Because some Celtic stories won’t be contained in myth . . .
A little magic has always run in sixteen-year-old McKayla McCleery's family—at least that’s what she’s been told. McKayla’s eccentric Aunt Avril travels the world as a psychic for the FBI, and her mother can make amazing delicacies out of the most basic of ingredients. But McKayla doesn't think for a second that the magic is real—it’s just good storytelling. Besides, McKayla doesn’t need magic. She recently moved to beautiful Star Valley, Wyoming, and already she has a best friend, a solo in her upcoming ballet recital—and the gorgeous guy in her physics class keeps looking her way.
When an unexpected fascination with Irish dance leads McKayla to seek instruction from the mute, crippled janitor at her high school, she learns that her family is not the only one with unexplained abilities.
After Aunt Avril comes to Star Valley in pursuit of a supernatural killer, people begin disappearing, and the lives of those McKayla holds most dear are threatened. When the janitor reveals that an ancient curse, known as a geis, has awakened deadly powers that defy explanation, McKayla is forced to come to terms with what is real and what is fantasy.
A thrilling debut novel based in Celtic mythology, Awakening is a gripping young adult fantasy rife with magic, romance, and mystery.
MY THOUGHTS
This was an ebook freebie I downloaded quite a few years ago. This was an okay read, but I don't feel strongly about it.
McKayla is a ballet dancer and spends most of her time dancing. When her eccentric aunt, who works as a physic for the FBI, comes to town chasing after an odd pattern of murders, McKayla figures it has nothing to do with her. Instead, McKayla starts to take an interest in Irish dancing, after seeing her school janitor dance. But when a woman involved in her aunt's case starts to take a strange interest in McKayla's sister, and McKayla starts displaying physic abilities, she realizes that there is more going on.
I have a thing that I do with ebook freebies (that have been sitting on my ereader for many years) where I read the first couple chapters and decide whether to continue. This book passed this test because the first couple chapter brought up enough intriguing elements, but halfway through, the story lost its steam and I had trouble continuing. It wasn't bad, I was just disinterested.
I am going to start with positives though. What made me want to read this book was its inclusion of Celtic mythology. While it took a while for some of the more fantastical elements, they were interesting and certainly new. I also liked how the book portrayed McKayla's interest in dance. This took up a big portion of the book, but so many other books I've read don't bother showing an MC's hobbies, so I liked how this one did. I also liked the MC's abilities, though I can't go too much into detail about that because of spoilers.
What I had difficulty with this book was mainly the pacing. Most of this book felt like a contemporary book with light paranormal elements. Whenever the fantasy elements come in, it felt out of place. Mostly because it takes a long time for the Celtic mythology to really show up, not just in hints, and when it does we sometimes got info-dumping. There are also a lot of filler scenes. All of these did not make me dislike the book, but it made it difficult to continue because it made things slow.
The characters were fine. I didn't fully feel connected to them or their interactions, but McKayla is a decent MC. Like I said, I liked that the book showed her hobbies and I liked how her physic abilities were portrayed. The only character I had trouble with was her little sister, who was supposed to be eleven but talked and acted like a 6-year-old.
There is romance in this book, but it was a small part of the story. I actually thought it was kind of sweet even though it frustrated me how long it took McKayla to realize that this guy liked her.
As for the ending, a lot of the story is tied up, but it does end in a cliffhanger that is meant to tie into the next book. Since the next book never came out (it was supposed to come out in 2014), I did feel like I wasted my time when I got to the end of the book.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I am really meh about this book. I think it had some interesting ideas, but the pacing was so odd. I wish I had stronger feelings for this book, but I just don't. I highly doubt I'll remember it a few months from now and if the author ever publishes the sequel, I don't plan on reading it.
I hereby give this book
2.5 Stars
Meaning: I almost liked it, but not quite
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