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adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS ALL KINDS OF NON-CONSENSUAL ACTS
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS AT THE END
I went into The Awakening with high hopes. It had been hyped up a lot online.
The premise is fantastic and had me excited from the start. Who wouldn't want to read an adult Harry Potter mixed with Avatar the Last Airbender mixed with Acotar?
The character and world building could use a lot of work. Also, there are waaaayyyyy too many direct references to outside works (Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, I think even Star Trek at one point?). It's not a subtle thing, they are literally referenced by publication name. Just a bit cringey in my opinion, but it was easy enough to dismiss.
One of the big things that made this a one off read instead of gunning for the whole series is that THIS BOOK NEEDS AN EDITOR. Seriously, it's like there wasn't anyone going over this book at all. So many grammatical, punctuation, tense, or even just spelling mistakes!! There was at least four alone in the first chapter!
Most of it I was able to brush off, little things I totally understand and I would have been willing to ignore for the sake of the plot. However, when I encounter several within a few sentences of each other it drives me insane. And that happened many many times throughout the book.
Things really started to fall apart for me at the 80% mark. I pushed through and finished it because of the sunk-cost fallacy, but I probably should have dnf'd this book.
As far as the plot goes, the whole book takes place over the span of like 3 weeks, and it's mostly focused on the drama and bullying between students instead of the actual learning, so if you're looking for something along the lines of adult Harry Potter (as it was marketed), you might want to look elsewhere.
- - - - - - - SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT - - - - - - -
A huge part of the premise is that the twins need to be able to pass The Reckoning at the end of the term or school year or something. We don't find out anything about it except that it's really difficult and super incredibly important that they pass. Everything in this book feels like it's leading up to The Reckoning, but then the book ends after an altercation and betrayal that happens during a school dance that is - surprise! - still at the beginning of the school year. Turns out that The Reckoning doesn't happen until book 3!
Foreshadowing doesn't really exist in this book, at least in a way that makes sense. The authors decided to hold the reader's hand from beginning to end, and there is hardly any, if any at all, 'showing' instead of 'telling'.
Now for the main complaint. I didn't see anywhere (on descriptions, reviews, tiktoks, nothing) any kind of trigger warning or content warnings. THIS BOOK IS FULL OF NON-CONSENSUAL ACTS. I am not one to shame others for their preferences, so if you like this kind of stuff be my guest. We all have our own tastes. I definitely should not have read this book for personal reasons, my mental health definitely took a hit.
It was especially gross when a vampire teacher figure is feeding off of one of the main characters who is a student, and the vampires get to 'claim' their sources for energy, which is also very gross. There's also non-consensual touching (non-sexual) on like every other page.
I do have to hand it to the main characters for not being comfortable with any of this stuff and actually standing their ground. But how many times do they have to say they don't consent to something for the supposed love interests to stop what they're doing??? Almost every single time, the boys end up overpowering the girls to do what they want (feeding, taking energy/magic, etc), until the girls are strong enough to make them stop. So I waited this whole book for a badass boss bitch moment and it never happened.
And we all know that the boys are supposed to get their redemption arcs and whatever as is par for the trope, but I just can't see how they can be redeemed after literally trying to murder one of the twins??!?
I will not be continuing this series.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS AT THE END
I went into The Awakening with high hopes. It had been hyped up a lot online.
The premise is fantastic and had me excited from the start. Who wouldn't want to read an adult Harry Potter mixed with Avatar the Last Airbender mixed with Acotar?
The character and world building could use a lot of work. Also, there are waaaayyyyy too many direct references to outside works (Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, I think even Star Trek at one point?). It's not a subtle thing, they are literally referenced by publication name. Just a bit cringey in my opinion, but it was easy enough to dismiss.
One of the big things that made this a one off read instead of gunning for the whole series is that THIS BOOK NEEDS AN EDITOR. Seriously, it's like there wasn't anyone going over this book at all. So many grammatical, punctuation, tense, or even just spelling mistakes!! There was at least four alone in the first chapter!
Most of it I was able to brush off, little things I totally understand and I would have been willing to ignore for the sake of the plot. However, when I encounter several within a few sentences of each other it drives me insane. And that happened many many times throughout the book.
