What do you think?
Rate this book
Awakenings
“Awakenings” is the first of six science fiction/ fantasy novels in the “Grave Misgivings” series. Hope Is A Waking Dream-Aristotle. In a world too busy for imagination to thrive, Julie Mahoney walks briskly in blissful ignorance. She leads what could be described as a perfect life until the day she accidentally kills a pedestrian in a tragic hit run accident. Little does she know that this freak incident will be the catalyst which leads her to discover a whole new reality. She stumbles onward, down an uncertain road as her life becomes dominated by ghosts, bizarre visions and endless unanswered questions. She soon discovers that there is a darker truth within her 'waking dreams' that has been hidden to her blinkered eyes. Unwittingly she is led into a world of danger, confusion and mistrust; a world in which everyone (including herself) begins to question her sanity. As she valiantly tries pull her shattered life together and work it all out, she encounters many dubious characters whose intentions are unclear, though highly questionable. If she is to survive in this brave new world, she must open her heart and mind as she wakes to what her future is destined to be.
- GenresParanormal
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 2014
3 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 8, 2015
I was asked by the author to write and honest review of this book, well that's easy - all my reviews are honest and hopefully fair.
Awakenings is an interesting book that probably could be best described as a paranormal mystery. It works around two time lines involving two women having visions of the future - one in the time of the Salem witch trials and one in present day Melbourne, Australia. The two time lines are integrated smoothly into the plot. The Salem sections are written in the third person, past tense and the present day sections are written in the first person, present tense which actually makes the transitions between timelines very easy to read. These women must not only learn to cope with the burden of their visions and the complications they cause in their lives, but unravel / decipher the meanings of them as well. The novel's end ups the ante and does leave you wondering "what next?"
Sundstrom writes eloquently and my only gripe is that I was always very aware that I was being "told" a story rather than feeling immersed in the tale. However, despite this I did find myself wanting to read more and actually actively disliking a couple of characters, whom I would dearly loved to have seen die a horrible drawn out death due to their actions in the book. That, to me, is an indication that he has written them well!
My overall rating is 3.5 stars. If you like your paranormal fiction and a bit of mystery, then it's definitely worth a read.
Awakenings is an interesting book that probably could be best described as a paranormal mystery. It works around two time lines involving two women having visions of the future - one in the time of the Salem witch trials and one in present day Melbourne, Australia. The two time lines are integrated smoothly into the plot. The Salem sections are written in the third person, past tense and the present day sections are written in the first person, present tense which actually makes the transitions between timelines very easy to read. These women must not only learn to cope with the burden of their visions and the complications they cause in their lives, but unravel / decipher the meanings of them as well. The novel's end ups the ante and does leave you wondering "what next?"
Sundstrom writes eloquently and my only gripe is that I was always very aware that I was being "told" a story rather than feeling immersed in the tale. However, despite this I did find myself wanting to read more and actually actively disliking a couple of characters, whom I would dearly loved to have seen die a horrible drawn out death due to their actions in the book. That, to me, is an indication that he has written them well!
My overall rating is 3.5 stars. If you like your paranormal fiction and a bit of mystery, then it's definitely worth a read.
November 9, 2014
I was thoroughly captivated and entranced by this well-written book which transports the reader into other dimensions, and very convincingly at that. In this first book of a series of six, characters and events are introduced bit by bit, whetting the reader’s appetite for explanations and more intriguing events. There are two main characters in “Awakenings”; Julie Mahoney, who lives in present-day Melbourne, Australia, and Mary of 17th century America. Their lives take a parallel course as they discover what their nightmares and waking dreams really mean, namely glimpses of possible future scenarios. But much more fascinating is that these premonitions can be changed, and therefore there is hope that even the most tragic vision can be averted or changed, hence the re-occurring motto, “Hope is a Waking Dream”.
C. Sundstrom does an excellent job of describing events, people and their feelings, especially when visions begin to cause turmoil in the lives of those ones chosen to have this gift – or curse, whichever way you look at it. A complicated story is made easy to read, with alternate chapters following each main character’s struggle. At the end of this book, the reader is satisfied with the outcome so far, but is longing for more revelations. The first few pages of Book 2 is at the end of this book, introducing another modern-day character plagued by waking dreams, and if Book 1 isn’t enough to get you hooked already, then the introduction to Book 2 surely will! Great entertainment, fascinating subject well written, and I can’t wait for the rest of the series to be released!
C. Sundstrom does an excellent job of describing events, people and their feelings, especially when visions begin to cause turmoil in the lives of those ones chosen to have this gift – or curse, whichever way you look at it. A complicated story is made easy to read, with alternate chapters following each main character’s struggle. At the end of this book, the reader is satisfied with the outcome so far, but is longing for more revelations. The first few pages of Book 2 is at the end of this book, introducing another modern-day character plagued by waking dreams, and if Book 1 isn’t enough to get you hooked already, then the introduction to Book 2 surely will! Great entertainment, fascinating subject well written, and I can’t wait for the rest of the series to be released!
