Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

The Brightening: Order of Libra Book 1 by Sharon Hannaford is a story set in a post-apocalyptic world where the ones with power are ruling over the ones that are weak. People like Cassidy are the people to bring balance into the world, but none of them are aware of what they have to do and many of them do not even want to take this job on. Cassidy St Clare knows that her job is important for the betterment of everyone, but sometimes working to bring healthier food to the common people becomes a little hard at times. She feels like she is slowly going mad. She can hear what people are feeling and there is no way she can turn it off. She finds satisfaction in what she does and she truly believes that she is making a difference, so what happens if she will soon be too mad to actually do anything? Her life takes a turn for the worse when she comes across a man who will change everything she ever believed to be true. There is an Order of Libra, a group of people who can balance the power between the weak and the strong and make sure that everyone is living the life they deserve even after the Blight. But how can a group of people join hands to save the world when they can’t even save themselves?

This urban fiction/dystopian novel felt very real at times. The plot is complex with multiple characters and their own respective story lines, yet it works beautifully. I enjoyed how conflicted the characters were about their powers and if they were able to save the world or not. For Cassidy, Theo, Kellan, RJ and Lilly, it was not about that they had powers; their real issue was that they did not believe they were worthy of those powers. This brought the element of humanity to these characters and made them that much more relatable. The story line was complex because the reader got to see the lives of multiple characters and that made it even more interesting. I personally enjoyed this novel very much and the cover of the novel is an absolute favorite! Very entertaining!