Customer Reviews

Awakening

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If you love demons, vampires, werewolves, and other beings of mythology and lore you'll really love this book! It makes many mentions of Japanese mythology, but everything is well defined so even those (like myself) who don't know a single thing about it, can follow it easily. I love it, it's filled with action and the even a little romance, with the young defiant heroine. I couldn't put it down and I'm just dying for more!
The back story was thrown in during the novel, so it is a bit confusing at first, but besides that I can't think of any complaints. Awakening makes several mentions of different universes, and each time you can't help, but wonder what they look like and who or what is in them. And of course there is Shin with his sweet looks and rebellious attitude. The fact that he is a demon adds that much more! Emilia is a fantastic character. Modest, and kind as well as stubborn and bold. She is without a doubt my favorite character!

Awakening by author K. Lippi dives into a world full of demons, werewolves, hybrids, and all sorts of supernatural creatures. Fifteen year-old Emilia (Mia) Miani always thought that such beings existed only on the TV screen and amidst the pages of her books. But while visiting her father in Japan, Mia meets Shin, a demon acting as her personal guardian to protect her from her destiny, one Mia didn't even know she had. Throughout the book, Mia, along with Shin and other newfound friends, attempts to thwart the schemes of the villain, Markus, who is creating monsters and stealing the souls of innocent children. Along the way, Mia discovers secrets about her past that will play a very important role in her future. That is, if she lives to see it.

I started this book with high expectations. It had received rather good reviews on several websites that I looked at. However, I had a lot of trouble getting in to it . For me, the first half of the book presented flat characters, questionable editing (I found quite a bit of grammatical errors), and a bland writing style. I believe that most of this was caused by the author's attempt to force all of the necessary background information into only a few chapters in the book.

I do have to say that the book improved a bit when I hit the halfway point. There was a bit more effort put into the characterization, the plotline took some interesting twists, and the writing seemed to improve. The book also had a cliffhanger ending (obviously there's a sequel planned), which I enjoyed. If the sequel would fall into my hands for free or for a fairly cheap price, I would probably read it to see if it continued to improve.

I think my biggest problem with this book was that, to me, the entire storyline seemed rushed. The author did have a creative idea, but I think if the book were drawn out a bit more it would have been much more enjoyable. Also (as I mentioned earlier), I found quite a bit of spelling and grammatical errors in the book, which interrupted the flow of the story. The author does have talent in the way of ideas, but has some room for improvement in regards to writing style.

Awakening falls into the young adult fantasy category which has been on the forefront of teen pop culture since the emergence of the Twilight series. While I found it lacking in depth and development in several areas, it is most likely to please those readers looking for another fantasy romance.

Emilia Miani, otherwise known as Mia to those who love her, is a fifteen-year-old girl from San Diego whose life had been relatively normal up until now. Relatively, meaning living with her grandmothers because her mother died when she was six and her father was in the military and stationed around the world.

But when she was fifteen, her world started to change. She meets Shin Kurosaki, a Japanese demon who is assigned to be her guardian angel. But that is just the beginning of the family secrets that she learns. She learns that her grandfather was a death angel and that her blood is divine and kills anything that it comes into contact with. And on her prom night during the spring when she is sixteen, her life will change forever.

Let me start off by saying that this book was somewhat difficult to read, due to the lack of good editing. That being said, though, the premise of the story was good. There was a lot going on and sometimes I forgot what happened and what meant what, but I think the idea was good.

I liked the relationship between Shin and Emilia. Even though I thought Shin was too overprotective at times, I did like how they played off of each other.

AWAKENING ended on a cliffhanger, and there will definitely be a sequel because it says "To be continued" at the end.

