Review: Awaken

Awaken by Heather C. Myers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recently I have been working my way through the author’s work, starting all her series and reading standalones. Whilst I have not read them all, I’ve read enough to know I enjoy what she writes. Some more than others, but all are fun. Not too long ago I finished Strangers, proclaiming it to be my favourite thus far. I wish to retract that statement and label Awaken my favourite Heather C. Myers read to date. Strangers had a little bit more than all her other books, yet Awaken has even more than Strangers. It hit so many spots, and I cannot wait to continue reading the trilogy.

Awaken is a mashup of many things, a collection that will sound quite odd but works wonderfully. We have superheroes and villains. We have Greek mythology. We have angels and demons. It sounds like a really crazy mix and match of ideas, but they work together wonderfully. Heather C. Myers has managed to bring three ideas that shouldn’t go together and create something wonderful. She always puts her own spin on things, but this is something else entirely. I could sit and explain how the three come together, but to do so would be to spoil the storyline. Just know it works – and it works well. It’s worth reading just to see how well the author has brought the different ideas together.

As with some of her other books, Heather C. Myers follows three main characters throughout the story. I admit that I did have favourites, but all aspects of the story were interesting. Each perspective we follow gives us more about the world, helping us to see the bigger picture even if the characters do not. Each chapter we shift perspective, finding out what is happening for another character; and whilst this can sometimes be a bad way to tell a story, such is not the case here. Each character has the same amount of story told, enough being given to ensure you’re completely pulled in. By the end, though, we still have plenty of questions that we will want answered in the future books. Basically, she gives us enough to pull us in but we are left wanting more when the story ends.

Despite my enjoyment, though, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the characters. Whilst they were enjoyable, and had great storylines, I feel as though they were far too similar to those in Strangers. I think reading them so close together highlighted such a thing for me, yet it still bugged me somewhat. When it comes to the group of friends, we have the same kinds of characters. It’s almost as though I’m reading the same group of friends but in a different situation. There were enough differences to ensure they were not carbon copies, but it’s only as the story progressed that this became clear.

Nevertheless, it was wonderful. As I said, it’s my favourite Heather C. Myers read to date, and I’ve read a fair few already. I’m more than intrigued about where the story is going to head next; in fact, I’m rather desperate to get my hands on the rest of the series. Whilst it is obvious how certain aspects will end (I mainly mean the romance, here), there is still a lot of unknowns.

It is certainly one of the better free books I have ever found.

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