I have been so excited to dive into this series starter, and it definitely delivered on the promise of its beautiful cover. Awakening rehashes some of my favorite tropes (basically, a girl becoming the chosen one and developing super-cool magic powers) in a fun contemporary setting. I enjoyed the mash-up of the real and the fantastical.
Aspen is a great narrator. She felt very real and human, and I found myself really engaged in her struggles throughout the book.
I also really appreciate that this is a truly “new adult” fantasy. Readers moving from YA to Adult are often sort of neglected by the genre, or relegated to work that amounts to little more than smut. Awakening’s romance is realistic but chaste, and instead engages with lots of other interesting and unique things about being a newly adult person.
The plot is a tiny bit choppy–things start off pretty slow, with the magic not being introduced until a ways in, and then there are a few twists that feel like they come out of nowhere. Overall, though, I found this a great read! Highly recommended.
Anya Josephs 