Readers of YA paranormal romance and those who have interest in Egyptian mythology will find a lot to enjoy in Colleen Houck's new series. Please note that this review is based off the advanced reader's copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley. The book is published today and is available in libraries and/or bookstores near you.
Description: When Lilliana Young enters the Metropolitan Museum of Art one morning during
spring break, the last thing she expects to find is a live Egyptian
prince with godlike powers, who has been reawakened after a thousand
years of mummification. And she really can't imagine being chosen
to aid him in an epic quest that will lead them across the globe to
find his brothers and complete a grand ceremony that will save mankind. But
fate has taken hold of Lily, and she, along with her sun prince, Amon,
must travel to the Valley of the Kings, raise his brothers, and stop an
evil, shape-shifting god named Seth from taking over the world.
Review: Reawakened introduces a fantasy filled with romance and Egyptian mythology, but unfortunately it left me bored for most of the story. The story begins on a promising prologue where three Egyptian princes are offered to sacrifice themselves in order to protect their kingdoms and people from Seth, the god of chaos, from taking control. The princes are all gifted with different abilities and are preserved as mummies who are awakened every 1,000 years to complete a ritual that will prevent Seth from rising.
While the plot of the book has great potential, the major flaws of the book in my opinion are characters who are dull, cookie cutter templates of your typical paranormal romance novel. Lilliana Young is our mortal heroine who has had her whole life planned out for her by her affluent micromanaging New York City parents. Her life is turned upside down on what was suppose to be an ordinary day at the museum, but instead she becomes mystically tethered to Amon, the resurrected prince and carrier of the Eye of Horus. I found it hard to like Lilliana because her personality was so vanilla. We are told that she is pretty, has great self confidence, and is suppose to be the voice of reason and Amon's translator of the current century; however, her only main concern is trying to have a relationship with a 'really hot Egyptian prince' instead of the 'really hot Egyptian prince' who is sucking her life force out of her. Lilliana only agrees to travel to Egypt in search of Amon's brothers, who are needed to complete the necessary ritual is to have an adventure and to be reckless during her spring break of her senior year.
Like Lilliana, Amon is also quite tedious. His clueless nature of the advancements of our society is cute at first, but then it becomes repetitive and annoying. I couldn't help but hear a robot every time he talked. I did, however, like the stories of the Egyptian gods and goddess he tells Lilliana but that's about it. He is your average handsome and brooding paranormal romance hero. I felt zero chemistry between him and Lilliana.
Though there are plenty of action scenes and moments of doom where the characters lives are at stake, I couldn't help but skim a lot of the story. Even the villain was snooze worthy and very easy to identify. The ending does have a cliffhanger, but I can't muster up any interest in picking up this series. Overall Reawakened was a pretty "meh" read and would only recommend it to readers who exclusively like paranormal romances.
Rating: 3 stars
Words of Caution: There are some disturbing scenes and minor language. Recommended for Grades 7 and up.
If you like this book try: Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck, Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordian for those who like reading about Egyptian mythology more than romance
Review: Reawakened introduces a fantasy filled with romance and Egyptian mythology, but unfortunately it left me bored for most of the story. The story begins on a promising prologue where three Egyptian princes are offered to sacrifice themselves in order to protect their kingdoms and people from Seth, the god of chaos, from taking control. The princes are all gifted with different abilities and are preserved as mummies who are awakened every 1,000 years to complete a ritual that will prevent Seth from rising.
While the plot of the book has great potential, the major flaws of the book in my opinion are characters who are dull, cookie cutter templates of your typical paranormal romance novel. Lilliana Young is our mortal heroine who has had her whole life planned out for her by her affluent micromanaging New York City parents. Her life is turned upside down on what was suppose to be an ordinary day at the museum, but instead she becomes mystically tethered to Amon, the resurrected prince and carrier of the Eye of Horus. I found it hard to like Lilliana because her personality was so vanilla. We are told that she is pretty, has great self confidence, and is suppose to be the voice of reason and Amon's translator of the current century; however, her only main concern is trying to have a relationship with a 'really hot Egyptian prince' instead of the 'really hot Egyptian prince' who is sucking her life force out of her. Lilliana only agrees to travel to Egypt in search of Amon's brothers, who are needed to complete the necessary ritual is to have an adventure and to be reckless during her spring break of her senior year.
Like Lilliana, Amon is also quite tedious. His clueless nature of the advancements of our society is cute at first, but then it becomes repetitive and annoying. I couldn't help but hear a robot every time he talked. I did, however, like the stories of the Egyptian gods and goddess he tells Lilliana but that's about it. He is your average handsome and brooding paranormal romance hero. I felt zero chemistry between him and Lilliana.
Though there are plenty of action scenes and moments of doom where the characters lives are at stake, I couldn't help but skim a lot of the story. Even the villain was snooze worthy and very easy to identify. The ending does have a cliffhanger, but I can't muster up any interest in picking up this series. Overall Reawakened was a pretty "meh" read and would only recommend it to readers who exclusively like paranormal romances.
Rating: 3 stars
Words of Caution: There are some disturbing scenes and minor language. Recommended for Grades 7 and up.
If you like this book try: Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck, Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordian for those who like reading about Egyptian mythology more than romance
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Too bad Lilliana was so boring. It sounds like a great concept. I've never gotten around to Houck's books.
Shoot! I was hoping you were going to love this one Rummanah! I'm on the fence about it - I've read some fantastic reviews for it, but then I cheated and read the end first and I didn't like what I found there, so I'm not sure I want to give it a go. I'm especially bummed you didn't feel any chemistry between the two of them, the romance is always my favorite part of any story:( Lovely review as usual though!
I love the mythology, but oh the execution doesn't sound like it is written well. I might wait to see what others think of the second book, but with that cliffie... right now... I'll pass. Brilly review!
Lily was really boring, especially at first. Sorry you didn't like this a bit more. I do agree though that the first half was really slow so it was hard to get into the story at first.
Oh man, that's definitely a disappointment. Granted, I was only expecting to like this book purely because I liked the cover and premise and everyone seems to love Colleen Houck (thus pretty superficial reasons), but it's still a let down anyway. I really have no patience for two dimensional, derivative characters these days...