DNF’d at 17%, the beginning of chapter four.

Unfortunately I’m coming to this book years too late. Years of reading much more polished and engaging novellas, and years of more and more easily available ace rep. This is no longer the only choice available for ff ace rep. Maybe if I’d read it when it was, I could have pushed through.

I think this book has potential but it reads like a first draft, unsophisticated and repetitive. And in the year 2021, close to 2022, I have had more than enough of the Ineffectual Grieving Mother trope. I didn’t even get far enough in to reach the ace rep, unfortunately, although other reviews suggest it’s good. I found it very instalovey for an ace book, given that Victoria starts suspecting that Ashlinn has a crush on her by their second meeting (in Victoria’s literal dreams), which then becomes a date. And I know they’re both girls romantically interested in girls and there’s a lesbian joke to be made here, but still.

Tbh this book really lost me when Victoria’s “friend” told her that if she didn’t get a girlfriend soon she’d be “the only one at college who doesn’t know how to kiss” and I know including aphobia is an easy way to make a point about the insidious bigotry ace people face, but it’s another trope I’m just over.

One last thing: every time a character in a book calls another character “dearie” I immediately start visualising them as Robert Carlyle’s Rumpelstiltskin. Which…I’m sure are not the vibes the author was aiming for with Ashlinn.

I don’t think this is a bad book, inherently. I just think it needed more work, and ultimately it isn’t for me. But I do hope that Calista Lynne writes more books in the future, and I’m open to giving her another chance if she does.

Thank you Harmony Ink Press for giving me access to an eARC of this book.

DNFed. I did not enjoy the characters or the pacing of the plot, so I decided to DNF.

I didn't really click with it but I didn't knock it and I hope no one does either because it was good, it was a good book but I guess it didn't really give me those heart strings.

Rather intriguing and a fast read, "We Awaken" is the story of a girl (Victoria) struggling to deal with the aftermath of an accident that took her father's life and placed her brother in a coma, and who is visited by Ashlinn, claiming to have a message from said brother, in her dreams. Obviously, Victoria is drawn to Ashlinn, and Ashlin helps Victoria realize that Victoria's asexual, giving her support and helping her deal with this revelation.

Unfortunately, the weaving of Victoria's asexuality into the plot isn't smooth. Although an asexual main character is a pleasant surprise since it's not often one gets to read about them, I feel as though it's a last-minute addition just to make the book more 'unique' among the sea of similar books. At some points, the book felt too much like an informational book—a text book on asexuality, making it feel like the odd one out in terms of the story's context. At other points and for the majority of the book, Victoria’s asexuality took centre stage which dismayed me quite a bit. I was expecting a nice mix of someone learning to deal with her loss, love and family—something like Kristin Hannah’s "Night Road", but the loss and the family got pushed to the side lines the moment Ashlinn stepped onto the stage. Victoria’s genuine struggle in dealing with the death of her father and her comatose brother became disingenuous.

Moreover, I felt that the majority of what Lynne wrote for this story, are fillers. Most of them seemed insignificant to me because as aforesaid, I was expecting a nice mix of love, loss and family. Instead, what I got was another book with insta-love and actual serious matters tossed aside as undeveloped plot points. It also doesn’t help that this book feels like two stories instead of one. I think that Lynne could’ve done better in combining the reality and fantasy of the book’s world.

Nevertheless, I quite like Lynne’s writing style here, and I think that this book should be read because it provides some knowledge regarding a matter few other books deal with.