Awake: A Fairytale

Author: Jessica Grey
Genre: Supernatural/YA
Type: Kindle ebook
First Published: 2012
First Line: "The last place Alexandra Martin expected to see Luke Reed was at orientation for summer interns at the Museum Guild of Los Angeles."

Synopsis: Alexandra Martin isn't what you'd consider part of the popular high school crowd.  For as long as she can remember she's been the nerdy girl who, for some unknown reason, loves rocks and gems.  While not the coolest hobby it does make her summer internship with her best friend Becca at the Gem and Mineral Museum a perfect way to spend her last summer before heading off to college.

Unfortunately, her former grade school best friend, Luke Reed, has also decided to work at the museum.  Luke's arrival at the museum creates a lot of tension for Alex, who hasn't socialized with Luke for years, and plans to focus her attention on her crush on Nicholas, her museum mentor.

Soon after starting her internship, Alex is shocked to suddenly find herself face-to-face with a princess caught in the middle of an ancient curse.  Not one to believe in the silliness of fairytales it takes Alex awhile to believe what she's seeing.  Along with Becca, as well as this princess who has been asleep for 900 years, Alex attempts to break the curse and keep an ancient curse from destroying Los Angeles.

My Thoughts:  When I saw this ebook I figured it was right up my alley.  Young Adult, supernatural element, a good, light read.  Yay me!  What really drew me to this book was it's take on fairytales in the modern world.  The main idea behind the storyline was a very interesting twist on a traditional tale --  what if the wrong person kissed Sleeping Beauty?  Unique idea but the execution of the story left a lot to be desired. 

I found the pace very slow, the dialogue felt forced (and a little corny at times) and there wasn't a lot of action.   When we're talking sleeping princesses under an ancient curse I was expecting more twists, more 'fairytale' elements and a lot more action.  Granted, it is the beginning of a series so a little room for story set up/character intro has to be given but this story just didn't grab me as much as I was hoping.

Now, because we're dealing with fairytales I know that the reader has to give the author some room when it comes to ancient curses and sleeping beauties.  That said, a fantasy/supernatural read still has to be plausible for me to jump on board.  It's a very fine balance between the 'real world' and introducing a believable magical element/world.  Some authors, like J.K. Rowling, excel at bringing magic into our world in a believable way.  This book almost got it.  Almost.

I think the thing that bothered me the most was how fast Lilia, the ancient princess, seems to jump into modern-day Los Angeles and all its colloquialisms, fashion etc.  She's been asleep for 900 years.  A LOT has changed in that time and yet she gets 90210'd much too fast to be believable (for me, anyway).  I'm such a cynic.

Now before you assume that I didn't like this book I have to say that I did enjoy it overall.  The characters were interesting and I loved how Alex transforms from a gem lovin' nerd to a much more confident, strong young woman.  There is some good foreshadowing that occurs at the end of the book which tweaked my interest in possibly reading the next book in this series.

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars