A review by zanazy
The Awakening by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I finally caved in and decide to read this much-hyped book series. The setting in a prep academy, the twins, the overly hot boys… I seriously thought this was headed for disaster. I found myself pleasantly surprised if not also annoyed. This was also a fairly quick read. Let’s get some things out of the way…. This is classified as a bully romance which I didn’t know was a thing until recently. I was warned by a friend who DNF and the general YA/NA book community that this book/series would be hard so I was prepared for the worst. 

Perhaps this says too much about my upbringing and life experience yet I’ll admit, I didn’t find the bullying to be off putting and it was not until the end that I felt its impact. That said, there is a ton of bullying done through the whole book so if that’s not your thing… be warned. It’s beyond mean girls and crosses a lot of lines. Physical and emotional bullying/abuse is hard to read and there is a lot in this story. Underneath the bullying there is some plot driven acts that add to the mystery.

I haven’t read much on this series, but already, I have some theories and suspicious people that I don’t think are supposed to be obvious…yet. We’ll see how that goes. 

The Vega sisters are walking contradictions and frustrate me… especially because they walk right into too many traps that are screaming DON’T. Their sisterly bond and love for each other is admirable and one of my favorite parts. For that alone, and the fact that deep down they care about others they consider friends/allies keeps me rooting for them.

The boys are all a**hol**. Yet, I can’t help but feel some of them are not wholly corrupt… more to come there I suppose.
Caleb and Darius are the two I get the sense have deeper layers. I thought Seth was in this too, but after that ending… IDK. I have a thing with hair. I am also thinking there is some serious teacher-student romance hints here so not sure. Orion and Darcy are too close for comfort. It feels like a lot of triangles are being setup.


Ok so on to my theories…. 

  • Caleb truly cares for Tory
  • Seth cares for Darcy?
  • Orion cares for Darcy
  • Diego is sus and may be a harpy?
  • Diego spiked the drinks but Sofia foiled his plan and is working with the harpies


The book ends on a cliffhanger but it’s not a I will die if I don’t find out what it is. The setup is there to have an uphill climb until the Reckoning during which we’ll know if the Vega girls can survive. The series is long so I imagine that is only Act 1.
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