Reignited: A Companion to the Reawakened Series

Reawakened #0.5

by Colleen Houck, Kirby Heyborne (Narrator)

Before Lily and Amon met, before the cosmos were in chaos and needed three brave brothers to fight off evil, there were four siblings who helped rule the earth. Each sibling had a special gift. Osiris, the god of agriculture, helped mortals to grow and thrive in their natural environment. Isis, the goddess of creation, fostered health and wellness. Nephthys, the seer, was able to keep the balance between all living beings and the universe. But Seth, the youngest sibling, was left without any special powers. The Waters of Chaos, which granted each god's talent, were running dry, and Seth was paying the price. As time passed, however, Seth's determination and willfulness resulted in a very special gift, one that should have granted him the ability to enact wondrous change. But Seth's competitive childhood gave him a heart so cold and vacant that instead, his gift brought about great evil. Seth was now the god of unmaking, the creator of disorder and destruction. And he was ready to seek his revenge, dominating all who got in his way.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Mythology, Magic, Audiobook, Paranormal

Audio CD

First published February 21, 2017

About the author

New York Times Bestselling Author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, science fiction, and romance. Formerly a student at the University of Arizona, she worked as a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter for seventeen years before switching careers to become an author. Colleen lives in Salem, Oregon, with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers. Follow her by signing up for her e-newsletter!

Reviews

[Suzzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to get the whole start of the series (even pre book one) before starting the final book of the series. The series has been interesting, thorough it has been a busy plot with so much happening and taking on a lot of difference between book one to book two. This has left me very interested in seeing how the conclusion of the series goes and if all the loose strings are tied up.

[These Violent Delights (Robin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished this! I have picked up this novella and read the first chapter so many times, but this time I read it cover to cover.

I did enjoy this novella. This definitely isn't integral to the overall Reawakened series, so you don't have to read it.

Isis has to be my favorite of the gods, & this was hard to read because of it. There was a brief cameo (& it is VERY brief, not to mention vague) of a few characters from the novels in this series. So that was cool!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my 4th attempt to read this book and I really thought I would hate it and it was a chore to read. I'm way to OCD to DNF a book and also I have to read the novellas in order or it bugs me so badly. This one was a novella and I tried to talk myself into skipping it and couldn't do it and I'm so glad I decided to keep going. I ended up liking the book and if I would have DNF'd it I wouldn't have known how good it would end up being. I did only rate it a 3 star because it is only a novella and it wasn't like I couldn't put it down and I thought of nothing but this book. It wasn't like that at all. I did like it. I thought the story of the Gods and the different powers they all had was really interesting.


I love the love, the deceit, and the good and evil. The God of good and creation was one you really liked (Osiris) and the God of evil (Seth) was so evil he was to be feared. He was the last to get his powers and his elder God siblings (I believe they were siblings but maybe they weren't) would joke with him about him being powerless but he came into his powers and he felt bullied and kind of an outsider to all the other Gods. He turned his powers into pure evil. He could unmake things. There was a woman and he unmade her face. She turned to look at him and she had smooth skin where her face once was. She died and he was delighted and thrilled. Since she was dead she tried to unmake her foot and leg and when he was done with that spell her foot and leg was no longer there.

He used this new power to undo/unmake everything the Osiris had created. He was so jealous and hated Osiris so much. He was the "golden God" he could do no wrong and he got the girl that Seth pined after for decades.


It really did turn out to be a good book. I think my problem was is that I started it at night and I usually would fall asleep while reading it and you can't do that at the beginning of any book (unless it's a reread). I bet if I had started it during the day like I did this final time I would have totally read the whole book the first time around. Therefore it had nothing at all to do with the book and everything to do with my timing of reading it. With that being said I definitely recommend reading this book before reading book 1 of the Reawakened series.

[Laurel Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet fairytale! I'm not a big fan of the Rewakened trilogy but I love this novella. It's fun to read what the Gods and Goddesses do when in the early days, how they love humans and each other. The romance between Isis and Osiris is cute and (thankfully) not as cringy as Lily and Amon's. Reignited also provides more insights into the ending of Reunited.

Reignited can be read as a standalone novella, but I would suggest reading at least one book in the trilogy first. For readers who have read the trilogy, whether you like it or not, I would encourage to to try Reignited. You might be pleasantly surprised!

