A review by obstinateheadstrongcurl
The Awakening by Nora Roberts
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
- This book was terrible. It was somewhere between a cosy fantasy and a romantasy, and it did neither well. The cosy bits dragged and the spice felt jarring in what otherwise felt like a book for old biddies. Breen was the kind of Chosen One who is good at everything, which is such lazy writing to me. No character was fleshed out beyond the most basic stereotype, from the gay best friend to the magical Irish. I don’t think there’s any way this story could have been saved. Nora Roberts should have taken a note from Breen and kept this one in her ‘don’t show to others’ journal.
Spoiler
Her rapid publishing deal was laughable, as was the idea that her mother wanted her to have a ‘reliable career’ so she forced her to get a Masters in education to teach middle school English. (Side note, why did Breen love children and writing middle grade stories but LOATHE teaching middle school English? That’s a career which lines up pretty perfectly with her interests. Obviously not as good as being on holiday for months at a time, but hardly worth the level of hatred this book gives it.)