Awake ~ Natasha Preston (earc) review [@SourcebooksFire @natashavpreston]

Awake
Sourcebooks Fire
August 4, 2015
352 pages
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Scarlett doesn’t remember anything before the age of five. Her parents say it’s from the trauma of seeing her house burn down, and she accepts the life they’ve created for her without question—until a car accident causes Scarlett to start remembering pieces of an unfamiliar past.

When a new guy moves into town, Scarlett feels an instant spark. But Noah knows the truth of Scarlett’s past, and he’s determined to shield her from it...because Scarlett grew up in a cult called Eternal Light, controlled by her biological parents.

And they want her back.

I'm not really sure how to describe how I felt about Awake. The first half, where we meet Scarlett and she meets Noah, really did not work for me. They go through the expected actions of beginning a relationship but it all felt too instant and flat. It seems like they've just met and then they're in love and ready for forever.

I didn't really feel that connection, that attraction that was so special between them. Their relationship and the writing did not seem to be of the same caliber as either the second half of the book or of The Cellar.

Scarlett's memory issue was also introduced weirdly. She says she doesn't remember anything before the age of four - and is used to people thinking it's weird and should bother her. Humans, in general don't have a lot of memories before that age. It  doesn't seem like something that special. How she says it later, that she lost her memory at four and never got it back, seemed like the better way to state it (and makes it more unique, out of the ordinary).

Now, if Awake had started around Chapter 23 (51%), I would know how I felt about it. I really enjoyed the second half of the book. There's more suspense and the story doesn't rely or focus so heavily on Scarlett and Noah's relationship. Natasha Preston can really write peril filled, suspenseful mysteries. The danger and the situation are well done.

I was still a bit unsure of Scarlett's character and her reliance on/connection with Noah, but I enjoyed what happened, the tension, the drama, the fear. After reading The Cellar and now Awake, I thin the author does thriller type mysteries well, but the romance doesn't really work.




(though that's really a 1 or 1.5 for the beginning half and 4 for the rest . . .)