The Awakening: The Awakening, Book 1

Tara's life is changed forever the day she finds out she is pregnant. It's an impossibility because Tara is a virgin! She has never had sex, not even with her fiance, so how can she be pregnant? That's something she has to find out, but with her parents thinking she is loosing it, her fiance breaking it off because he thinks she cheated on him, strangers trying to kill her and everyone calling her a liar, it's harder than you think to get answers. That is until Cyril comes into her life. He has a crazy theory that she is either carrying the next Messiah or the next anti-Christ. From then on Tara's life is one fraught with danger, deception, betrayal and heartache. She needs to find answers before it's too late.

There is a lot to like about this book. It's fast paced, intense and an engaging read, but one thing that brought it from a 4 star down to a 3 star, for me anyway, was Cyril. I really enjoyed the way the story was going for the 2 of them until Cyril takes an about face and completely changes his personality in one night!! It was unreal and in my opinion, unnecessary. They were so good together and for him to treat Tara like that was horrible, and really soured my taste of him. I think I know why the author did what she did, but I still didn't like it!!

Anyway, with that being said, I still enjoyed this. It had a Da Vinci Code feel to it, in that it had so many conspiracies and beliefs in it. It's chock full of intrigue, mystery, suspense and twists. You can tell that the author did a lot of research and put a lot of effort into the idea of the book, because it shows. It's a well thought out and executed plot and will keep you turning the pages.

The characters aswell were well written. Poor Tara has so much to deal with, yet she stays true to herself and is firm about her virginity, despite so many people telling her differently. They tell her that it's impossible and she must of had sex, but she knows the truth and is adamant. I liked her strength of character, though thought she was a little naive at times, especially when it came to trusting.

In all this was a really good listen and I can't wait to see what happens next. The ending felt a little rushed and leaves us with a lot if unanswered questions but since book 2 is out already, I'm ok with that!! Lol.

Jewel Greenberg did a good job with the narration. She did great with Tara but didn't have enough of a different tone with some of the other characters. I also wanted her to be a little more intense with some scenes. It felt like she read the story great but didn't give much of a performance. She needed to give a little more.

*I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

BOOK REVIEW.....
A good story. I liked this book. I think the author did a good job developing the characters and creating an interesting story

AUDIO REVIEW......
I found the narrator to be very good at reading the book as well as giving the characters life and voice.

L. .

I had no idea what was coming... Every new chapter saw the story grow in ways that I didn't expect.

All of them.

The characterisation she presents creates the scenarios.

This was an interesting book intertwining thoughts about women, religion, and psychology around the premise of immaculate conception. I would rank this as a thriller and found that it did keep me interested. It didn't preach any of its own beliefs but did present an interesting scenario which wasn't predictable at all. Definitely worth checking out.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

THE AWAKENING is a thriller with a huge concept. It turns on the concept of whether a virgin birth will herald in a new dawn for humankind or Armageddon. The plotting is fast-paced, with edge-of-your seat scenes and unsuspected twists and turns that are the hallmarks of well-done thrillers.. It is a provocative and literate thriller that will give you hours of reading pleasure and make you think.

started slow and I almost gave up, but will try next book. Really 31 1/2 stars

Yet another YA/NA book with a female main character who makes poor choices. I spent a good part of the book wondering at Tara's lack of common sense. With that said if you don't take the book too seriously it's enjoyable enough, and I was surprised by the ending.

If you do like this book enough to buy book two, I recommend you buy BOOK 2 in print instead of audio OR you download the audio sample first. The reader of book two is different and I found her voice so irritating that I returned the audiobook.

Tara,a college student,finds herself pregnant.Since she is a virgin,this is impossible...or is it?Everyone thinks she is lying.She is followed by people telling her she is carrying the savior,and others wanting to kill her.We follow her through the mire of religious dogma from a few different forms of Christainity and her own belief that god doesn't exist.Narrated by Jewell Greenberg I thought the characters voices were ok,not great,but passable.
"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com."

This is the first story I've listened to by author Lisa M. Lilly and it was well written. She put forth alot of research into the religious beliefs that were centuries old. I'm positive that the author put forth alot of time doing the research to learn and find details to put into the writing of this story. Although I did like the story it did take me several chapters before finding myself connected to this story. Lisa wrote a story that was intriguing and unique. I wouldn't know what to do if I was in Tara's place, becoming pregnant, yet never having had sex before. I would definitely be scared, cry, and even run as Tara did. When she meets Cyril I found him to be unbelievable with saying her child was special, her being a messiah. Then towards the end, when I think Tara gave her virginity to Cyril, it seemed for a virgin she let it go too quickly. But, I was outraged at Cyril's behavior towards her band I wanted to choke the life from him. I thought to myself, how could he?Then the ending just wasn't what I expected it to be. I felt the author rushed the ending, leaving more questions than answers. This is why I only give it 4 stars.

Narrator, Jewel Greenberg did a fantastic job in her narration of this story. She brought this story to life and I felt the pain that Tara was feeling. The narrator did a wonderful job with distinguishing the accents of each character. I will definitely be looking for other stories Jewel has narrated. Overall, I enjoyed the story and I hope to see the second story, The Unbelievers on Audible soon. I received this audio in exchange for an honest review.

I found it fascinating to see how a story of immaculate conception might play out in todays society. There was a lot of research done into different religions, but the book is not preachy. It is an exciting thriller that challenges the patriarchal religions.

I liked and related to the main character. This is the first book in the series, so it left me with lots of questions and a desire to find out what happens next.

I listened to the audiobook edition which I received free in exchange for an honest review. The narrator spoke clearly and at a good pace. She performed great characterisations and accents. Jewel didn't pronounce the "g" on the end of any "ing" words, which bugged me a little, but didn't take away from the story. She used her voice well to enhance emotion and build tension and suspense.

Yes, it's entertaining and enjoyable. Interesting writing and characters.

None. I really can't compare this to any other book.

The main character Tara.

I liked this.