Things really started to fall apart for me at the 80% mark. I pushed through and finished it because of the sunk-cost fallacy, but I probably should have dnf'd this book.
As far as the plot goes, the whole book takes place over the span of like 3 weeks, and it's mostly focused on the drama and bullying between students instead of the actual learning, so if you're looking for something along the lines of adult Harry Potter (as it was marketed), you might want to look elsewhere.
- - - - - - - SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT - - - - - - -
A huge part of the premise is that the twins need to be able to pass The Reckoning at the end of the term or school year or something. We don't find out anything about it except that it's really difficult and super incredibly important that they pass. Everything in this book feels like it's leading up to The Reckoning, but then the book ends after an altercation and betrayal that happens during a school dance that is - surprise! - still at the beginning of the school year. Turns out that The Reckoning doesn't happen until book 3!
Foreshadowing doesn't really exist in this book, at least in a way that makes sense. The authors decided to hold the reader's hand from beginning to end, and there is hardly any, if any at all, 'showing' instead of 'telling'.
Now for the main complaint. I didn't see anywhere (on descriptions, reviews, tiktoks, nothing) any kind of trigger warning or content warnings. THIS BOOK IS FULL OF NON-CONSENSUAL ACTS. I am not one to shame others for their preferences, so if you like this kind of stuff be my guest. We all have our own tastes. I definitely should not have read this book for personal reasons, my mental health definitely took a hit.
It was especially gross when a vampire teacher figure is feeding off of one of the main characters who is a student, and the vampires get to 'claim' their sources for energy, which is also very gross. There's also non-consensual touching (non-sexual) on like every other page.
I do have to hand it to the main characters for not being comfortable with any of this stuff and actually standing their ground. But how many times do they have to say they don't consent to something for the supposed love interests to stop what they're doing??? Almost every single time, the boys end up overpowering the girls to do what they want (feeding, taking energy/magic, etc), until the girls are strong enough to make them stop. So I waited this whole book for a badass boss bitch moment and it never happened.
And we all know that the boys are supposed to get their redemption arcs and whatever as is par for the trope, but I just can't see how they can be redeemed after literally trying to murder one of the twins??!?
I will not be continuing this series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Torture
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The book was absolute dog water.
First, the amount of grammatical errors and typos is astronomical. I don’t think the authors hired an editor at all, honestly. I was constantly cringing at how awkwardly phased everything was and how unnatural the story progression felt.
Second, the main girls are young, and they are being constantly sexually harassed, in public AND BY TEACHERS, and NO ONE AROUND THEM CARES? They’re just told that “that’s how things are in Solaria” and they better get used to it. Consent? Never heard of her.
The worst part about reading this book (besides actually finishing it) was the overwhelming feeling of profound disappointment I felt at such a cool story idea being mishandled beyond belief. I’m interested in the concept of Solaria, but that is it. The characters were shallow and completely stupid. The whole thing felt like a wattpad fantasy.
To the person who told me this book would be like adult Harry Potter, I’m never forgiving you.
First, the amount of grammatical errors and typos is astronomical. I don’t think the authors hired an editor at all, honestly. I was constantly cringing at how awkwardly phased everything was and how unnatural the story progression felt.
Second, the main girls are young, and they are being constantly sexually harassed, in public AND BY TEACHERS, and NO ONE AROUND THEM CARES? They’re just told that “that’s how things are in Solaria” and they better get used to it. Consent? Never heard of her.
The worst part about reading this book (besides actually finishing it) was the overwhelming feeling of profound disappointment I felt at such a cool story idea being mishandled beyond belief. I’m interested in the concept of Solaria, but that is it. The characters were shallow and completely stupid. The whole thing felt like a wattpad fantasy.
To the person who told me this book would be like adult Harry Potter, I’m never forgiving you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Abandonment
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Awful. Absolutely awful. I downright HATED the bullying and abuse. It really spoiled what would have been an excellent book if it was differently and didn’t have an OUNCE of ridicule, bullying or abuse.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Torture, Sexual harassment
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Psychotic sadistic men that are supposed to end up being lovers to the lead women.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, War