There are times when you read a book and it genuinely touches your heart. The characters are raw with realism, the plot claws its way into your bloodstream, and, word by word, you find the story consuming your soul. Awakening is one of those books. It feels so deeply intimate that you think you’ve discovered something special, something you want to desperately share with the world but can’t help but want to selfishly keep guarded as well. Exceptional in its exploration of grief, self-acceptance, and love, this epic series starter is one you won’t want to miss.
When you’re eager to sing a book’s praises, it’s hard to know where to begin, so I’ll start with what impressed me the most: character depth. When a novel’s characters leave an impression that is so real -- one where your heart beats in rhythm to their own fictional palpitations, ebbing and flowing based on a spectrum ranging from blissful happiness to oppressive despair -- magic happens. Burke crafted such vulnerable identities that I couldn't help but feel fiercely connected to them. Their emotions were authentic, honest, and faithful to not only their circumstances but also their well-designed personalities, backstories, and psyches. When these characters felt any shred of emotion, it was felt profoundly and without restraint. I’m at a lack of words to adequately describe my experience, but it was as if Max and Sam’s reactions possessed a candid weight to them. They clung to me, and I felt intricately entangled in their plight. I never wanted to leave their side.
Another noteworthy element to Awakening is its examination of grief and how it’s intensely linked to other facets of life like mental health, bleeding into our perception of self-worth and the way we navigate interpersonal relationships. Max traumatically lost his mother years ago, and it’s inevitably colored the way he lives life and allows himself to get close to other people. This invisible mass on his shoulders, one he can’t shirk, is a burden for him to carry and reflect on, and it’s hurting him. Max can’t flee from the concentrated pain or find healing, but his journey is far from over. Throughout the length of the novel, we see him learn what it means to confront his sorrow, and see that there is opportunity to grow stronger because of it, and, if he’s willing to take the next step, no longer let it negatively define his life. This journey is not an easy one to take. One wrong step and sorrow has the potential to engulf Max completely, but it has also the ability to beautifully transform his character. Whether he has the fortitude, bravery, and support system to do so is for you to find out.
Last, but not least, was the smoldering romance - an epic story all on its own that is further enriched by an explosive spark instantly ignited between Max and Sam. What is this earth-shattering pull they feel toward one another, cosmic in every sense of the word? Can it withstand Max’s hesitancy to let people in? Is Sam willing to take the time and expend the energy needed to deconstruct stone by stone the wall blocking Max’s heart, a heart that is so afraid to let the light in? The opportunity for their love to break or blossom in the face of doubt and self-destruction is there in equal measure, but the prospect of being each other’s home is not going to be given up easily. All I can say is that I hope their love goes the distance and isn’t severed by the fates.
Awakening felt like a fever dream in the best way possible. I felt engulfed in an ambitious story that’s only just begun, and if none of what I’ve said has convinced you to pick it up yet, let me make this comparison for you: a grown-up Percy Jackson meets All for the Game. This book is wholly its own and combines two of my favorite concepts: gods and lacrosse. Need I say more? Run, don’t walk, to pick up a copy of this book.
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