Book Review: Awake by Natasha Preston

I rated it 2 out of 5 stars.

 

Overview: 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.  

Review: First off, thanks so much to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for giving me an ARC (advanced reader's copy), in exchange for feedback and an honest review. The pub date for Awake is scheduled for August 4, 2015.

Can I just say the cover art is beautiful? It's something that would've caught my eye and would have made me pick it up to read the blurb. Not many cult books out right now, so it definitely has that 'different' appeal, but that's where all the appeal ends.

Right off the bat, Preston begins with an insta-love relationship. The two main characters seriously fall for each other within two chapters. Frankly, the whole thing is kind of unbelievable. Not only because the romance was flat, but because the characters themselves were pretty flat. Next was the forced dialogue. It didn't flow at times, and kind of made me cringed. I felt the writing style took away from the book, rather than supplementing it. Perhaps the stilted writing was supposed to illuminate the creepy aspect of the story, but it just didn't register for me. Also the ending was just a bit too perfect, 'everything falling into place' sort of thing. Combine everything I've mentioned and it rendered the whole story unrealistic.

I really wanted to like this story and I think the message about perception, beliefs, and how our environment or society plays a role in it is a very powerful one indeed. But the way it came off the page did not do the message justice. Add a little more depth, emotion, but less angst in the characters, then a dash of complexity and then I think Preston has something. It just has to be more convincing for a higher rating. Unfortunately, I gave it two stars out of five.