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Awakening by Natalie King



Reviewed by Nas


AWAKENING by author Natalie King is a Young Adult (YA) released in March 2014 by Penguin NZ.

Zelie Taylor is not sure she is not hallucinating when she starts hearing voices in her head. But the voice is insistent that he can see through her eyes. Who is he? And what is his connection to the sick girl, Kate? Ah…it all started when Kate insisted that she take a necklace from the lake. But the pendant of the necklace was so cold, how can it be heating now while she was wearing it? And where was the clasp gone? Zelie remembered using the clasp to put it on.


Tamas’s soul had been captured in that pendant since long now. Was he ready to come out? What powers does he have? Would something drastic happen if he comes out now?

AWAKENING is a thrilling and engrossing story. I was hooked in as a reader with the mystery and couldn’t wait to get to the end to find out what happens. I do wish we would get to visit Zelie and Tamas again. There was budding romance between them. The air crackled with their chemistry, so  a series would be fantastic. Author Natalie King brought this tale to life with her realistic depiction of the atmospheric details. I was there all the way with Zelie on her journey. She lost her mum and was grieving. Then she had tension with her dad. She tries to be always there for her younger brother all the while dealing with her own problems. Problem with a certain male living in her mind, talking to her and seeing her through her own eyes! And after the first and only kiss, ‘It wasn’t blood but bliss that cursed through her body.’


Highly recommended read for all readers.


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Reviewed by Desere

Imagine slipping on a necklace with a cold as ice pendant, then not being able to get the thing off, and then suddenly you start to hear a male voice, telling you he can see, hear, taste and feel everything you do and think.

As scary as that sounds, it is the life of Zellie and the adventure of a lifetime she finds herself on when Tamas takes up residence inside her body.

Now of course she like any other normal person would goes a little on the 'this is nuts' bend., but soon she discovers more about Tamas and why he is trapped in a world like no other.

Only the more she learns about him and why she has been chosen to be the one to free him, the more she does not want to let him go.
And when the town's people start showing their true identities the plot only gets thicker. Zellie and Tamas find themselves in a race against time to free their souls, past and present.

I absolutely LOVED this story, the author intertwined the read with intrigue turning to mystery, mystery to magic and magic to romance and back again to intrigue. All the various layers had me completely spellbound, I could not put the read down for even a second, I found myself racing through the pages to learn more, feel more and in all honestly I was very sad when the read ended, I wanted it to go on and on.

I was mesmerized by each and every character, and the author did a super job at keeping me on the edge of my seat with letting the characters never really truly reveal their true intentions until the very end, truly gripping stuff.

The world created by the author was so magical it was as if various fairy tales were mixed in with the world of magic and it created this absolutely amazing, enchanted world so exceptionally depicted it could be seen as  real in my minds-eye.

I could feel every emotion the characters felt, the sadness Zellie and Tamas have to deal with brought me to tears, I felt the anger running through my veins each time Tamas sees his captor, and yes even the strength being drained from their bodies had me feeling so very weak.  Outstanding job Natalie!

The read's focus is of course mainly on the road to freedom that Zellie and Tamas find themselves on but there was also the truly stunning young love building, it was so sweet and so gentle it brought a smile to my face each time the romance made an appearance.

If there is only one YA book you read this year, this is the one you simply cannot pass by. It was magical, romantic, heartfelt, spell-bounding, mesmerizing and just brought together with such intensity it will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Natalie I look forward to the next one please, please listen to a readers plea and write it as soon as you can!

I highly recommend this read for all fans of reading, even if you are not into YA reads, this is the one that will set you on the path to searching for more.  Natalie King and her writing is a true gem to the writing world !

She created a completely different world where anything is possible, romance entwines with magic and secrets are revealed and a mystery as old as black magic will send you on the path of begging for more.

5/5 star review
" Within the lake lies the truth"