February 27, 2015
Great read, a real page turner with two stories in one. Can't wait for the next book in the series.
June 19, 2018
Welcome back, this week I can’t promise as good a review as I have given in the past. However I want to make it clear that I believe the things I’m not a fan of in this book are things that I don’t believe would worry a teenager or young adult as they don’t have the same life experiences I have had.
So I met the author at the Clunes Booktown Festival a few weeks ago and he told me a little bit about this story. What he told me is that this book follows 2 women in two different times in history; one in the Salem Witch Trials and another in modern day Melbourne. The thing they have in common is that they can both see the future. This bugged me for the rest of the day until I went back and bought a copy of the book.
After reading it I’m a little disappointed. The book only has one out of every 4 chapters (roughly) where we follow Mary during the Salem Witch Trials. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but if I’m told a book follows two people I expect it to be closer to a 50:50 split in terms of page time for each character. To start off with I thought we’d be spending time following both of them and I was looking forward to discovering how they are connected, other than the fact that they both see the future. And I was left hanging. So unless this is explained in the second book don’t expect any answers on this front.
As I began the book I noticed that the style of writing was quite simplistic and not as mature as most of the books I read these days. I’m gona take a guess and say I didn’t really like this because I’m maturing and growing up. And therefore my tastes in how my books are written have matured and grown as I have. Because of this I just couldn’t fall in love with this book as much as I wanted to. And I gota say I really wanted to, coz this idea is amazing!
The other thing that really started to irk me towards the end of the book was how the author judged those that aren’t fortunate enough to have clean, safe and stable jobs. I’m sure most people don’t think well of drug users and prostitutes. However that doesn’t mean that they deserve our judgement, derision or appalling treatment just because they don’t work a nice clean “respectable” job that actively contributes to society in a positive way. The work I do is often seen in a negative light by many people even though how we do it is completely different to most companies. We have changed how we operate by doing a lot of training and work to listen to our customer’s and understand their situations better. Because of this I can’t enjoy reading about someone actively passing judgement on someone else without understanding how or why they are in the situation they are in.
So although there were aspects of this story and how it’s written that I don’t like. The story itself is great, and I can see the development of the character happening. I feel like if I pushed ahead and read the second book I wouldn’t be quite as disappointed. But if you go into the book expecting a level of writing aimed more at a teenager or young adult I don’t think you will have any issues with this book.
https://proudbookreviews.com/2018/06/...
So I met the author at the Clunes Booktown Festival a few weeks ago and he told me a little bit about this story. What he told me is that this book follows 2 women in two different times in history; one in the Salem Witch Trials and another in modern day Melbourne. The thing they have in common is that they can both see the future. This bugged me for the rest of the day until I went back and bought a copy of the book.
After reading it I’m a little disappointed. The book only has one out of every 4 chapters (roughly) where we follow Mary during the Salem Witch Trials. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but if I’m told a book follows two people I expect it to be closer to a 50:50 split in terms of page time for each character. To start off with I thought we’d be spending time following both of them and I was looking forward to discovering how they are connected, other than the fact that they both see the future. And I was left hanging. So unless this is explained in the second book don’t expect any answers on this front.
As I began the book I noticed that the style of writing was quite simplistic and not as mature as most of the books I read these days. I’m gona take a guess and say I didn’t really like this because I’m maturing and growing up. And therefore my tastes in how my books are written have matured and grown as I have. Because of this I just couldn’t fall in love with this book as much as I wanted to. And I gota say I really wanted to, coz this idea is amazing!
The other thing that really started to irk me towards the end of the book was how the author judged those that aren’t fortunate enough to have clean, safe and stable jobs. I’m sure most people don’t think well of drug users and prostitutes. However that doesn’t mean that they deserve our judgement, derision or appalling treatment just because they don’t work a nice clean “respectable” job that actively contributes to society in a positive way. The work I do is often seen in a negative light by many people even though how we do it is completely different to most companies. We have changed how we operate by doing a lot of training and work to listen to our customer’s and understand their situations better. Because of this I can’t enjoy reading about someone actively passing judgement on someone else without understanding how or why they are in the situation they are in.
So although there were aspects of this story and how it’s written that I don’t like. The story itself is great, and I can see the development of the character happening. I feel like if I pushed ahead and read the second book I wouldn’t be quite as disappointed. But if you go into the book expecting a level of writing aimed more at a teenager or young adult I don’t think you will have any issues with this book.
https://proudbookreviews.com/2018/06/...
August 26, 2017
Excellent premise here, but a bit confusing. I understood the back and forth between past and present, but thought the monster inserts were a bit too much – the latter didn’t drive the story forward, serving rather to break into the tale. The point of these inserts isn’t adequately explained either, so there was no ‘aah!’ moment for me. However, ignoring those, the story is interesting indeed. Quite the psychological twister.
February 15, 2017
Not my cup of tea. Full review over here: https://rickusbookshelf.wordpress.com...
June 9, 2015
Did not like this book. Full review over here: https://bookishwives.wordpress.com/20...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews