abilities.

Books about folks with extra-special psychic abilities and the suffering their powers bring aren't anything new. You have books such as Carrie, Firestarter, and The Institute by Stephen King plus many more from various authors across various genres. So finding something new, fresh, and unique in this genre is fantastic. And that's what we have here.

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Reviewed by Demetria Head for Reader Views

The Karenina Chronicles is book five in the Waterspell series but can easily be read as a standalone tale. This is a fantasy adventure that covers not just expansive worldbuilding, but also personal losses and healing. The story takes place in the Waterspell universe. Readers get to follow Lady Karenina of Ruain. After her husband passes, she takes a journey to an unfamiliar place. It starts as just an attempt to outrun grief, but it becomes her way to find her identity and purpose.

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Some stories explore extraordinary powers. Others explore the cost of being different. Adverse Reactions successfully does both, delivering a gripping blend of paranormal suspense, dystopian fiction, and Weird West atmosphere while placing its emotional weight squarely on resilience, identity, and justice. Drawing on a haunting premise, Deborah J. Lightfoot crafts a world where psychokinetic abilities are treated as a crime, and fear is weaponized into persecution.

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What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?

I don't remember and can't even guess where the original idea came from. I actually started the book in 2005, but managed only 24,000 words before hitting a wall. I got stuck at the first plot point. So I shoved the manuscript into a file cabinet and returned to writing the epic fantasy that eventually became my six-book Waterspell series. But I never forgot that partial manuscript. Last summer, I unearthed it and read what I'd written 20 years before. What I found in those rough-draft pages—the compelling urgency of it—surprised me.

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