ARC Review: Reawakened by Colleen Houck

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Title: Reawakened
Author: Colleen Houck
Release Date: August, 2015
Rating:
Goodreads | Book Depository
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Bookbridgr and Hodder & Stoughton.
When seventeen-year-old 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.

 With a gorgeous cover and an intriguing premise, I really wanted to love Reawakened. I've been fascinated by Ancient Egypt since I was a little and so I knew I had to read this. Unfortunately I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would.

The story suffers from some pretty bad info-dumping. I know mythology is a big part of the book but there are times where characters go on big spiels about certain mythological aspects and it just feels forced. I can tell the character is just reciting this for the reader's benefit and it doesn't feel natural. It was a disconnect from the plot. I can't comment on the factual accuracy of the mythology content as my knowledge is very basic (something I am hoping to improve!) but I did enjoy the presence of it and I thought it was an interesting topic to have incorporated in a YA novel.

The biggest problem I had with this book is that the main character, Lily, is annoying. She is super rich, lives in a penthouse and has been accepted to loads of colleges that she has to choose from. Sounds like she's in a pretty good place, right? Yet she spends the entire time complaining. Her parents aren't around much and they have a clear idea of what she should be doing at college with no thought for what SHE wants, so I can somewhat sympathise with her, but she comes across as very snooty and pretentious.

The romance was.. interesting. We have a mummy, Amon, who has risen from the dead after a thousand years and connects himself to Lily to draw upon her energy to survive. The connection also means that he can control her at will. He uses the control at times to prevent her from leaving his side. But, you know, he's hot so Lily spends the entire book trying to kiss him and complaining when he won't comply. But she's so not the kind of girl who gets hung up on boys or has a lack of self-confidence, guys. (Her words)

Apart from the mind control I actually quite liked Amon. If we eliminated Lily he would be a really interesting character. I liked reading about him adjusting to the modern world as the last time he was awakened was a thousand years ago. But sadly he spends the majority of his time holding up the whimpering Lily. I did like Amon's brothers who were interesting but they don't make an appearance until the later stages of the book.

I also find a lot of the storytelling in relation to Amon's powers to be very convenient. He has the ability to do things that quickly and conveniently patch up the possibility of any problems. He and Lily can travel to Cairo without her parents wondering where she is because he has the power to send her back to the same day when their adventure is over. And maybe you're wondering how he could get on a plane to fly to Cairo? Well that's where the mind control was super helpful as he simply had to talk to the airport staff, do some mind tricks and get on the plane no problem without tickets or passports. I also found it weird that he was absolutely fascinated by taxis (branding them "golden chariots") but barely batted an eyelid at the fact we have technology that FLIES IN THE SKY.

The adventure kept me reading and the pace was good in some places between the info-dumping but I wasn't as excited as I hoped I would be. I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if the main character wasn't so one-dimensional. I didn't hate it and I didn't struggle to get through it but it was just a bit lacklustre for me.

4 comments:

  1. Great review! I like hearing your perspective on this book. The plot's premise is really what has intrigued me about it. I mean a girl falling in love with a mummy sounds pretty bizarre. The cover is also very eye catching. I have found info dumping to be a problem for a lot of books that are based off of historical or mythological subjects.
    ~Chioma @ Blue Books and Butterflies

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    1. Thank you!
      The premise really intrigued me too as I can't recall coming across anything like it before. I think you're right, it seems to be quite difficult to get that historical information included without it being overbearing.

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  2. Hey girl! LURVED hearing about your thoughts on this! I've heard a whole BUNCH of gushing reviews about this book. So I'm glad you enjoyed it even though you had some qualms about it. ♡

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    1. Thank you! There were definitely some things that annoyed me but it was still an interesting topic. I'm seeing loads of great reviews too!

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