Some books grab you from the first page, and reading becomes almost as important as breathing and eating. Nan Fischer’s SOME OF IT WAS REAL is one such novel. How can we not fall for a young woman who has as her best friend an intimidating but lovable 145-pound Great Dane? That’s how we feel about Sylvie Young and Moose, and we want to keep reading to see how Sylvie deals with the obstacles that life has placed in her path.

"I couldn't wait to keep reading to find out what Sylvie and Thomas discover through their investigations and how their relationship progresses. I was also charmed by Sylvie, whose actions and dialogue reveal a genuinely good person."

The narrative is told from two first-person points of view: those of Sylvie and Thomas Holmes, a journalist who is writing an exposé on psychics like Sylvie who, as he sees it, prey on the vulnerable who are desperate to connect with those they love from beyond the grave. For decades, Thomas’ mother has been searching for a way to communicate with her husband and son, both of whom died in a car accident when Thomas was young. She has spent a lot of her own money in the process and often calls Thomas asking for more. In fact, he usually only hears from her when she needs financial help, which is pretty tragic in its own right.

Sylvie doesn't know much about her early childhood. She was adopted at the age of six but remembers nothing prior to that. This is extremely unusual given that she has an eidetic memory; anything she sees she can remember in complete detail, as if she were looking at a photograph of it. Yet the first six years of her life are a mystery. She is estranged from her adoptive parents because they don't approve of her "career." As she tells the audience her "origin story," we learn how she started working as a psychic, but it turns out that only some of what she reveals is the truth.

Sylvie's insecurity is also the source of her anxiety. Is what she does a scam, or does she really have psychic abilities? She knows that she helps people get past their grief over the absence of departed loved ones. But because only some of what she does is real, does that invalidate everything she does? She chews Tums for stomach pain and needs Moose as an emotional support dog. When Thomas threatens to expose her as a fraud unless she takes him with her before her next show to prove that she isn't researching the audience members in order to "con" them, she agrees to his demands.

However, the relationship that develops isn't what either of them expects. And they end up quickly helping each other uncover past secrets they have been keeping to themselves. While there is certainly romance in the story, the book is more about coming to terms with our past and living for the present and the future. But it's also about finding out what is real and where we come from so that we have a solid stage from which to move on. Sylvie constantly tells people that all the departed want is for us to be happy and content. And to move on.

I couldn't wait to keep reading to find out what Sylvie and Thomas discover through their investigations and how their relationship progresses. I was also charmed by Sylvie, whose actions and dialogue reveal a genuinely good person. Even as he doubts her true psychic abilities, Thomas realizes that she is extraordinarily kind to others. The ending of SOME OF IT WAS REAL resembles real life. Not all of the strings are neatly tied into bows, and we don't know what the future will bring. But we do know that Sylvie has finally laid to rest some of the demons that have haunted her since childhood.