The Awakening by Stuart Meczes | Book Review
The Awakening
Author: Stuart Meczes
Pages: 381
Genre: Urban Fantasy | YA | Romance | Supernatural
Publication Date: February 1st, 2012
Buy the Book: Amazon
Hi everyone! Today I have a book review for The Awakening, the first book in the Hasea Chronicles by Stuart Meczes. I loved this book more and more after every page and I can’t wait to crack on with the rest of the series! Just read on to see all of my thoughts on this action-packed, supernatural urban fantasy!
Synopsis
Alexander Eden is one unhappy teenager. A geeky, social pariah, he’s the victim of constant bullying at school. His home life isn’t much better with a stepfather who resents him and a half brother who is better than him at everything.
But that all changes the day the mysterious and beautiful Gabriella De Luca walks into his life. Everyone wants to know her, to be with her. But she is interested in Alex. Because Alex is different.
Soon afterwards he is thrown into a world he never thought possible. A world where he and others like him are the last line of defence. A world where an ancient unspeakable evil lurks.
Evil which seeks to consume him.
My Review
The Awakening is the first book in the Hasea Chronicles series and it is the perfect setup for this fast-paced, action-packed fantasy series. There is so much of this book that I enjoyed like the diverse mix of characters, the intense fighting, surprising twists and the adorable romance that just fills the void in my heart. I was entirely surprised by how many emotions I went through reading this. I ended up getting so attached to the characters and love the bond all of the Orion have.
We start off by following Alexander, just a normal teenager through his tough time at school. He is faced with horrible bullies on a daily basis and doesn’t have many friends to turn to. So let’s just say he isn’t having a very nice time. This all changes when the gorgeous new girl, Gabriella takes a keen interest in him and he soon starts to realise his life is going to be anything but normal from now on. It was a bit slow to start with for me but it really does pick up the pace as you get to find out more about this dangerous, dark new world.
I really love how we got a couple of different background stories of some of the characters we meet along the way. This really stood out to me as it added a whole new level to the characters and the story.
The world building in this book is fantastic and completely immersive. I love being able to picture things from the overall world down to the little details like the clothes and characters actions. The author paints such a vivid paranormal world and I couldn’t get enough of it. It is also jam packed full of action which is extremely exciting and great to visualise with all the different powers the characters have as well as the mix of paranormal beings as well.
Overall, The Awakening is such an adrenaline-fueled, urban fantasy full of excellent characters, a gripping plot that sucks you into the story! I went through a whole series of emotions reading this book and I am so excited to delve into the next book to see what happens because I am reeling after the ending! I can’t recommend this enough to anyone who loves YA fantasy.
A big thank you to Stuart Meczes for sending me an e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!
About the Author
Stuart was born in the smoky outskirts of London. After years spent running the rat race, in 2008 he knew it was time to start working on the novel he’d been threatening to write since he was 16. several scrapped storylines, and one English and Creative Writing degree from the University of Birmingham later, The Awakening landed.
Stuart was more shocked than anyone when the novel became a sleeper hit and set him on an entirely different and far more exciting path through life than he ever expected.
Cut to 2018. six novels, a novella and several short stories down, Stuart spends most of his time in his home in Worcester, continuing to pen the bestselling Hasea Chronicles series, as well as new science fiction/fantasy stories, all whilst avoiding the addictive siren call of daytime television.
In addition to the ongoing Hasea Chronicles, Stuart has written the golden Wing – the first book in the children’s fantasy series, Tommy and the Simbots, and is also hard at work on London Burning, the first novel in the dystopian series, The Grit Saga.
Buy the Book: Amazon
