The Zeuorian Awakening

The Zeuorian Awakening
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of NetGalley!

Lexi’s no ordinary teenager. She was born with the ability to read minds and sense danger. But on her seventeenth birthday, she realized how different she was after transforming, literally that is. Now she’s developing powers stronger than a superhero. But she’s no superhero.

Far from it.

She has no control over her abilities and causes accidents every time she’s nervous or upset, which being a teenager is hard to avoid, especially when the most popular boys in school are fighting to be with her.

If that isn’t bad enough, a stranger is following her. She doesn't know who he is or what he wants, yet he knows all about her abilities and that she’s developing more. And . . . he’s her only hope of understanding why she’s changing and others are after her. What she learns will send her life into overdrive.

Okay so, this was out back in March, and before you all go crazy thinking I have the worlds biggest TBR (I mean, mine is pretty hefty but I prioritise review books) I've been having Kindle issues. My Kindle is kind of old, and for months now it's not been working, and I have no other way to read Kindle books because I kinda prefer, like actual books, you know, so I was pretty screwed. The NetGalley piled up and now it's June, and I'm about to start working my way through all of my NetGalley books from March. Some are going to be hella late, but I'll still review them anyway. Now that my Kindle is fixed and has finally decided to cooperate, I thought I'd delve in to what was next on my list. 

Just looking at the book on GoodReads it seems to get a lot of negative reviews, but I actually really enjoyed this book along with a few others. Alright, yeah, there were a few bits that were a bit like "really" but to be honest, I'm in the kind of mood were a bit of cliche and a bit of cheese is exactly what I need, and everyone has times like that so I'm not counting it as a negative. Towards the end, I will admit, it did get a bit much towards the end trying to work out who the Watcher was out of these two boys, because boy one was convinced he was this boy and I'd like to know why so hopefully we'll find out in the next book, especially as boy two is so obviously him, but there was a lot of back and forth between who it was and did get a bit repetitive at the end, but it was when the suspense was building so I was like "whatever". 

This book is all about aliens which was a nice surprise as I wasn't entirely sure what her deal was, and it's always great to read a book with a creature, shall we say, that you don't really see much. The book had a really cool, thought out mythology to go with it as well, and a great background for these people and complex politics and yeah. It was pretty damn easy to delve in to the world and the politics. But all this background on Lexi and what she is, is saved until nearer to the end and you still get a lot of information about her and her people without it being an info dump. 

I couldn't really put the book down to be honest, because once I started to read and started to connect to Lexi and got sucked in to the plot and the whole "who is the Watcher" "who's after her" "what's going to happen with her powers" and various other intrigues, I was hooked and couldn't get the pages to turn fast enough on my Kindle. I mean that literally, like, my Kindle is really slow right now because it's still being a pain in the ass even though it's fixed and so I'm clicking next and waiting and then clicking it a million times like "MOVE FASTER SHIT'S GETTING REAL" and then I have to go back because it suddenly decides to move it's ass and goes too far forward, and I have no patience when it's all tensiony and suspense and everything. 

There was so much backstory that's gradually revealed to you as you read because Lexi has some memory issues shall we say, and each time you learned a new thing, it added to the intrigue, especially if, like me, you were trying to work out who the hell the Watcher was, what the hell she is and what the hell was going on. Literally, I was totally wrong on all counts and I literally had no idea who the Watcher was, I mean, I suspected, but then I suspected everyone and his dog. If it was male it made my suspects list. So I was surprised but also like "oh yeah" at the same time. 

The main chunk of the book is all about Lexi and her powers and who's after her and her trying to come to grips with everything but there's a nice little romance plot going on. Lexi has like three guys after her, and rather than it being annoying it was actually just funny, especially with two of them being Watcher suspects it made the whole thing more interesting and more complicated. I enjoyed the romance to be honest, I felt like it wasn't the main focus, I wouldn't say it was entirely subtle, but it wasn't all up in your face every five seconds and it did keep you guessing. 

I actually really liked Lexi like I said, I found her easy to connect with and root for and sympathise for, I was entirely on her side as I was reading and I can't wait to see more of her in the next book. I liked Everett, he's an interesting character and I'm excited to see and learn more about him in the next book, and I loved the chemistry between him and Lexi. Tyler I actually liked, and I ALSO enjoyed his relationship/chemistry with Lexi....right up until he started being shady af and literally being the epitome of dodgy. I mean, I shrugged it off in the beginning because he was a great character but then he went straight to creepy town and I was like "woah okay". Having said that, I can't work out what his deal is because at the end it just made me go "hang on....why are you so convinced" but at the same time I think Everett is who he says he is so I'm just like "I KNOW SOMETHING IS GOING ON BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT" so I kinda need the next book like.....now. I mean.....it's going to be an interesting love triangle from what I can tell, I'm just hoping the next book explains why Tyler is so cray cray because I'm really hoping he's actually still a nice guy. 

Now, I'd like to make a little mention here. As I said, I scoped out some other reviews and there were plenty negative (sorry to keep mentioning it) but what really got me is the ones that are saying this is a rip off of Obsidian. Now. I LOVE Jennifer Armentrout. We all know it because I mention it every time I get to review one of her books or a book that's like hers. Have you noted how I have not yet mentioned how much I love her and how much this reminds me of her Lux books? That would be because it doesn't. It's entirely different. I mean yeah there's aliens pretending to be humans and everything but unlike in Lux Lexi knows about her powers she just doesn't know what she is. It's entirely different. 

Anyways, the plot was fairly complex, the narrative was entertaining and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Lexi because she does undergo some development over the course of the book, not much, but some, like I don't think she's going to be as gullible/easy to pull the wool over her eyes because so many people have lied she's got wise to it and everything. 

The Zeuorian Awakening (sorry, I'd have mentioned the actual title more but it's really tricky to spell because my Mac keeps changing it without me realising and then I'm like "whaaaat") is a fast paced, paranormal story that will grab you and keep you in the throes of suspense and intrigue until you finish the book. You'll actually be racing to finish it and then be totally gutted it's over because of how much you liked the world and characters and how much there still is to find out. There's a decent dose of romance, but there's also lots to that plot that isn't romance so it has something for everyone. I for one am super excited for the next books and to see what happens.