Awakening by shannon duffy Pages: 352
Published by Entangled Publishing, LLC on April 7, 2015
Genres: Love & Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Source: eARC from Publisher
A thrilling, futuristic sci-fi novel set in a unique and thought-provoking world, from author Shannon Duffy.
Desiree Six (because she was born on a Friday) believes in everything the Protectorate stands for. She likes the safety and security of having her entire life planned out—her career, her mate, even the date of her death. She doesn't even think to question when Darian, her childhood friend and neighbor, is convicted of murdering his parents. They had seemed like such a loving family. But if he was convicted, then he must have done it.
Then Darian shows up in her room late one night. He has escaped from the Terrorscape—a nightmare machine used to punish all Noncompliants—and needs Desiree's help. What he tells her rocks her world to its core and makes her doubt everything she's ever been told. With this new information, will Desiree and Darian be able to escape the Protectorate before it's too late?
I loved Awakening. It’s a young adult dystopian. I don’t read too many dystopians anymore, and I am pretty picky when it comes to choosing which ones to read. I heard that Darian was going to be a swoon worthy guy, and I liked the technology aspect of Awakening, so I decided to give it a try. And I am very glad that I did. This was a dystopian that worked really well for me. I loved the romance in it and I thought the world was very well done. The idea of the dreamscape seemed half invasive and scary but a pretty big part of me wanted to try it out, especially since you get to see who your mate was revealed in the dreams. I thought that was a really cool idea, and for the most part people seemed to love it and the relationships seemed genuine and good fits for so much of the society. And then there is the terrorscape, which seemed just as terrifying as the name implies. However, I was left with lots of little questions, while reading the first half of the book. Click to view spoiler for some examples of the questions I had.
View Spoiler »Now don’t get me wrong, I thought the world building was great, and I am sure that some of these questions will be answered and explained later on, but when I was initially reading, all of this stuff was running through my head. I have come to the conclusion that right now the dystopians that work the best for me are ones that center around technology. Something about them makes me feel like it could be possible for the world to end up like that, which makes it all the more interesting and terrifying to me. Does that make me weird? haha
I really loved Darian. I think he is such an easy guy to root for, even if he is noncompliant and thinks everyone else in the society are “sheep.” He’s not wrong, by the way. What surprises me the most is that anyone is capable of thinking that this guy could be a murderer. He is such a decent, stand up guy. And his lifetime crush on Desiree was adorable. Awakening starts off at a brisk pace and honestly only picks up in speed as the story goes on. I loved that, there is honestly not a boring moment in Awakening. I read this book in a single sitting and I didn’t even realize how much time had passed when I finally looked up when I was done. That is a feeling I will never get sick of, because it means I was transported to the author’s world and I was totally immersed in it. I can’t wait to continue this series. Awakening is great for fans of YA dystopian and I would even encourage people who might be burnt out or new dystopians to try Awakening. I think it will be a series tons of people will love! I smell a hit all over this one and I can’t wait for more.
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Jaime Lester
I am getting ready to start this one for a blog tour I joined, and I have been nervous about it. It sounds really good, but I have had more bad luck with dystopians than good for quite some time now. I decided to go ahead and give this one a chance, since it seems unique to a point. I am glad now that I did. Your review made me a little less nervous to check it out than I was before. SO, thank you for that, and for your review!
Alexandra
Thank you for the review! I want to read the book too!
Jessica@Lovin' Los Libros
I’ve been seeing this one around the blogosphere but this is the first review I’ve read. I’m glad you liked this one Michelle! I haven’t picked a YA dystopian in awhile myself, so maybe this would be a good one to start with. I am all for a good romance and worldbuilding that is well done!
Nick @ Nick's Book Blog
This is the first time that I’m hearing of this book, but it sounds interesting. I have to say though that I’m a little over dystopians at the moment. I’ll have to check this one out for sure though and I hope your questions get answered in the next book. That would be slightly frustrating for me.
Great review, Michelle!
Romi
Oh, neat! I am, honestly, a touch burnt out on Dystopian, like you say- even though I’m editing my own foray into the genre- but with any read it’s brilliant when they make you relook at the genre and find a renewed enjoyment for it! I’m not sure that this sounds like a read I’d like, but I am holding out for a dystopian that’ll reboot me on what was once my favourite genre, so here’s hoping I find one! And here’s hoping the sequel is just as good, and answers some of your questions from this! Happy reading! Xx
Vi
I’m with you on that, I’m SO picky when it comes to dystopians and hardly any of them interest me anymore, so I was def surprised when I read Awakening and liked it. I agree, I’m still left with a ton of questions, but I liked that the author didn’t bog us down with so much world-building in this book, but instead, focused on the story. So many times that’s the BIG reason why I can’t stand dystopians, especially 1st books in a series. I need a story that moves, not constant info-dumping. I’m hoping more answers will surface as the series progresses though.
Danielle @ Love at First Page
I keep seeing this book on Goodreads, and I’m definitely going to look into it! The worldbuilding sounds great, and I’m a sucker for a good dystopian romance. 😛
Thanks for your review!
Olivia
Oh, I have been having trouble finding dystopians to enjoy as well. I love the genre, but they have become pretty mainstream lately and it is hard to navigate through them all and find the worthwhile ones! This one seems good though 🙂