Book Title: Awoke (The Want Series) by K.T. Conte
Category: YA Fiction; 324 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
About the Book
Katya leads a normal life any teenager would be envious of – popular, pretty and dating the high school elite. Not she enjoys the spotlight, mind you. She wants everyone to believe she is normal.
But when Katya sees the real reason behind the earthquakes plaguing everyone in Boston, the truth rattles and shatters the perfect normal illusion Katya created for herself. An ability to see unearthly creatures and manipulate waves of life energy labels her as anything but normal. And it’s an ability that attracts unwanted and dangerous attention.
She reluctantly finds herself in the company of Gregor, a handsome member of an international spirit military team called the Kyrios. Her simple decision to help thrusts Katya in a world of the undead spirits, betrayal and a perpetual battle between undead monsters and the wardens that keep them in their place.
Katya must decide whether she values the simple and easy life she created for herself over the complex and difficult world now asking her to stand and fight.
I received an uncorrected, advanced reader copy of this book for use in my review. All opinions are my own.
My Review
Awoke offers a nice launch to the series. The author leaves a lot of room for development and growth in her future novels. Readers will not find a lot of resolution in this first book of the series--but, will find a lot of world-building ground work and character relationship introductions.
Conte creates a world of YA friendly characters. Fans of young adult, paranormal romance novels will enjoy the variety of characters that Conte creates in this book. While she introduces a lot of characters throughout the book; readers will not need a character map to keep them all organized. The characters are introduced in a very organized and well-paced fashion. Readers see the character values to the storyline--but, may not know their motivations quite yet. Adult readers may struggle with the immature dialogue and actions or thought processes of the characters at times--but, many of the characters are teens and young adults and are behaving consistently with their ages (and the ages of their intended audience!) I did not find myself identifying with the characters very readily in this book--especially early on. My teen daughter is reading the book this week--and she seems to have a very different opinion. While she isn't necessarily identifying with them--she does understand them and is not as distracted by the dialogue as I was.
The author creates some real world connections. While I felt that I was "too old" at times to relate to the character dialogue and to some of the scenes of this book--I was able to appreciate some of the author's efforts in creating parallels to natural disasters, fears and some of the more teenage-centered connections to our real world. I was also able to appreciate the main character's growth as the book progressed. Sometimes, especially in today's society, our teens hit a "sink or swim" milestone--and I think Conte did a great job pulling Katya from her normal, every day, popular girl, teen life into a fairly realistic, fantasy series heroine.
Would I recommend Awoke by K.T. Conte? I enjoyed the fantasy world building, I enjoyed the character development, and I enjoyed the pace and progression of the storyline of this novel. I love the room for growth and future plot twists as the series progresses. I felt "too old" for the maturity level of the characters and some of the scenes at times--but, I think that probably makes this the perfect YA fantasy novel. The author has written for her audience--and I think that audience will relate fairly well. As an older adult--I do think that the author has done a wonderful job creating a fantasy world with some real-world parallels and a cast of characters with a lot of growth and plot potential.
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Meet the Author
K.T. Conte is a lover of books, people and all things wild and crazy. She received her B.A. in English from Boston College and her law degree from Suffolk University Law School. While she has and continues to be a licensed attorney, her first love has always been books from the tender age of 2. Originally from Massachusetts, K.T. currently lives in New York City with the monsters in the closet, her husband Everett, a couple of building fairies and her dog, Champ.
Connect with the Author: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter
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