Let’s give accolades to the young authors out there! Their thoughts are warped mangled, fearless, and provocative. They’re not afraid to express themselves, to think. Filling the world with stories of gore, hope, and passion. Mixing and meshing their thoughts with reality. Kerat does that with her novel, Himagus.
It took me about a day with healthy breaks in-between to read the novel. In those in-between moments, I sat about thinking through the scenes I had just read in Himagus. Kylie, William, and David were stuck in my head. I could picture them stuck and huddled in their house, on a Planet they helped destroy. Trying to survive. Together. An odd trifecta of trauma, guilt, and loyalty.
At first I wasn’t sure where this dark fantasy was going. It started off with the end of the human race, except for one. Kylie wakes up in terrible silence, in a home FULL of people she loved. She smells them in the darkness but doesn’t realize what that smell really entailed. A room full of blood and bodies, young and old. Family. People she loved.
Kerat Jhaj doesn’t stray from the horror that life presents itself to some. She shoves Kylie fiercely into a world without her family or any other Earthian. She’s the only one left in the human race. She was the only survivor due to a technicality or love…? As Kylie is forced to go on this adventure, she is forced to understand the ways of another world. What may seem normal to us could be odd to other people, including reactions and behaviors.
If anything, our heroine is open-minded. She’s strong and fierce. That’s what helped keep her alive. Kerat really put Kylie’s Earth into an expansion of possibilities. Her writing brought alive multiple stories that kept you wondering about the worlds and characters within. The way it’s written carries you like a wave on a boat, sometimes you go through a storm to be able to see the beautiful sky afterwards. She tries to carry you through Her story. Her eyes.
This dark fantasy novel has twists, turns, slides, and magic. She includes irreplaceable loss and scartissued wounds. Kerat makes you feel the loss of time.
Himagus pulls itself apart only to be stitched back roughly, sewn everywhere. As I kept reading this novel, I was lost in the magic that Himagus were/are? A new world created where at times I felt like I was on a different Earth along with Kylie but then it would easily become so cold and foreign.
Reading Kerat’s novel reminds you of hope and faith, even in the worst situations. She pops in unexpected strength in times they least expect it. Fall into this fantasy world that feels all to mixed in with reality and warped time.
If you’d like to support a this Kerat, purchase Himagus here and row in this mysterious, deep memory she’s created.
Are you interested in more book reviews? Follow the link here!
About the Author:
Kerat is a seventeen year old published author who will be graduating High School in Spring 2021! She published her first book when she was 16. She’s been a winner of Scholastic Art & Writing Competitions and enjoys spending her days jamming to pop music and reading books.