Bare bones of a good story. #bookreview

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Wide Awake

Academy of the Fallen Series


Written by Daniele Lanzarotta




Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance


Book Synopsis

Kayla is a 16-year-old girl who was adopted when she was little. She lives a normal life, with great friends, loving adoptive parents, and well... a not-so-great boyfriend. But the reason why she was given up for adoption was far from any usual reason. She was meant to be kept away from the Academy and anything else related to the supernatural beings that could hurt her.

Unfortunately for Kayla, it was only a matter of time before she encountered the creatures from the Otherworld, and there is just no running away from the beings that she can now see.

In trying to protect Kayla by keeping her away from the Academy, she may have just been put in even more danger.

Alana Mander's Rating





Alana Mander's Review


Before I begin my review I think it is important to mention that this book has a 4.5 rating on Amazon and most of the reviewers on there seem to have loved it. Unfortunately, I feel like I was reading a different book.

I tried my hardest to like the main character, Kayla, but for me she came across as a spoilt rich kid. If her being a spoilt rich kid was important to the plot in some way then maybe I could understand, but it wasn’t and all it did was make her unlikable for me.

There is the bare bones of a good story idea within this book but in my opinion it read like a first draft with lots of repetitive phrases and scenes that could be cut altogether and the famous writing rule of ‘show, don’t tell’ seems to have been completely ignored. The characters were all very two-dimensional and the dialogue did not fit the age group (in my opinion), and felt very stilted. The book doesn’t really get going until near the end and then it is left on a cliffhanger for book 2. To my mind one novel has been stretched and padded in order to turn it into a trilogy.

I don’t like giving negative reviews and always try to look for the positives, but I also think it is important to be honest and this book just didn’t do it for me. Like I said earlier, other’s seem to love it, so maybe I’m missing something. I give Wide Awake 2 stars.

Review Disclaimer: Book was provided free of charge in exchange for an honest review.