Reviewed by: Andrea

Emilia Miani, otherwise known as Mia, to those who love her, is a fifteen year old girl from San Diego whose life had been relatively normal up until now. Relatively, meaning living with her grandmothers because her mother who died when she was six and her father was in the military and stationed around the world. But when she was fifteen, her world started to change. She meets Shin Kurosaki, a Japanese demon who is assigned to be her guardian angel. But that is just the beginning of the family secrets that she learns. She learns that her grandfather was a death angel and that her blood is divine and kills anything that it comes into contact with. And on her prom night during the spring when she is sixteen, her life will change forever.

Let me start off by saying that this book was somewhat difficult to read. There were so many grammatical and spelling errors that I often had to re-read sentences to get them to make sense. The words also didn't flow very well. It was sometimes like the book had been written in another language and then translated into English but I couldn't find anywhere that said that this was the case, so I'm assuming it was just a bad edit job.

That being said, the premise of the story was good. There was a lot going on and sometimes I forgot what happened and what meant what, but I think the idea was good. I liked the relationship between Shin and Emilia. Even though I thought Shin was too overprotective at times, I did like how they played off of each other.

Awakening ended on a cliff hanger and there will be a sequel because it says "To be continued" at the end.

Awakening
BY: K. Lippi
PUBLISHED BY: Mirror Publishing
PUBLISHED IN: 2009
ISBN: 978-1-936046-14-0
Pages: 231
Ages: Teen & Up
Reviewed by Billy Burgess


Author K. Lippi brings us the epic tale of Awakening, a world where vampires, demons, werewolves and other supernatural creatures exist. A California girl named Emilia Miani just returned from visiting her father in Japan. Her life is turned upside down when she meets the mysterious stranger, Shin Kurosaki. He is her guardian angel, a Japanese demon assigned to her by one of her ancestors over 500 years ago.

She learns that she has mystical powers of her own, and also a dark destiny. Her grandfather was a death angel just like her. He was hired by God. Emilia is his only heir. She is forced to follow in her grandfather's footsteps.

A fallen death angel, Markus is stealing the souls of innocent children. He is set on becoming a new god. Emilia and Shin try to destroy his evil plans, while she starts to have feeling for her guardian.

This book is cleverly written at times. The characters are deeply explored, and I felt everything the main character goes through. The backstory was a bit too much. It could have been saved for the sequel. Yes, there will be sequel because of the `to be continued' at the ending. A little cliché if you ask me. Overall it was a fun read. If you love reading supernatural, good vs. evil tales, then you'll love Awakening.

Fifteen year old Emilia (Mia) Miani had finally seen the boy of her dreams (Shin Kurosaki), now with his help she is learning about herself and her ancestors. Believing in the existence of God, Lucifer, angels, vampires, witches and demons was difficult enough, but meeting them, talking to them, dating one of them, or finding out she is something just as different as them is all together another matter. Learning that a death angel has been trying to kill her and that Shin has been her guardian angel by his choice, puts a whole new spin on her growing relationship with him. Accepting her part in keeping the balance of good and evil so that the `humans' are not aware of the supernatural world or get destroyed by it, Mia learns of her own special abilities including what her blood will do to her in the near future.

Awakening has wonderful characters, their interaction is at times comical with all their teasing of each other, while still showing the serious nature of each relationship, makes for some laugh out loud moments. The story of Mia's ancestors is woven in as memories of the immortal Shin, with some Japanese mythology to explain what he is, but this part felt rushed. The back story is good, but I wanted more information, an in depth explanation of how and why things were turning out the way they were. A few minor grammatical `speed bumps' along the way slowed the flow of the story, making it necessary to re-read some of the sentences to follow the meaning. Interesting way of ending the book ('....Welcome to your new life` - To be continued), I will be watching for a second book, it would be a shame to waste such a dramatic cliff hanger. This book is considered for young adults, the couple of fight scenes are slightly graphic (PG-13 stuff) and the romance between Mia and Shin is tame (even though he is older - by about thousand years), it is a quick and easy read, a decent introduction into the genre of supernatural or paranormal romance for young adults.