Reviews

Awakened by James S. Murray, Darren Wearmouth

alliepeduto's review against another edition

3.0

Murr wrote a book?? I love Impractical Jokers, and when I came across an article talking about this new release I had to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised! It’s not necessarily my style (it’s kind of like a horror thriller) but it’s apparently going to be a trilogy, so I’m curious enough to want to check out the next two!

hoffworld's review

dark tense 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? No

3.5

amy_da1sy's review against another edition

4.0

I loved this book. It honestly wasn’t what I expected when I saw murr from impractical jokes wrote it.

matosapa's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dhasenkampf's review

3.5

This book was very cinematic. I could easily picture the action and imagine watching it as a movie. But the writing wasn't strong enough for my tastes. Some of the action scenes were awkward and not well thought out. Some of the dialogue was clunky. There were a couple too many evil villain monologues. The pacing was consistent and fast. The characters were mostly interesting, if a bit one-dimensional. The plot is too far-fetched. 

Overall, it's pretty good. Not my favorite, but still entertaining. 

ploominator's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

jadsam_'s review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-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

3.0

mferrante83's review against another edition

3.0

A solid summer blockbuster kind of read. It reminded me a bit of The Strain but the character work was better. There is a lot left unanswered and with two more books planned and it'll be fun to see where this goes.

polargare's review

3.0

I’ve read some of the reviews from people who received advanced copies of this book. Yes, this book was stereotypical in its character and plot development. Yes, it screams “make me a movie”. Yes, it’s not an incredibly intelligent read. But my God, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was fast-paced, entertaining, and a real page-turner. I will definitely be picking up the sequel, and I hope it gets better from here.

One quick side note, I laughed at the end when the narrative mentioned that the events of that day sparked a reality show where contestants spend days together carrying out embarrassing tasks and the loser gets punished. Nice nod towards Impractical Jokers, Murr, nice nod.

tinacripps's review against another edition

3.0

I would say a 2.7 out of 5. The writing certainly isn’t brilliant... they twice used the same line “it doesn’t take Columbo to figure out...”. I think that is lazy writing. There were some inconsistencies as well. It is a horror/sci-fi with a lot of blood and gore which I don’t mind. The story did actually keep me interested enough and it was a quick, easy read. In the acknowledgments it mentions it is supposed to be a trilogy. Oddly enough I wouldn’t mind learning what happens next in the story... as long as it is another quick, easy read.