Reviews

The Awakening by Nora Roberts

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ranee_samaniego's review against another edition

4.0

The Awakening was a well-done novel by Nora Roberts that explored one young woman's journey of breaking away from expectations, removing feelings of unworthiness, and finding her worth, strength, and herself.

The first part of the novel really resonated with me. Breen's journey of shedding her mother's expectations and her mother's beliefs that she was unworthy and incapable mirrored much of my own personal journey within the last few years. As someone who has gone through that journey myself, I can confidently say that Roberts did a phenomenal job conveying how that kind of growth manifests - painful, full of tears, but so worthwhile.

Breen and Marco's friendship was also such a treasure to read and warmed my heart.

Once Breen entered Talamh and the novel took a more fantastical turn, I have three critiques:

1) I find it ridiculous that, upon reentering Talamh, everyone expected Breen to remember them and their magical universe. Breen left when she was a toddler - there is no way that she would remember. The characters were insensitive and unrealistic when expressing their anger and frustration that Breen didn't remember them.

2) The magical story arch is almost identical to Robert's "The Chronicles of the One" trilogy. Both have a female protagonist who is a mix of all the magical races and who is destined to save the world. It felt repetitive and reused in The Awakening.

3) Finally, I noticed that Roberts likes to pair the female protagonist with a brooding, dark male love interest. And, as also seen in "The Chronicles of the One" trilogy, the male love interest is rude and deeming at first to the female protagonist. I really dislike this trope. Sexual attraction alone does not create lasting, sustainable, and fulfilling love. Breen had so much more chemistry and a much deeper, truer relationship with Marco, her gay best friend, than she did with Keegan. I would rather have Roberts write a love story where the two love interests have a true, meaningful, kind, supportive relationship than one where the male is cruel and unkind but their sexual attraction is just so strong they can't resist each other.

hillmeister's review against another edition

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1.0

Yeeesh - I don’t know how I made it through this whole book! The words used in other reviews are “cringe-worthy,” “weak,” “grammatically unpleasant,” and “goofy”- and I could not agree more. I do not give single star reviews out easily, but this is just bad writing. It may be time to get a new editor! Protagonist was whiney and unremarkable. It was needlessly drawn out. The LGBTQ characters had no real depth other than being painfully stereotypical. And the dialogue felt strained and unnatural (think Hallmark movie).

jenpurlteach's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-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? Yes

4.0

revkatie's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious

4.0

cconant265's review against another edition

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4.0

There was so much character development in even just the beginning. You start to know the characters and get such a deep appreciation for them. There are so many little tidbits inserted by Roberts that seem innocuous, but looking back you can see the Easter Eggs.