Snippet Reviews | Reawakened & Under Different Stars

There are times when Heather & I finish a book, but don’t have time to write a full, comprehensive review… or even a shorter “flashbulb” review.  BUT we still want to share our thoughts with you on what we’ve been reading. That’s why every Saturday we’ll be featuring 2 “snippet” reviews — short, sweet, to-the-point reviews that we’ll try to keep to 2-7 sentences.  So we hope you enjoy these!!

 

 

Ancient Curses. A harrowing, supernatural adventure across continents. A love that spans millennia and reaches beyond death. What’s not to like here? Reawakened just ticked so many boxes for me. I like the vividly portrayed magic and mysticism of Egypt and the pantheon of gods. I like stories that physically move from place to place, and in Reawakened the dust barely settles. I loved Lily & Amon and all the missteps and cute moments that result from being from different cultures and different times.  I liked how their relationship and respect for each other developed and grew. 

Was Reawakened a little contrived? At times. But sometimes that still works for me, and in this instance this proves true. Colleen just wove everything together in such a fabulous way and I’m very much looking forward to Recreated.

 

(2.5 stars, but an extra half star for Kate Rudd’s wonderful narration.)

This started out pretty strong. But while I really liked Kricket’s character at the beginning, her feisty confidence, and quippy survivalist instincts morphed into something a little too damsel-in-distress as she got to know Trey better and as the story progressed. <highlight to view spoiler> I guess I was just hoping that considering what Kricket had already survived in Chicago as a ward of the state and as a runaway, that she would face the challenges of the oppressive patriarchal Etharian culture with a bit more scrap, sass and cunning. </spoiler> The romance was pretty enjoyable overall in a guilty pleasure/dramatically angsty/sappy sort of way (sometimes you just need a story like that), but what was up with Trey carrying Kricket EVERYWHERE? Yes, it can be a cute romantic gesture when used sparingly, but seriously, the girl has legs, Trey. They’re not merely decorative. The world building also felt a little too forced. For instance, too many unique vocabulary words that produced excessive and unnecessary explanations. However, the political/cultural situation is interesting if a little simplified.

Despite my problems with the book, it proved to be compelling enough to keep me up all hours listening to the audiobook. (Kate Rudd, the narrator, is fantastic, FYI.) Overall, I am curious how Kricket’s character will develop and what will happen in the conflict between Rafe and Alameeda, so I may pick up the next one at some point. We shall see.