Review of Awakening
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Kendal Low
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Review of Awakening
[Following is a volunteer review of "Awakening" by Tayma Tameem.]
26 years ago in the Kingdom of Hale, baby Amara was born to the king and queen. Blessed by Brikkir, the spirit of Winter, Amara had to grow up learning to control and respect the power given to her. We see her as she gets older, trying to fight the darkness her powers threaten to pull her into. However, when tragedy strikes, her efforts are wasted.
Cut to the present, a raven-haired girl awakens in an icy forest to the realisation that she has no idea who or where she is. She, however, has one name stuck in her head - Katja. Aware that must be her name, Katja manages to make her way out of the forest into a nearby town where she meets a kind tavern owner. It is in this tavern that she later learns about Queen Amara, also known as Lady Snow, a dictator who is rumoured to have killed her older sister for the throne. Katja also learns that she happens to be Lady Snow's sister. With many people unhappy about the presence of the queen's sister, the tavern owner is forced to kick Katja out. Luckily afterwards she manages to find a kind, older couple who are willing to take her in and hide her from Lady Snow.
In this gripping dual-timeline fantasy novel, we see two sisters and their journeys to where they are now. Awakening is a book that will not fail to have you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what happens next.
Tayma Tameem is quickly becoming a new favourite author of mine, Awakening being the second book of her's that I have read. I very much enjoy her writing style and the way she develops characters and their relationships. I particularly appreciated the portrayal of the relationship between Katja and Amara. Katja's, for the most part, unconditional love for Amara was quite endearing. As someone who isn't necessarily familiar with dual-timeline novels, I actually really liked it. I found that it kept the story from becoming too stagnant. I think Tayma has a talent for writing multidimensional characters. For example; I liked how Amara came off as quite unlikeable one moment and then very easy to feel sympathetic towards the next. It was almost difficult to fully dislike her.
One of the main criticisms I have of Tayma's writing is that she doesn't describe characters' physical traits much. I am a reader who very much values knowing as much as I can about the characters and I feel more detail would have enhanced the reading experience greatly. I also found that this story dragged out a bit. We kept revisiting the same plot points and I feel that it could have moved at a slightly quicker pace.
Despite my complaints, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found that it was particularly well edited which made it very enjoyable to read. Tayma is one of the reasons fantasy is quickly becoming my favourite genre. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to readers who may be new to fantasy as well as younger fantasy readers as I believe it is appropriate for all ages. The material was easily digestible as well as very much enjoyable.
******
Awakening
View: on Bookshelves
26 years ago in the Kingdom of Hale, baby Amara was born to the king and queen. Blessed by Brikkir, the spirit of Winter, Amara had to grow up learning to control and respect the power given to her. We see her as she gets older, trying to fight the darkness her powers threaten to pull her into. However, when tragedy strikes, her efforts are wasted.
Cut to the present, a raven-haired girl awakens in an icy forest to the realisation that she has no idea who or where she is. She, however, has one name stuck in her head - Katja. Aware that must be her name, Katja manages to make her way out of the forest into a nearby town where she meets a kind tavern owner. It is in this tavern that she later learns about Queen Amara, also known as Lady Snow, a dictator who is rumoured to have killed her older sister for the throne. Katja also learns that she happens to be Lady Snow's sister. With many people unhappy about the presence of the queen's sister, the tavern owner is forced to kick Katja out. Luckily afterwards she manages to find a kind, older couple who are willing to take her in and hide her from Lady Snow.
In this gripping dual-timeline fantasy novel, we see two sisters and their journeys to where they are now. Awakening is a book that will not fail to have you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what happens next.
Tayma Tameem is quickly becoming a new favourite author of mine, Awakening being the second book of her's that I have read. I very much enjoy her writing style and the way she develops characters and their relationships. I particularly appreciated the portrayal of the relationship between Katja and Amara. Katja's, for the most part, unconditional love for Amara was quite endearing. As someone who isn't necessarily familiar with dual-timeline novels, I actually really liked it. I found that it kept the story from becoming too stagnant. I think Tayma has a talent for writing multidimensional characters. For example; I liked how Amara came off as quite unlikeable one moment and then very easy to feel sympathetic towards the next. It was almost difficult to fully dislike her.
One of the main criticisms I have of Tayma's writing is that she doesn't describe characters' physical traits much. I am a reader who very much values knowing as much as I can about the characters and I feel more detail would have enhanced the reading experience greatly. I also found that this story dragged out a bit. We kept revisiting the same plot points and I feel that it could have moved at a slightly quicker pace.
Despite my complaints, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found that it was particularly well edited which made it very enjoyable to read. Tayma is one of the reasons fantasy is quickly becoming my favourite genre. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to readers who may be new to fantasy as well as younger fantasy readers as I believe it is appropriate for all ages. The material was easily digestible as well as very much enjoyable.
******
Awakening
View: on Bookshelves