[Nikita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reignited is exciting and insightful. Before Lily and Amon even met, before the cosmos was in chaos and needed three brothers to defend it from evil, there were four siblings who helped rule over the Earth. Three of the four had a special gift; Osiris helped mortals to grow and thrive in their environment, Isis fostered health and wellness, Nephthys kept balance between the living and the universe, but Seth had none. Because of his siblings were given gifts, The Waters of Chaos was effected and Seth was paying the price. However, as time passed Seth’s determination resulted in a special gift of his own, but Seth’s competitive childhood gave him a cold heart and his gift brought great evil. He became the God of Unmaking and seeks revenge and domination of all who stand in his way. Reignited is full of desire, power, insight and choices that led so many down path that neither of them can return back from.

Overall, Reignited was insightful. It’s always interesting to see how evil came to be by the choices they makes. But it also reveals desire of Seth’s siblings and how their lives were before Seth’s rise to power. Truth I thought I was going to see a prequel of the Amon and his brothers but this was okay too to see the love story between Osiris and Isis. There were hints to Lily and the brothers and even to the final battle between Lily and Seth. I got chills of that. It was good and I really can’t wait to start reading Reunited.

[Krissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

I have not read the Reawakened series as of yet. I decided to read Reignited first as it is a prequel to the series. I do not have much prior knowledge of Egyptian mythology, so I cannot comment to the accuracy of the story. I was a bit disturbed by the incest within the story. The book discusses "forbidden love" but more so that Gods shouldn't marry each other, rather than because they were siblings. It was preferred that the Gods marry mortals. Incest aside, the plot was interesting and gives great backstory for the series villain. I am a huge fan of Colleen Houck's Tiger's Curse series, so I will read anything she writes. I look forward to the rest of the series as well as The Lantern's Ember!

[Kirstie Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite the exciting romp through some Egyptian mythology.

Being one of my favourite authors, I was so excited to pick up this novella in Houck's Reawakened series, but quickly found that I couldn't remember much from the series as it's been so long since I last touched it. My bad. I think I might've had a few more a-ha moments if I read series a little more quickly.

So my reading experience of this felt mostly detached from the main series itself but it was still super exciting! It's quite lengthy story for a novella, clocking in at nearly 200 pages but it felt like it was laying some solid groundwork down for the more intricate twists to happen in the wider story.

The first section was a tiny bit slow, but once things start spiralling downhill for all of the gods it got really exciting and was totally hectic. I love the way this followed suit with your typical mythology stories where there is so much deception between the gods going on, and they're all lying to each other.

In any case, it's an enjoyable little story and I'm excited to (re)read the rest of the series and see how it fits in.

[Completely Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review in my Merry Bookmas Week 3 Vlog
https://youtu.be/4Fl2gXGuBa8

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m glad I finally read this. Especially since I finished the trilogy last year. It definitely was nice to get where the anger came from and how the villain started his journey.

[Alec Costa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uma vez ouvi um sábio dizer que pra tudo tem uma primeira vez... Sinto muito em dizer isso, pessoal, mas concordo com essa frase, por que, dessa vez, a autora me decepcionou.

Eu sou fã incondicional da escrita dessa mulher. Amo a paixão que transborda de cada palavra, amo a forma como ela cria personagens e adapta mitologias não muito conhecidas - ou valorizadas - pra nossa realidade. Apesar de o foco de seus livros ser, no geral, o romance, ela tem uma forma muito gostosa de construir mundo e personagens.

Em O Duelos dos Imortais, Colleen Houck traz muito bem a história de Seth, o deus do Caos e da Destruição. É bacana ver como esse personagem surge e se desenvolve. Uma pena, na minha opinião, foi ter dedicado uma publicação inteira para tal. Ela poderia facilmente ter diluído essa histórias nos dois volumes principais da trilogia. A narrativa dessa novela é pesada, contando com, praticamente, 80% de massante narrativa.

Seth não é um personagem carismático ou legal de acompanhar, mas, apesar disso, você se pega curioso pra saber o desenrolar da história. Acredito que isso se deve à escrita da autora - mesmo que, como eu já disse, seja um pouco lenta nesse livro. Aqui a gente vai ter boa parte da história se passando em Heliópolis - lar dos deuses - e foi bem legal de ver isso; senti falta de descrição? Senti, mas isso é uma questão pessoal. Talvez você, caro leitor, não se preocupe tanto com isso.

Aqui a gente vai ter esse reconto da história de Seth, com grande foco em Ísis e Osíris, de uma forma bem simples. Talvez não agrade muito aos leitores viciados em mitologia egípcia (diferentemente da trilogia principal), mas é uma ótima recomendação de leitura para tardes tranquilas e chuvosas. :)

[Brittany Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting take on Egyptian mythology. I loved all the love stories in this one. I really hope it's relevant in the next novel. I actually feel like Amun RA is in love with Isis's sister (sorry can't remember her name) and I really feel like their story needs to be resolved.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tells the story of the gods featured in the Reawakened series, including Isis, Osiris, Seth, and others. We get a brief retelling of the myth in Reawakened, but this is more detailed and slightly different than the old tales led us to believe. It's heartbreaking and enlightening and by the end, you definitely get the sense that there is a long game going on that Lily and the brothers have a part in. I think this was intended to be read after book #2, Recreated, but there aren't really spoilers and it can even be read first if you like doing the chronological order.

