We Awaken by Calista Lynne - 2/5
Summary from Goodreads:
One year ago a car accident killed Victoria Dinham’s father, and now all that keeps her going is the hope of getting into the Manhattan Dance Conservatory. That is, until an ethereal girl named Ashlinn visits her in her sleep claiming to be the creator of good dreams and carrying a message from her comatose brother. They meet in Victoria’s subconscious, and over time they come to care for each other. Ashlinn is secure in her asexuality, but Victoria has never heard of it. Soon, however, she realizes she too must be asexual.
On the day of Victoria’s big dance audition, her mother is unable to drive her to town so Ashlinn must turn human to help Victoria chase her dreams. While in New York City, Victoria and Ashlinn explore their affections for each other and try to understand what it means to be asexual teenagers. Unfortunately for the couple, Ashlinn cannot stay human forever, and humanity begins to suffer from not having her around to create pleasant fantasies each night.
Review:
*** I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. ***
We Awaken follows depressed teenager, Victoria, as she navigates her senior year and deals with her depressed mother, comatose brother, and the death of her father. Victoria has begun unraveling. She’s pulled away from her mother and her friends and thrust herself into ballet as a distraction. One night, Victoria falls asleep and is visited in her dream by Ashlinn, the most beautiful girl she’s ever seen. Ashlinn claims to be delivering a message from Victoria’s comatose brother. Victoria becomes obsessed with dreaming because she always wants to be around Ashlinn. One day, after popping a few pills to put herself under, Victoria wakes to find Ashlinn has materialized in her bedroom. It all gets pretty weird from there.
My first impressions of this book were very good! I was ecstatic to have MC Victoria Dinham identify as an asexual, and I was also excited about the fact that We Awaken wasn’t completely white-washed. Hallelujah!
However, that’s about where my excitement ended. When Ashlinn materializes in Victoria’s bedroom, everything went downhill very quickly. The changing was abrupt and off-putting, and the magic just seemed bizarre and without explanation.
Additionally, although I was excited to learn that Lynne chose to write about an asexual character, I thought it was poorly done. It read a bit like a Wikipedia article about asexuality in that it was a huge info dump and Victoria was freaking out about it the entire time. When I’m reading books about LGBTQA+ characters, I don’t like focusing on their panic stories — I get that this is a part of real life, but I would really rather it wasn’t the FOCUS of the story. Am I making sense? Probably not.
There was also the element of insta-love in this story, and I really have a hard time swallowing declarations of love so early on. It’s a bit cringe-worthy. The constant pet-names were also too much. Part of the reason this issue existed was because the novel was relatively short. Perhaps if it had been longer and more drawn out, I might have been able to come to terms with the relationship.
To end on a positive, I would have to say that I do think there will be young people out there who can relate to this, whether because they’re dealing with a tough situation at home, grieving, or coming to terms with their sexuality. I think it’s written for them, and I think it will be appreciated.
