Review: Awaken by Sarah Ross

Lucy Donovan was supposed to have a weekend of fun in the sun, celebrating her upcoming graduation from college. In a split second, everything changed. A drunk driver ended Lucy’s mortal life.
Lucy opens her eyes to a world she never imagined possible and a new destiny: as a Patronus, a guardian of spirits. Adjusting to her new role and abilities while negotiating this confusing realm will test her limits and push her further than she ever dreamed she would go. From wayward spirits who don’t want her help to soul stealing vampires, and even a stuck-up British royal, Lucy must brave them all to save one spirit she can’t bear to lose. Further complicating her confusing life is an inexplicable yet growing connection she feels to a member of her team, Max, whose mysterious behavior leaves her both confused and intrigued.
Waking up dead was just the beginning of her problems. Lucy’s death is about to become the greatest adventure of her life.

I am a ridiculously slow reader, throw in going to college and working full time and it's a wonder how I keep up with this book blog, so when I zoomed through Awaken in less than 3 days, I shocked myself. But I could not put this book down! Awaken is filled with suspense, non-stop action, romance and just about everything you look for in a young adult novel.

Lucy is an AWESOME protagonist and a kick butt superhero. She may start at the bottom, but she will do anything it takes to pull herself to the top. Her friends are great too, each doing their own to challenge, console and of course, helps Lucy laugh. One of the super cool things Sarah did with this book was add in a few historical characters we know such as Queen Elizabeth and Amelia Earhart. Which, why not? Everything does take place in Lucy's afterlife!

The only couple of things that had me kind of eh was the beginning. I understood simply because the point wasn't who Lucy was in this lifetime, but rather the life she was about to begin as a Patronus. Still, it felt rather sudden. The other hesitation was Lucy and Max's relationship. Sarah plays up the insta-love but it doesn't feel like insta-love. It genuinely seems like Lucy and Max not only have known each other forever, but are just meant to be. However throughout the entire book, Max is holding a secret that has something to do with Lucy. The suspense is building and building until he finally reveals it to her and... what? I didn't see that coming. (No spoiler alerts here!) But I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that they expand on that situation further in the next novel because as much as I loved this book and loved the couple together, I was a bit let down with that outcome.

My favorite part of this book was the fact that Sarah was not afraid to have her characters fail, be slowed down or put in their place.

My Rating for this Book:

Sarah M. Ross started her obsession with reading at an early age, getting in trouble for sneaking Baby-Sitters Club and Nancy Drew books into math class in elementary school. She would read any fiction book she could get her hands on. She knew it was an addiction when instead of grounding her from TV or music, her mom would take away her books as punishment (The Horror!).

Her love of all things paranormal was inspired by her good friend Laurie, who convinced her that books with vampires, witches, and all things shifter were amazing. After a little reluctance, she gave it a shot with the Sookie Stackhouse books, realized her friend was right, and the rest was history. 

Ms. Ross grew up in Pittsburgh, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in English, and taught 8th graders to love reading as much as she does for several years.

She will always be a proud member of Steelers Nation, but couldn’t take the cold and moved her frozen tush to Florida where she now lives with her family and two cats.You will find her many days with her trusty Kindle in hand and toes in the sand!