As for level of appropriateness, no swearing, some vague mention of gods using mortals for various reasons, and romantic and abusive treatment of spouses. Okay for middle schoolers I guess, but I don't think they'd be into the rest of the series, which targets teens and above. These books are like the natural progression of reading for kids who enjoyed Percy Jackson or The Red Pyramid books, so save them for later.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was thrilled with the opportunity to read Reignited because it features Egyptian mythology, and although I did really like the mythological aspects of the story, I wasn't hooked on this short story. I didn't really connect with any of the characters, and I felt the story was incredibly slow-paced, and it never really picked up.

I did like the backstory of how the villain of the Reawakened trilogy came to be, but other than that the story isn’t exciting and I found that outside of Seth, none of the characters were interesting, and he's only interesting because you get to see him completely unravel throughout this story.

I definitely am planning on picking up the trilogy, but I'm hoping that those books are much more fast-paced, and hold my attention.

[Jessica (a GREAT read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reignited is Colleen Houck’s prequel to the Reawakened series that features a teenage girl trying to help a mummy with a curse! It’s as amazing as it sounds, but this story, isn’t their story. This is the story that happens long before Lily and Amon meet. This one is rich in Egyptian mythology, though I will admit it’s been wayyy too long since I studied that, so I can’t say how much of this story is accurate to the myths. But that’s always the fun about books, anything is possible!

What we have here is basically a story of forbidden romance. For Isis is in love with Osiris, but the gods and goddesses aren’t allowed to have romantic relationships with each other. Add to the mix that Seth, the low man on the totem pole is also in love with Isis, you have quite the pickle. Though Seth is a greedy and selfish sort, it’s clear that his love for her is really more one of possession and wanting more power. For the once powerless god finally comes into some powers, he has the ability to unmake anything. And he’s more than willing to use his newly attained powers to get everything he desires.

This was a rather lengthy novella at 200 pages, but you’ll hear no complaints from me! I decided to read this before diving back into this world with Reunited. I had the foolish hopes of reacquainting myself with characters and whatnot, but since this is a prequel that doesn’t feature our heroes, it was a misguided wish! But no matter, for it was still a fascinating read! Amon and his brothers even make a brief little cameo! Blink and you’ll miss it!

I’ve always loved what Colleen does with mythologies! I admire her for going with the less familiar ones too! Greek and Roman mythology stories would be the familiar route, and I am happy to read more about new cultures within her words. Reignited was a delightful little read that shine a little more light onto the cast of gods and goddesses who have a role in the world of Reawakened.


Overall Rating 4/5 stars

[Ember Air · Rating 1 out of 5]

Each book in this series got a little worse. This one was just plain awful. Premise: a re-telling of Egyptian myth regarding the transition of Osiris' power over the growing world to the underworld and the love story between him and Isis. The end-goal seemed to be to further tie the myth into the story line of the original three books; however, what it came off as was an un-researched retelling with modern and christian presumptions layered so thickly in the story that they drowned out anything that might have actually been good about the story. Couple that with 2D characters, slow narrating, and dreadful dialogue, and then you have this book. I love Egyptian myth re-tellings and am usually really open to seeing them in new light, and as such was excited about this book, but it fell far short. I waited a while after finishing it though, before typing up a review, so I could get some perspective, and make sure I wasn't overly harsh, so this is my opinion after a "softening" period.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected to read about the Egyptian lore based upon the relationship of Isis and Osiris but also afterwards with their son Horus and how he wandered the desert for days without his eyes, before coming back to defeat Seth. I really think it would've been wonderful to experience that, but I suppose the ending allows the reader to reminisce about the other novels, as Amon explained to Lily... And probably because it doesn't have any romance tied to it... But! I wonder whether Nephthys could have explained any predictions about Horus and Wadjet?? Or perhaps how Horus came to know about how he was supposed to become one with her? (Should read book 3 of Reawakened series first before reading spoiler!)

All-in-all though, for someone who thoroughly enjoys ancient Egyptian lore, I certainly wouldn't mind reading it again with all the series.

Thank you, Ms. Houck.

