Awakened by Ednah Walters

For Lil, life has always been a little different. Growing up with her gypsy Grandpa she moved constantly and had very few friends. Just recently settled, Lil has just turned 16 and her powers are just beginning to emerge. Believing she has the ability to speak to ghosts, Lil is surprised when a mysterious voice calls inside her head asking for help. When Lil goes out to meet the voice she can’t help but be surprised when the voice is not a ghost by a very hot boy. What she never realized was this boy belongs to a world she has never known, one she is now part of. As Lil is dragged into a world of telepathy and teleporting she must confront everything in her past since most of what she knows is a lie.

Things are a little backwards today because this is a more logical order for this review.

The Bad: I must start with saying this cover is horrible. It’s a boy partially animated. It doesn’t give any hints that it’s a YA book. It is very unattractive. And while most of us don’t judge a book its cover, the cover is what draws us in. To be honest if I saw this in a store I probably wouldn’t even pick it up. Anyway, Awakened also lacked an aura of sophistication. At times I felt I was reading something on Fiction Press. It was polished writing that deserved to be high on the NY Times Bestsellers list. There were also several similarities to Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments. It was barely shorter than the appropriate amount.

The Good: All that being said, I still really enjoyed this book and would still recommend it. It was active and interesting throughout. It didn’t drag on or bore me. All the characters were enhancers of the story. I really like Lil’s Grandpa. He had this whole cool, sophisticated BA attitude and could kick some serious butt. But he was also loving and understanding towards Lil. He was most definitely not your snoring-in-his-recliner, yelling-“WHAAT?!”-every-time-you-utter-a-word kind of grandpa. It was a nice quick read with an interesting back story. And I will be reading the sequel. 

Ugly Updates: Awakened is Walters' first novel and it's out buy it via Amazon and add it to your Goodreads to-read list.  The sequel, Betrayed, does not have a publication date right now. I would assume it will be at least a year, putting  it around Fall 2011. Add Betrayed to your Goodreads list. Also check out Walters' site for amazing information on the world of Awakened. There is really great explinations on the people, mythology behind the story, and much more. You can find Walters' at her Blog, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.

Overall: B-

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