SOME PEOPLE AREN’T DESTINED TO BE ORDINARY.With a special gift held close to her heart, it was always going to be hard for Sophia Woodville to live an ordinary life. As a 20 year old nursing grad, she thought she had her future all sorted.However, destiny was about to intervene.Her secret was not so secret. The gift she possessed was just a hint of something far beyond her wildest imagination.… wildest imagination.
Sophia will be pulled, kicking and screaming, into an unseen, ancient world that challenges all that she thought to be true of herself, her family and the origins of humanity.
Original sin, forbidden love and her life in constant danger.
Will Sophia survive this dark twist of fate?
Will the devil be her saviour?
Will an Angel be her downfall?
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(Review first published on Goodreads on August 4, 2016)
Since I’ve joined Twitter and Instagram, I’ve found some books I would never have come across otherwise – and Awaken is one of my favourite finds! The characters were brilliantly developed, the world was beautifully built, and the story itself was intriguing – but more on that in a moment.
I was a little worried when I started because there are recurring biblical subtones, and I’m as far away from religious as you can get, but as it turned out there’s nothing like the rise of a new Satan to catch my interest! Who knew? 😀
Don’t mistake this for a religious read, though – it’s really not. This is by every means an urban fantasy novel, and chances are I’d have put it down again very quickly if it was as religious as I feared. The religious subtones are just that – subtones, there to give the story more depth. Instead I found it hard to stop reading, and was engrossed in Sophia’s story very quickly.
There are so many things I enjoyed about this novel, but the characters in Awaken are easily my highlight. They are believable and likeable, even the baddies. One of the bad guys, Nik’ael, is one of my favourite characters in the story, along with Koi, who reminds me of my sensei, and Brennan, who I adore for his everything.
The character development was excellent, too. Sophia had a lot to get used to – whether she liked the changes to her life or not, and they were huge changes! – and I think she deserves a gold star for being so patient. If I were in her shoes I’d have snapped much sooner.
The writing style is oddly comforting in a strange, familiar way, and the speech feels very natural. All of those put together made this a smooth read for me. I felt in very good hands the whole way through, and the plot twist at the end came as a big surprise to me. I felt for the characters – even for one of the antagonists, Nik’ael – and wanted them to be save.
The whole story has a lot of depth to it. The world is well planned, the characters developed extremely well, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how Sophia is going to get out of her current situation in the sequel, Surrender.
Some of the paragraphs were too long for my liking, and personally I think the cover lets it down, but neither of those spoiled my enjoyment in any way. Awaken is a really exciting debut full of promise, and I can’t recommend it enough! If you’re looking for an exciting new urban fantasy read, then Awaken is your book!
Well, there you have it. This book is AMAZING! Okay, there were a few slow spots here and there, along with a little too much description, but overall this is an excellent piece of work.
I loved Sophia and her rainbow hair. The author did a great job of creating a well-rounded protagonist, who is easy to fall in love with. My absolute favorite character was Jaz, Sophia’s best friend. I have a few friends who have mixes of Jaz’s personality and they are the best! No fear to tell the world what is on her mind! Love it!
I was not expecting the ending. I had my ideas and I was nearly convinced I had it figured out, until the author threw me for a loop. Brilliant ending and I can’t wait to dive into her next book, Surrender! I highly recommend reading this engrossing fantasy book.
When a copy of Awaken came my way, I reluctantly agreed to review it. I’m not ordinarily drawn to animated covers, but, hey, it’s a young adult angel book. Boy was I surprised!
Awaken had me from the first page. The book begins with a fairly ordinary twenty-year-old nursing student, Sophia. She’s bright, responsible, and has a great support system. She does, however, have some oddities that hint to who she really is, i.e. hair colour and her seemingly spiritual healing capabilities. But things aren’t always what they seem. It isn’t long before the reader is thrown into an unseen spiritual world full of angels and mystical creatures as Sophia learns her true identity.
Thomas’ writing is eloquent with vivid detail, tossing the reader into a spiritual realm full of wonder and colour. The fantasy world she has built is complex and would likely confuse younger readers, but older teens and adults will drink it in. Thomas truly has a talent of emerging the reader into her very vivid imagination!