Title: Air Awakens (Air Awakens #1)
Author: Elise Kova
Genre: Young Adult | Magic | Fantasy | Romance
Publisher: Silver Wing Press
Publication Date: August 27, 2015
Format: Physical
Source: Library
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 (goodreads).
Eek, I'm the odd man out with this book. I struggled with gathering my feelings to describe what rubbed me the wrong way about Air Awakens. So here is it...
A LIST.
Aldrik. From the start, we are introduced to the two princes that couldn't be more alike. One is the known as the Heartbreaker Prince while the other is a snob and looks down on the common people. Guess which one Aldrik is. If you guessed brooding dick prince, you guessed correctly. Within the first 50 or so pages, Aldrik puts Vhalla's life in danger to prove a point and then gives a pretty weak excuse about how no one understands him and that he never means anyone harm. From there I knew I hated him. And for Vhalla to forgive him that easily drove me absolutely nuts.
Infodumps. Air Awakens takes place in an expansive world with different races (I think, I'm REALLY unclear as to the different people present in this novel), political strife, and religious beliefs. Unfortunately all that information is handed to the reader at the beginning of the novel and it's pretty dry - most of the history is explored by Vhalla delving deeper into the history books. No thank you.
Tropes.
-Average girl who finds out that she has a special power that many people want to harvest.
-Childhood friend who is in love with our MC and is tragically friend zoned.
- Two princes who give all their attention to a lowly common girl and she has no idea what they see in her.
- Makeover a la The Princess Diaries.
Characters. Along with being tropes, I found all of the characters to be dull and easily forgettable. Vhalla is oblivious to everything around her and I couldn't make sense of any of her decisions. She claimed that she wasn't a mean and spiteful person, but then decides to write a very strongly worried letter to someone she had never met. I was originally interested in learning more about the Heartbreaker prince, but his instant interest in Vhalla was a turn-off. No one had any unique qualities or anything to make me believe that they existed outside of Vhalla's needs.
Writing. With every fiber in my being, I wish Air Awakens had gone through another round of beta readers. The language was stilted and I found a lot of the phrasing to be awkward. Besides the potentially abusive relationship, the language stopped me from enjoying this novel from the get-go.
Short N Sweet: Air Awakens has readers raving about it on GoodReads, but it didn't work for me. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go watch Avatar: The Last Airbender and forget any of this happened.
Labels: 1 star, air awakens, book review, elise kova, review, silver wing press
Infodumps. Air Awakens takes place in an expansive world with different races (I think, I'm REALLY unclear as to the different people present in this novel), political strife, and religious beliefs. Unfortunately all that information is handed to the reader at the beginning of the novel and it's pretty dry - most of the history is explored by Vhalla delving deeper into the history books. No thank you. 
