Awakening by Brigitte Morse-Starkenburg

YA Fantasy, Independently Published in 2020, 423 Pages 

What I Didn’t Like:

• A common enough premise. An teen finds out there’s a whole word they weren’t educated on that they may be connected to. They have to learn the world – quickly. 
• Alpha male behavior. I think the idea is to counterbalance this with Zaphire but in general this alpha male community gives me bad vibes. Of course, this is book 1 and that likely will turn out to be intentional later in the series.
• Some grammatical or typographical errors. They’re small and don’t affect readability. 

What I Did Like:

• Poetry. I ADORE when poetry gets inserted into YA novels. This wasn’t every chapter but I was very pleased when it appeared. It really connects you to a character on a deeper level. I wanted more of it. 
• Different voices for each POV character. They’re not explicitly named for each chapter but you have no trouble deciphering which is which POV. The two characters have different voices and it comes through well.
• Ending leads into book 2 well. I’m intrigued and want to know more. There’s a lot of unanswered questions. Great lead in. 

Who Should Read This One:

• Fantasy fans who like fantasy worlds within our world. 

My Rating: 4 stars

• Well done first book in a series that uses strong characters and an interesting premise to suck you in!