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Awake
Awake
Natasha Preston | 2015 | Thriller, Young Adult (YA)
6
5.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
Well, <i>Awake</i> is <b>completely different from <i>The Cellar</i>.</b>

(Once upon a time, I was bored at Walmart and <i>The Cellar</i> seemed interesting compared to all the "millions" of <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i> and <i>Divergent</i> and the like. Oh, and there has to be something about Natasha Preston if a publisher swooped up her book from Wattpad, right?)

It's no brainer that Natasha Preston writes about the <b>dark parts of human nature that make you shiver and shudder in fear</b> – it's shown in the third I read in <i>The Cellar</i> (I did buy a copy on Amazon later) and the sick beliefs of Eternal Light in her newest novel. From reading <i>Awake</i>,<b> there's obviously something in Preston's writing that I liked, but <i>Awake</i> seems to be a bit of a downfall compared to <i>The Cellar</i>.</b>

In the process of trying to decide if <i>Awake</i> should get a good rating or not, I literally had to check my notes multiple times, reread a few passages to make sure I'm not making a whopping mistake by letting <i>Awake</i> fall in this ever-growing land called "The Grey Area" that books fall into more often than not.

But in the long run, <b><i>Awake</i>, unfortunately, falls in that ever-growing land that will probably be forgotten within the next year.</b> Let's get into whole detail shenanigans.

The romance. I have a <b>few choice words about Scarlett's relationship with Noah.
</b>
<ol>
  <li>Noah makes his entrance in the book by staring unnervingly at Scarlett. <b>How in the world is Scarlett not disturbed?</b> She MAY be a little uncomfortable, but cheeks turning pinky pink is NOT exactly uncomfortable.</li>
  <li><b>Noah's first day with Scarlett: yip, yip, yip – all about learning Scarlett. I'm a little perplexed as to how she's not a little creeped out</b> by the whole interrogation-like questions that I imagine Noah to be asking. Doesn't it raise a red flag?</li>
  <li>How long were they together? I mean, it may seem a little longer than actuality, but in rereading some parts.... <b>they've probably been together for probably a month or two before they got close together. And I mean <i>really, really</i> close together.</b> I won't be surprised if it's just a few weeks.</li>
  <li>Scarlett's kind of <b>obsessed with Noah from the get-go.</b> Over a hundred texts exchanged in the week they met, nonstop thinking about Noah, yada yada.</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>I slapped it, earning a glare from the guy I couldn't seem to get out of my head.</blockquote>
The romance doesn't overshadow the plot – I probably wouldn't have noticed how fast their relationship was going if I didn't make a really random note at a really random place that later raised a flag.

<i>Awake</i> is a little slow – <b>definitely slower than <i>The Cellar</i></b> – in the whole development. Preston <b>takes time to build up and uses Scarlett's and Noah's relationship as a filler,</b> among Scarlett questioning a four-year gap of memories missing and Noah beginning to question Eternal Light's values. <b>It's not a book that'll make me rage, but it's not a book I'll praise either.</b>

Hence, Gray Area Book.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-awake-by-natasha-preston/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>