Title by Author: Awake by Jessica Grey
Series (if applicable): Fairytale Series
Publisher: Tall House
Books
Publication Date: February 2012
Page Count: e-book
Source: Amazon.com
Blurb: Alexandra
Martin didn’t believe in fairytales…
Alex has always been more interested in rocks and science than stories about princesses and magic. Now she’s far too busy with her summer internship at the Gem and Mineral Museum to think about children’s stories. Between avoiding her former best friend and high school baseball star, Luke Reed, and trying to hide her unrequited crush on her mentor at the museum, the real world is occupying all of her time.
…Until she walked into one.
It turns out fairytales aren’t all fun and games. A curse has turned her neat and orderly world upside down, and to break it, she bands together with a fellow intern and a recently awakened princess who’s been asleep for 900 years. Can this trio of unlikely heroines put an end to an ominous enchantment, discover true love, and keep an ancient and evil magic from being unleashed on modern-day Los Angeles?
Alex has always been more interested in rocks and science than stories about princesses and magic. Now she’s far too busy with her summer internship at the Gem and Mineral Museum to think about children’s stories. Between avoiding her former best friend and high school baseball star, Luke Reed, and trying to hide her unrequited crush on her mentor at the museum, the real world is occupying all of her time.
…Until she walked into one.
It turns out fairytales aren’t all fun and games. A curse has turned her neat and orderly world upside down, and to break it, she bands together with a fellow intern and a recently awakened princess who’s been asleep for 900 years. Can this trio of unlikely heroines put an end to an ominous enchantment, discover true love, and keep an ancient and evil magic from being unleashed on modern-day Los Angeles?
My Interest in
this book is: I fell in love with Jessica Grey’s ‘Attempting Elizabeth’ short story
that she had submitted for the Jane Austen
Made Me Do It project. Started following
her and found out that she had self-published a re-write of Sleeping Beauty –
and had to read it… glad I did!
My Review:
Alex Martin, having
just graduated high school, was looking forward to her summer internship at
GeMMLA, that was…until Luke Reed showed up!
Why would the high school baseball star be working at the museum? Just because their moms were friendly, Alex
did not like being around Jake, ever since Freshman year. But, Alex did have her best friend, Becca,
working with her for the summer; now she had to convince Becca that their boss,
Nick, was not a bad guy! And, no, Alex
did not have a crush on her boss.
Alex got a frantic
message from Nick in the middle of the night, so she went to GeMMLA early to
find out what was happening. Instead of
finding Nick, she finds a strange girl in Renaissance garb standing in the
middle of the store room, with no sign of Nick or Luke…. And thus the fairy
re-telling begins.
Alex doesn’t
believe in magic – she’s more of a science gal – show me the evidence. When she hears Lilia’s story, she is still
rather skeptical. But when an
unexplained storm brews over Los Angeles, Alex starts to believe. This is a very smart story; it is well-written
with language that has substance and intelligence. I also loved how skeptical Alex is until she ‘feels
the power.’ Luke is also quite
swoon-worthy in this story, a boy with heart.
Becca, the best friend, is quirky and a great companion to the story.
This story
makes you realize that there just might be magic in the world.. you just have
to tap in to it, to believe and to see it all around you. I will read anything by Jessica Grey, as she
spins tales easily, with heart, intelligence and wit. I am looking forward to ‘Atone’ – a retelling
of Beauty and the Beast (one of my personal favorites).
Favorite Quotes:
Kids were the
worst: it was as if they could smell the fear on you, like little
predators. Once they smelled it they
would move in for the kill – acting out, touching things they weren’t supposed
to.
Is it true that you have never experienced any magic at all? That is quite odd. Perhaps you just have not noticed it?
She closed
her mind to the storm, to the voices inside her own head that said she wasn’t
good enough, that she was too small, too quiet to be noticed. Finally, there it was, where she had shoved
it, all the way into the back of her mind, at the back of her heart, the piece
of herself that she knew to be the most true.
When I finished
this book, I felt: glad that I picked this one up. I
recommend it to anyone who love fairy re-tellings, intelligent and witty
characters, and a little bit of magic – and don’t forget a good love story!
Rating: 5 stars
Other books to
read by this author or theme: Cameron Dokey
has written some fabulous fary re-tellings, and I also love Shannon Hale and
Gail Carson Levine. I cannot wait for
more stories by Jessica Grey… she is definitely one to watch!
Tag: contemporary, fairy re-telling, magic, romance, Sleeping Beauty, recommend
