Scarlett is a normal 16-year-old girl living in England and going to high school. Except she can’t remember the first four years of her life. All she knows is that there was a fire, and it seems to have erased all her memories of her early years. Now there’s a new boy in her class. His name is Noah, and he is gorgeous. He is immediately interested in Scarlett, and they start going out. But Noah has chosen Scarlett for a reason, and he has a mission to fulfil for Eternal Light, the sect he belongs to. In fact, Scarlett is the Light, the key to eternal life, and Noah needs to bring her back to the commune for the sacrifice.
Awake is a young adult fiction for readers 16 years and older. The story is alternatively told from Scarlett and Noah’s points of view. This allows the reader to enter Noah’s conflicted mind and see the reasoning behind his actions. I have always been interested in how intelligent people could end up in a sect and believe their guru without questions, so I thought this novel was fascinating. However, the whole premise of the book was a bit shaky. Most people usually don’t remember the first 4 years of their lives. I certainly don’t. Maybe it would have been better that Scarlett be older when the fire happened, say 8 years old for example. I also thought that it was odd that Scarlett confided in Noah from day one and told him about her loss of memory. On the whole though, it was an entertaining read with a gripping subject.
Awake was sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review.
About the author and her work: Natasha Preston’s Website.
Fun facts about the author and the book:
- Natasha Preston started writing after discovering Wattpad, an amateur writing site.
- She publishes 2 to 4 books a year.
- Awake came to her in a dream, like most of her books do.
- She loves true crime shows.
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