Awoken (The Lucidites)

by Sarah Noffke

[inlibrisveritas]

Awoken is a weirdly awesome mix of paranormal fantasy and science fiction, that follows Roya Stark as she trains to help take down a man who will stop at nothing to continue his existence. It’s fairly quickly paced and focuses on Roya’s relationships with those around her and how they help mold who she is to become.

Awoken started and ended strong. Right away we are pulled into the heart of the story, meeting Roya and learning about what she can do. I really love that it didn’t begin with a ton of set up, because there is a lot to learn and having it all at once would have been really slow. Instead we are fed little bits and pieces as Roya learns it for herself. There is a ton of interesting tech that they get to use, and a lot of different abilities that come into play. Add that too the rather interesting history of both the Lucidites and those who dream travel, it makes for a surprisingly rich story. I personally would love to be able to dream travel to any time in history as a way to learn, hello Socrates lectures and Albert Einstein classes! The mix of characters was really great too, and I liked how everyone had their own way of handling the situation they were in. Roya is a headstrong, independent, and stubborn girl but her heart is in the right place and I couldn’t help but like her. The only bad thing about the characters, or really the entire plot, was the bit of a love triangle that popped up towards the 70% mark. It’s really obvious who Roya wants to be with, but that added tension was a bit frustrating for me.

The narration was pretty good, though I will say the reader was very very slow. As many of you probably know, I’m a very impatient listener because I read fast on my own, so when the out-loud reading speed is slow I damn near die from restlessness even when I am enjoying the story. That begin said, she did a great job with the voices and with putting feeling into the story and even with her slower pace I would definitely listen to her again.

I’m super happy that I took the chance on this one and requested to review it! I’ll definitely be checking out the rest of the series, to see what Roya and the rest of the group are up to after the events in the end of this one. If you enjoy paranormal fantasy with a cool sci-fi edge, a bit of romance, and a lot of tension then go check this one out!