Reviews

The Awakening by Nora Roberts

megan_fink's review

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

booksrockcal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I read this book as part of the Book Cougars year of romance. I’m happy to have read it because it is interesting to explore different genres of romance. This did not feel like a romance as much as a fantasy story with fairies and dragons and magic. I’m not a big fan of fantasy and I found the parts the author thought were required for world building went by slowly and were too verbose. I might have quit but for the book club read. By the time I got to the end I did want to keep reading to find out what happens. I was disappointed in the main character’s mother and the lack of movement and resolution in their relationship. The book ended on a cliffhanger so to find out what really happens I will have to keep reading. I’m not sure if I will but I won’t rule it out. 

thebookedpath's review against another edition

3.0

Honestly, this felt more like a self-discovery novel with a touch of fantasy romance. 75-80% of the novel felt like the story of a young woman reclaiming her identity and self-confidence. However, as time went on there were still parts of her being the reluctant hero. The romance is very slow-burn. The story plot is good but feels a bit choppy with some dialogue and scenarios feeling more of an afterthought than part of the original plot. It is still well written and the relationship dynamics of family and friendships are written well. I do love the world of Talamh that the author created and will continue the series.

lexilikestoread's review against another edition

5.0

Nora Roberts transports us into the enchanting world of the fae, where mystical beings can traverse between their realm and ours. Breen, a young woman who always believed she was barely average and often strove for mediocrity, suddenly finds her life upended by a freak windstorm that reveals a hidden heritage. Confronted with the truth about her origins, she seizes the chance to explore her roots by visiting the country where her father grew up.

Embarking on a summer journey of self-discovery, Breen, accompanied by her best friend at the beginning, sets off with a heart full of hope. As she delves deeper into this new world, she uncovers a career that ignites her passion, forms new friendships, and builds a life she never imagined possible. However, true to the fantasy genre, darkness looms on the horizon. Amidst the joys of her newfound existence, Breen begins rigorous training, preparing for the challenges ahead. With hope and determination, she aims to become strong enough to face the impending threats and protect the ones she loves.

lauracooleyjohnson's review against another edition

3.0

I will definitely continue with this series, as this book was clearly only a prelude to a larger story (hello, the title is Awakening after all-ha!) and I’m invested. It has a cool heroine growing into her powers, interesting world building with a decent baddy villain and Characters that are heartwarming and have you cheering for them. But the writing is only meh, and thus three stars.

brenna_kcw's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious relaxing slow-paced

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

2.5

I’m not sure if it was the writing style or the plot but I found this book BORING. 

The world building was weird, because the concept was high fantasy but the execution was contemporary. The book is  trope heavy in a way that makes it boring, the villain is a super evil guy who wants to watch the world burn and the MC is the chosen one. 

The characters were very surface level and there were a lot of weird training montages so it felt like the book could have been about 100 pages shorter.  

ALSO what was with the weird horse sex scene??? Who was that for? Why was it included? 

Overall, weird book, won’t be finishing the series. 

amiascah's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I went into this expecting to probably not like it but I felt Breen was a very likeable character and what's not to like about Ireland. Not saying there wasn't aspects that I didn't enjoy.

'The Awakening' By Nora Roberts is the first in her The Dragon Heart Legacy. Despite the name theres not much dragons in this, they're there just not a big part of it. The story follows Breen, a middle school teacher who has been told her whole life by her single career oriented mom that she's nothing special, overly average, won't ever achieve any of her dreams and should settled right away. She's also believed since she was a child that her father left her and never looked back. Quickly in this book she finds out some hard truths and then we spend a lot of time just enjoying Ireland and waiting for the fantasy/dragon part of the book to start. Once it does it's still a very slow burn, luckily I enjoyed the landscape descriptions and the time spent describing the different 'tribes'. While I enjoyed this book trying to remember what really happened other than a few dreams and one or two small quick encounters theres not really any much in-depth stuff to it.

raven532000's review against another edition

I just couldn’t connect. I think it was more youthful than I was looking for, the way the characters acted felt a little fake or overdramatic. I think it may be perfect for younger teen readers though, I used to read a lot of books like this!

alivaster's review against another edition

1.0

This book started off so slowly and continued at that snail pace even by page 50. After taking over 7 months to try to read through it and constantly returning it back to the library because I kept putting it aside for other books, I decided to DNF it. Everything just took too long to happen and it, unfortunately, wasn't the book for me.

annakars17's review against another edition

2.0

Listened as an audiobook. Found it fairly quickly as I was traveling alone and wanted something to listen to. It was a fun story for the most part... until a few chapters before the end when they start conjuring demons all the time and having witch seances. I have a hard line there, especially no demons.