Karice Bolton
Released September 27th, 2011
Goodreads / Purchase
Alone in snowy, remote Whistler village, Ana tries to build a new life since losing her parents. With a cozy condo, a sweet-faced bulldog and an evening job to leave the days free for the slopes, life slips into a great routine. If only she could shake the guilt for not remembering anything about her parents and banish the night terrors that haunt her every dream.
On a whim, Ana goes out with Athen, a guy she’s just met in the Grizzly Pub... The only problem is that she feels like she already knows him. Within 48 hours of meeting Athen and his family, Ana’s world implodes. She falls for Athen quickly and before she knows it, a past life begins to resurface. As thrilling as the revelations appear at first, she fights against the chilling information that Athen is from the underworld. Soon she begins to struggle as her own supernatural gifts are slowly unveiled, and she realizes that the nightmares she’s been having might be premonitions and not dreams at all. It is up to Ana to decipher between fact and fiction before it is too late, and her new love, Athen, follows in her same fate - one that is lost between two worlds.
*A copy was provided by Karice Bolton for review purposes*
Ana has felt lonely her whole life - or what she remembers of it. Living the simple life and working at a local pub, she meets this family who makes her feel very strange and, for some reason, seems very familiar. She soon realizes they are not what they seem, and neither is she.
When I first started Awakening I was really drawn to the story and the intrigue was very enticing. I felt the need to know everything about Ana. Why she has no memory of her past, why these strangers make he feel so overwhelmed - I wanted to know it all. I was a bit thrown back by the dialogue, however. The absence of contractions made the characters sound very stiff and formal. I had the hardest time picturing them realistically because of this. Nonetheless, I did my best to ignore this and found myself still enjoying the story.
The plot in Awakening is very intricate. There is an elaborate backstory and complex Nephilim lore. I found the take on angels really well thought out. It was interesting to find out Ana's past and see her re-enter this world she forgot existed. Although I did find there were a few of the character's actions that I couldn't comprehend: Why did Ana keep her dreams a secret? Why did Athen insist on making her wait for sex? Maybe there was a deeper meaning that I overlooked. As for the romance, it holds a big part of the book. It's sweet and intense - some may find it's fast moving, but since they knew each other from their past it's not really insta-love. The long-lost and reunited theme is definitely original and quite romantic.
As a whole, Awakening is a good start to the series. The problems I had with it were mostly character related and I was still able to enjoy the story-line. I'm interested in the angel lore that Karice has implemented. Due to this being mostly an introduction, the pace can be slow at times, but I have a good feeling the action is slowly building up to something great in the next installment.
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