[Tegan · Rating 1 out of 5]

In one word -pointless!!!
It didnt enhance or give any new or exciting backstory that would have made my journey into the other books more enlightened. The whole short story could have been condensed into a few pages and written into the larger story if we had needed to delve this deep into the back story. It was either the author trying to capture the romance of the tiger's curse series ( which i felt she failed to do in anything that came after) or just a bunch of pointless mythology that bogged down the story.

[Joanne Pang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly I didn't know what to expect when I first decided to buy this book. I bought it since it is one of my favourite series of all times, but what it gave us was definitely unexpected. I thought that the novella would go full Seth POV, but no. Every main deity who appears in the story, Osiris, Isis, Seth, Nephthys, Amun Ra, all of them get to share a moment of speech. But because of that, and that there is no clear separation of when who is talking, it confused me at times, and took me a little time to realise who was speaking.

I love the concept put in this book, Colleen's version of how Osiris and Isis first got together, and the role the others play, and how Seth first began to discover his powers. Though basically none of these appear in original Egyptian contexts, I think what Colleen did, was made her world of Egypt and Heliopolis much more richer and a more beautifully weaved web.

Even though I went into this book with a slightly meh mood, since its not my baes of the series, Lily and Amon, but nonetheless, because of the story of love Colleen weaved for us, the ones who lay out the path of the future and the whisper of the stars, it is that where it drew my interest and end up closing the book in satisfaction.

And holy lords when the book referenced to the main series, and it turns out that Lily, who is the girl from the main Reawakened series (feel free to check out my review on them!) had her destiny and path already locked in and prepared for her.
I think my favourite character is Nephthys, her willingness to sacrifice what is needed in order to reach the final ending that will save them all. And the fact that her special power was to be able to listen to the stars?

*cough Wasret*

In the end, I was happy I read this book, because not only I got to see a new version of the love stories and deep entwined relationships and secrets in mythological Heliopolis, but I also got to see a little teaser of a prophecy (it's basically one. it's an indirect prophecy, as I would call it.) that relates back to the main plot!

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enquanto o terceiro livro da saga Deuses do Egito não vem, a Collen foi lá e fez esse livrinho extra só pra contar quem são os Deuses que infernizam a vida dos personagens dos outros dois livros.

É um livro curtinho, basicamente um conto que envolve Osíris, Íris, Néftis, Amon-rá e o vilão de todos-Seth.

Foi bom porque me fez relembrar um pouco da trama e ficar com vontade de terminar logo essa série.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating system

5- Gush/Absolutely Loved
4- Low Love/High Like
3- Like
2- Meh
1- Dislike/Hate

If it is a .5 star I round up

3 Stars

I read this before starting the Reawakened series. In the novella there are discussion questions that might spoil the series though (I don't know I didn't read them) and also a preview chapter for Reunited that would definitely contain spoilers.

[Kristen Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Companion book to Reawakened.
This is an interesting and different take on the Egyptian mythology story of Isis, Osiris, and Seth. This is a book from their perspective and gives some insight into why they hate one another and why the Sons of Egypt and the Sphinx come into play. It also gives a bit of a hint as to what may happen in the final book of the series.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love Egyptian mythology and with this story it was a new kind of version of the bonding of Isis and Osiris but it was Seth that was given a new level of being an Ass. He wanted all the power that seems to be his intent but it has been multiplied by a million and I had a bad urge to punch him in the face and I think that is exactly what the author had been intended and I love it.

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series!

Really enjoyed this series! Wish the intricacies of the lore around the gods and why and how things worked was explained in a clearer and more concise manner. It was so spread out in the series I couldn't remember from one book to the next the whys and how's some of the more nuanced could take place.

[Theresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Expanded, humanized version of the Osiris-Isis-Seth triangle legend.

As a short companion prequel to the Reawakened series it was interesting but not exciting.

Fave scene: climbing the mountain.

[Kris Holliday · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read.

Unfortunately I read Reunited first. I wish I would have read Reignited first. It would have helped me connect with Reunited at a better level. Be sure to read this one before you read Reunited. Colleen Houck is one of my favorite authors!

[Stefani Machado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ranço do Seth, aff. Acho que esperava mais do livro, talvez algo da mitologia, algo que me prendesse, mas não teve. Foi história de amor do início ao fim, o que é legal, mas não foi o que eu esperava.

[Kayla Ireland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a roller coaster of a book, I felt numerous emotions. I liked how she portrayed different gods with different personalities. I felt like I could relate to all the gods. I cannot wait to dissolve into the series. Hopefully it's as good as this one.

[Alex(Books-In-A-Storm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really neat reading this book. I loved reading on how it all started. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved getting the back story. Gives the series so much more depth!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! This was a quick listen...I enjoyed learning more about the background story of some of the gods mentioned in the regular series!