Title- Phoenix Awakens
Author- Eliza Nolan
Publisher- Createspace
Amazon- http://goo.gl/RrXPmm
A paranormal debut about a high school senior who finds herself in a fight with a secret society for control of ancient magic.
Julia never believed in magic.
Julia Long is starting her senior year with an extra dose of crazy. The dreams of cultish, bloody rituals are weird enough, but the victim in her lifelike dreams is her new classmate, Southern charmer Graham.
Graham admits he was a Phoenix — part of a centuries old secret society — but swears he left it all behind. As Julia works with Graham to figure out why she is dreaming about his past, she’s discovering she has other abilities. She heals Graham’s migraines with a touch, and there’s her superhuman strength that comes and goes. Julia doesn’t know where her new talents come from, but there’s no denying that when Graham is near, her powers kick into overdrive.
But the Phoenix Society wants Graham back. They need his blood to awaken the magic they seek, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get it.
Can Julia uncover the truth behind her connection to Graham? How far will Julia go in order to save Graham and stop the Phoenixes from harnessing this powerful magic?
I have read a couple authors lately that have completely surprised me. I cannot believe this is Eliza’s Debut YA novel!
Julia and Graham were great main characters. In the beginning, I was not a fan of Graham for hanging out with Libby; I felt he was leading Julia on. I’m still not sure what went on with those two, but I am happy Julia and Graham worked it out. Julia was going through so much during the book and was left in the dark for most of it. Nothing was really spelled out for her and she handled it extremely well. I know if I was dreaming of events that took place, I would be freaking out a bit. Same with Graham, while he lived in Charleston, he got himself mixed in something a lot bigger than he knew. He also, didn’t think anything Julia was telling him was odd. He also didn’t freak out when she was able to take his pain away.
There were also secondary characters that interested me as well. Clara and Nate were great. Part of me didn’t really trust Nate since Graham didn’t seem to like him, but maybe there’s nothing up with him. I would love to see more of them in the next book. Samantha made me angry and then redeemed herself a little bit in the end; I’m glad things were worked out for her and Julia. I also was left wanting to know more about Julia’s dad and his connection to the Phoenixes, I have some of my own theories. I also, want to learn more about Julia’s mom, what really happened to her or is she alive?
Even though, this was a science fiction YA book, there were some very realistic aspects. A lot of the things the main characters were going through, were those of a normal high schooler; homework, friendship, bullies, outcasts, relationships.
This was the first book in the Phoenix Series and I cannot wait to read book two. I still have so many questions and I want to know what’s going to happen to Julia and Graham.
Eliza Nolan was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She lived in Charleston, South Carolina, for a few years, after which she returned to icy Minnesota – where she now lives with her two unruly cats in a house smaller than your closet.
She is an avid reader and writer of YA. She has ghostwritten a novel or two, but also writes her own stuff, and is finally publishing her debut young adult urban fantasy novel, Phoenix Awakens.
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