INTRODUCTION/ABOUT

At the time of publishing for this review, I have already finished the sequel to this book. However, the review for this book was as good as finished before I started reading the sequel. Most of the work done once I started reading the sequel was fine-polishing this review.

Genre: Young Adult, Epic Fantasy, Romance, Sword & Sorcery, Coming of Age

​

BLURB

A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond…

The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.

Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all–the Crown Prince Aldrik–she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.

(Blurb taken from the author’s website)

​

REVIEW

Right of the bat, we get to know that the book is going to be a fast-paced one when Vhalla and the others in the Imperial Library is tasked with finding information useful for saving the life of one member of the royal family. And for most of the book, it remains that fast-paced all the way until end. I don't remember reading a novel as fast-paced as this one before, so it was very much a new experience for me.

Despite the fast pace, I’d say that the author does a good job with the prose. It is written in third person with Vhalla as the sole POV-character. It is easy to follow her thoughts and actions of everything that is happening around her despite the fast pace. The only part of the prose I feel could be improved upon is the transition between paragraphs when the story either changes place or makes a relatively significant jump in time. This is not a deal-breaker by any means, it is just something that I hope the author works on improving in the future.

One thing I really liked about the world building in the book was the constant sense of a societal, hierarchic structure. At the start of the book, Vhalla is just an apprentice in the Imperial Library. And while the kingdom is at war, it is all very distant to her as she is just a person in the lower tiers of society that isn't affected of it directly. Even in the later parts of the book >!when she begins to move around both other sorcerers and the royal family!<, the sense of societal, hierarchic structure still remains very strong.

I also liked the characters in this book. It is hard to talk about this in more detail without spoiling everything, but I thought the author did a good job with the characters. The characters felt three-dimensional with their own strengths and flaws.

Some people that have read the book might not agree with me here, but I actually like that >!Vhalla is REALLY doubting whether or not she actually a sorcerer (especially a Windwalker). I used to have lots of self-esteem problems as a teenager. And reading about a protagonist with self-esteem problems was such a welcomed contrast to just about every book I read as a teen. Plus, since everything is so new to her, I think it makes sense that she doesn't immediately understands or accept everything!<. As a positive side effect of this, >!I ended up liking not only Vhalla, but also Aldrik and Larel a lot more!<

One thing about characters that I wish we could explore a bit more is relationships between some primary characters and secondary characters. One relationship I wish was explored more is >!Vhalla’s relationship with her father; since the reason Vhalla even works in the Imperial Library in the first place is because her father gave up on a promotion in exchange for his daughter’s apprenticeship!<. However this is only the first book in the series, and I hope this will be explored more in the coming books.

And then there was one moment in the book that made me go “Wow! You just summarized EXACTLY how I feel about what I am working with in my daily life [Software engineer for machinery]“. And it is the reason why I decided to write a review about the Air Awakens.

!When Aldrik is leading Vhalla towards the spire where he pushes her of a landing in order to test whether or not she actually possesses Air magic, he says the following: “What is wrong is that you cannot learn how to really do things from books.” [...] “They are starting points for principle, theory, and concept. Your mind understands, but your body does not know until you perform the act yourself. Without action and practice, your hands will not oblige. Experience is a far greater teacher.”!<

CONCLUSION

If you want a fast-paced coming of age story, you should give Air Awakens a chance. It was hard for me to put down the books once I started. And I am usually a person that prefers to take a break after a couple of chapters.

Rating: 4,5/5

Recommended to people that like: Fast-paced books, coming of age stories, books with cliffhangers, single POV-stories.

Not recommended to people that like: Slow-paced books