Awakened (The Guardian Legacy No.1) by Ednah Walters

Title: Awakened (The Guardian Legacy No.1)
Author: Ednah Walters
Pages: 272 Pages
Published: September 2nd, 2010
Read: September 27th, 2010
Rating:

Synopsis: Most teens turn sixteen and get the license to drive, Lil Falcon gets the license to kill demons, but no one told her she is not supposed to fall in love with one.

Orphaned as a child and raised by an eccentric grandfather, Lil is concerned with surviving high school and is unaware she's a Guardian—a being with super powers charged with killing demons and protecting humanity. But when she meets Bran, a mysterious boy with amazing abilities, his psi energy unlocks her latent powers.

But Bran has a secret that can destroy their growing relationship. He's part demon. But in her heart, Lil knows Bran is not evil. So when her grandfather is kidnapped by a powerful nature-bender and Bran is the only one who knows where he's being kept, Lil convinces the other Guardians to trust him, not knowing her grandfather is just the bait. And the truth that she discovers in the demonic enclave may just destroy everything she believes in, unless she makes the right choice—love and sacrifice.(from goodreads.com)

I've actually been very excited to start this book. It's funny how on Goodreads, the book word can spread like wild fire just by adding a book to your TBR list (now I know for future use). So, you can imagine my joy when Ednah Walters sent me a copy of her debut novel.

The book is set in the Utah valley. Now, although nobody knows this about me, I have family in several parts of the valley there so I'm pretty familiar with its layout. Plus, visiting the place at least twice a year for most of my life didn't hurt (My mom is a native....what can a girl do?). So to me, it was exciting to see a story unfold in a place that sits so close to me. You should see me when I read books that have to do with Arizona... It's like I've won the lottery.

Anyway, our main character is Lil. Now, I'm not really going to give you plot details and such because the synopsis does it's own job of that. What I will tell you however is that Lil is a 16 year old who just wants to fit in. I suppose that is the story with most 16 year olds. She also happens to have some pretty sweet powers and belongs to a super secret world of Guardians here to protect us from the evil demons that want our souls.

Sweet. (*my thoughts*)

The very beginning of the book is motivationally delicious - it grabbed my attention fabulously. Immediately we (the readers) are introduced to Bran, the seriously sexy male love icon. It took me quite some time to try and figure out his character, but I still don't think I did. I would have liked to have seen some more Bran, definitely more development of his character. He didn't seem to really fit in the world that Lil had carved for herself. He was just kind of there, like he was forced into the story. I think that some of the smaller characters were a bit more developed than he was. I felt like Lil would have been better placed with Sykes rather than Bran.

Lucky for me, there were several other characters to love. I had an all out crush on one of the guy guardian trainees - Sykes. He was adorable in the I'm-hot-and-sexy-and-I-know-it-so-I'm-going-to-flirt-with-you kind of way. I really liked his sense of humor and his wit. Plus, there was Izzy who seemed like she could kick ass but was still nice and kind. Kim, the other female guardian trainee, was kinda an evil bitch mean, but I understood her. I could totally get why she was the way she was....maybe that says something about me (food for thought).

The demon part of the book was a bit tricky and I didn't quite get how the whole thing worked with them until the end. I did think the concept of how they functioned and their purpose for being in existence was pretty cool. I loved the explanation Walters gave for the nature problems on Earth and the demons hands in all that. Excellent!

Still, I do think the general storyline was fun and interesting. Plus, there were quite a few fight scenes which I adored and girl fights always add to the drama in a book.

...They were sweating, swords colliding, lifting and connecting again. Remy knocked the sword out of Sykes' hand. Sykes teleported, snatched his sword before it hit the ground then disappeared again. His laughter drew my attention upward. He was on one of the beams above the floor, grinning. Ah, so that was the purpose of those babies.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Sykes mocked Remy.

"You want to play hardball?" Remy asked, grinning back.

"Bring it on." Sykes teleported to another beam, looked down at me and winked.

I shook my head. he was such a show-off. My gaze returned to Remy.

He wrapped a hand around the blade of his sword, and the glistening steel changed its color to a dull brown. The sharp edge rounded, shimmered like a mirage and stretched until it became a long, cylindrical shaft, the end dangling to the floor. In mere seconds, he'd transformed his sword into a scythe with a long chain at its end...

Walters' debut novel of Guardians, Nephilium, demons, souls, swords and crazy teenage hormones makes for an interesting and entertaining read.

Rating:3.5/5